Jude Redfield/Eyewitness News
Vanderburgh County - Residents here marked a grim anniversary this week. It was one year ago Sunday that a deadly tornado struck in the middle of the night, killing over twenty people who had little warning and no place to hide.
The tornado brought 200-mph winds and ripped apart mobile homes. The aftermath brought our governor to tears. "I found a pregnancy guide in a field out there, which I am almost certain it was hers," said Gov. Mitch Daniels.
A pregnant woman was one of the 25 dead. There was $92 million in damage.
"The Evansville tornado caught the attention of the whole state and in the whole tri-state area of Illinois and Kentucky, everyone is a lot more aware of the weather events we are having now," said Sherman Greer, Evansville EMA director.
The overnight twister that caught Hoosiers off guard raised awareness for a sleeping city. In Evansville alone, over 50,000 weather radios have been purchased in the last year, meaning one out of two homes has one.
Greer says the number of sirens has increased from 21 to 25. Four more are coming by the year's end.
Ellis Park took a direct hit that night, but now the once wrecked race track is a bigger and better venue. The damaged grandstand and demolished barns have been rebuilt, the glass-littered track is now a place for horses to run.
Baker Chapel was also left in ruins, but with help from the community and firefighters all the way from New York City, it rises again.
The sections of Eastbrook Mobile Home Park gutted by the storm are clear of debris, but not banded together like it once was.
"It's not normal yet, as you can tell, look at the empty lots, this place used to be full and its empty within blocks," said Steve Sublett, resident.
Sublett is the first back, and so far the only one. "I like this place. I like the area and I wish there were people around me," he said.
Many residents are gone from Eastbrook, but some will never be forgotten since that awful November night. A playground has been erected along with a memorial for all 25 victims, 20 of them from Eastbrook.
"I just wish I had some neighbors to converse with on a daily basis, even if its just to say 'hi, how are you doing?' and 'what's going on?'" said Sublett.
Empty slabs of concrete waiting for people to return, but memories make it difficult.
"We lost children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters and everything. This is something we will never forget," said Greer.
