Eyewitness News Staff
Evansville, Nov. 7 - The National Weather Service believes the damage came from one tornado. The storm developed in Missouri, then tracked across southern Illinois and into the Kentucky-Indiana area.
The tornado jumped over the Ohio River into southeast Evansville. It continued on into Newburgh in Warrick County and traveled northeast and killed a family of three in DeGonia Springs.
The death toll stands at 23, 18 of those were in a mobile home park in Evansville.
It was the deadliest tornado to hit Indiana since 1974.
The National Weather Service says they believe the tornado was an F-3 with winds ranging from 158 to 206 miles per hour. Officials say the sirens sounded twice, but many did not hear them in the middle of the night.
Saying they are confident everyone has been rescued from the devastated mobile home park, the 18th victim, a man in his 20s or 30s, was pulled from a small lake on the rural property.
Vanderburgh County Sheriff Brad Ellsworth says, "We're confirming 18 deceased victims from this location."
The latest death brings the number of victims from the tornado up to 23 with over 100 injured.
While officials say that five people in the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park remain unaccounted for, the emphasis now is on recovery, clearing debris over the coming days and restoring electricity and water to the residents that didn't lose there homes.
Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapel calls it "a long process."
While Federal Emergency Management officials assess the incredible destruction, it's unclear how long it will take to rebuild what a monster storm wiped out in just moments.
