Guard Patrols in Midwest as Winds, Twisters Kill 10

A funnel cloud was reported in Indiana on Sunday, the second day that Midwestern states were raked by severe weather.

The National Guard on Sunday patrolled areas of southern Indiana hit hardest overnight by tornadoes that left 10 people dead and hundreds injured in five states.

In Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky, homes were sucked from their foundations, tractor-trailers were blown from highways and countless utility poles were toppled late Saturday and early Sunday, cutting off electrical service to thousands of homes, authorities said.

Eight people were killed in Indiana and one in Illinois.

On Sunday high winds at a campground in a state park in south-central Wisconsin toppled a tree onto a tent, killing one woman and injuring another, authorities said.

The National Weather Service said a funnel cloud was seen near Lafayette, Ind., Sunday afternoon as thunderstorms and high winds continued to plague the state. The severe weather Sunday uprooted trees, downed power lines and was blamed for an 18-vehicle accident near South Bend. No serious injuries were reported.

The Indiana National Guard moved into the hardest-hit towns in the southern part of the state Sunday to prevent looting and provide medical assistance after Gov. Evan Bayh declared an emergency Saturday night. Officials said it was the worst outbreak of tornadoes in Indiana since April, 1974, when 48 deaths were reported.

The weather service said 44 tornadoes moved through Indiana on Saturday night, sparing only the northwestern part of the state. The twisters touched down at least 50 times, said Jerome Hauer, director of the State Emergency Management Agency. More than 200 were injured in the state.

Severe thunderstorms also spawned 22 tornadoes in Illinois and 14 in Kentucky on Saturday night and early Sunday, the weather service said.

Six people were injured in Kentucky when the twisters roared through the state, causing more than $1 million in damage to about 30 homes, authorities said. Some mobile homes in Trimble County were thrown into a road by high winds, and mobile homes in other areas were destroyed.