Eight killed as tornado rips across Midwest USA

A tornado ripped across a region on the Indiana and Kentucky border early today, killing at least eight people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands of homes, authorities said.

Witnesses said the tornado touched down first near Henderson, Kentucky, and hopped across the Ohio River into Indiana in the early hours.

Five people were killed at the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park on the southeast side of Evansville, aid Diane Duvall, at the Vanderburg County sheriff’s office.

“We’re treating the trailer park as a mass disaster area,” said Eric Williams, chief deputy of the sheriff’s department.

The coroner in Warrick County, Indiana, Don Harris, confirmed three deaths, two near the community of Degonia Springs and one near the village of Yankeetown.

The damage path in Newburgh, eight miles east of Evansville, was about three-quarters of a mile wide and roughly 20 miles long, Assistant Fire Chief Chad Bennett told CNN.

He said emergency sirens sounded, but most people didn’t hear them because it happened in the middle of the night.

No deaths were reported in Kentucky, said Michelle King, at the Henderson County sheriff’s office.

Mike Roeder, a spokesman for utility company Vectren, said 25,000 homes were without power, mostly in Warrick County. There also were reports of natural gas leaks.

The tornado developed in a line of thunderstorms that rolled rapidly eastward across the Ohio Valley.