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F3 Tornado — Vanderburgh, Indiana

2005-11-06 · near Evansville, Vanderburgh, Indiana

Direct deaths

200

Injuries

$15.0M

Property damage

5.0 mi

Path length

400 yds

Path width

Event narrative

The tornado crossed into Vanderburgh County from Henderson County, KY a second time near Ellis Park, a horse-racing facility off U.S. Highway 41. The tornado moved rapidly east-northeast at close to 60 MPH, staying a mile or less south of Interstate 164 and the southern city limit of Evansville. Twenty people perished at a large mobile home park on the south side of the interstate. Of about 350 mobile homes in the park, 100 were destroyed and another 125 were damaged. Many of the destroyed homes were obliterated. The coroner reported that most of the victims were probably killed instantly, many by spine and skull fractures. Several bodies were carried almost two hundred yards. Several of the fatally injured persons were found in a nearby retention pond that was drained to find victims. An 8-year-old child was found alive in a ditch after being trapped under debris for about 12 hours. One person, who was thrown 150 feet, died of complications from tornado injuries on December 17. The tornado exited into Warrick County at the Angel Mounds State Historic Site, just south of Interstate 164.

Wider weather episode

This was the deadliest tornado in Indiana since April 3, 1974. This tornado tracked a total of 41 miles from Henderson County, KY into Spencer County, IN. A total of at least 500 homes and buildings were destroyed or severely damaged. Much of the damage was upper F-2 to lower F-3 intensity. Although the tornado was up to 500 yards wide, the average path width was 275 yards. Of the approximately 230 injuries, 20 were critical, and 63 resulted in hospital admissions. This tornado was the more northern tornado of a pair of strong supercell tornadoes that occurred simultaneously. The southern tornado occurred in Crittenden and Webster Counties of Kentucky.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.9500, -87.5500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5480597. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.