HENRYVILLE — Authorities over the weekend were trying to maintain order across northern Clark County as residents began cleaning up from Friday afternoon’s powerful tornadoes which killed one person in Henryville and 11 others in Indiana.

Road blocks were set up along Interstate 65 near Henryville and along Ind. 3 near Marysville, as throngs of people — volunteers, media and gawkers — flocked to the two small towns where the worst of the damage occurred.(Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6PxGCO3Orc&feature=youtu.be&a)

Clark County Sheriff Danny Rodden said Indiana State Police were manning check points and asking for identification before letting motorists in. Additionally, a curfew is being enforced in the two areas between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Emergency crews have combed the two towns, knocking on doors in some instances, checking rubble in others. In the time hours since the storm hit, Rodden said he believes most people have been accounted for. However, he said communication was still difficult as cellular service was spotty to nonexistent in the affected areas.

On Sunday, Indiana State Police revised the number of fatalities from Friday’s deadly storms to 12 instead of 14 as previously reported. That was before a girl from New Pekin died at a Louisville hospital Sunday evening.

“There are two less fatalities in Scott County,” said Indiana State Police Spokesman Sgt. Jerry Goodin. “Right now, we’re done with search and rescue. We’re fairly confident we have located everyone.”

He added police and rescue workers conducted a house-to-house search in every county and the homes were marked when the search was completed. He added police will continue to patrol the affected areas.

The fatality in Clark County took place on Speith Road, near Henryville, but Rodden was unable to release the name of the victim. Clark County Coroner Edwin “Huck” Coots could not be reached for comment.

As for clean up, Rodden noted that electric crews from Duke Energy, Hoosier Energy and Clark County REMC have been working since the storm moved out of the area. Further, the Clark County Commissioners as well as other local governments and private businesses were donating dump trucks and Dumpsters.

“It’s going to be a long effort,” Rodden said.

As the work got started, Gov. Mitch Daniels came to the area to see the devastation for himself Saturday.

“Once again mother nature has dealt harshly with Indiana,” Daniels said to reporters. “I can’t tell you how proud and impressed I am with the response of state and local people. Regrettably, we’ve had far too much practice with this.”

Daniels noted 21,000 residents around the state were without power immediately after the storm but that number had dropped to the hundreds. Utility officials say they don’t know how long it will take to restore electricity service throughout the Southern Indiana area hardest hit by Friday’s tornado outbreak.

Clark County REMC says some 2,800 homes and businesses remained without power Sunday in and around Henryville and Marysville. The utility says it had nearly 8,000 outages following the Friday afternoon storms.

The company says crews from other utilities are helping to replace dozens of poles, string new wire and trim trees. The utility says its power supplier estimates it could take a week to rebuild the substation and transmission lines in the Henryville area. Emergency officials have been concerned about downed electrical lines posing a safety threat to those working to clean up damage.

Additionally, Daniels said water was back on in Henryville, however a boil advisory was in effect.

“Each place we’re going to be today, I’ve got memories and usually friends — and it’s very, very difficult,” he said. “As always, when things are at their worst, people in this state are at their best.

“You try to learn from each instance. As far as I can tell, lessons learned were applied here.”

In the immediate term, food, shelter and medical assistance will be the state’s focus, followed quickly by financial assistance. The governor also noted he was sure that the damage he’d surveyed early in the day would qualify the area for aid from the federal government.

Daniels declared disaster emergencies for 11 Southern Indiana counties. He issued the declarations Saturday for Clark, Gibson, Harrison, Jefferson, Posey, Ripley, Scott, Shelby, Vanderburgh, Warrick and Washington counties.

Rep. Todd Young said funding would likely come from both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration.

“We’ll play the role of traffic director,” he said, noting that his office would try and point people toward assistance as it becomes available.

“You can’t help but feel for all the communities affected,” he said. “We dust off our trousers, we roll up our sleeves.”

Hoosiers who sustained damage caused by severe weather that started Thursday are asked to report damage online by visiting www.in.gov/dhs and clicking on “Citizen Damage Reports for March Severe Weather” in the middle of the page under “Topics of the Day.”

“Individuals with damage from the severe weather must report quickly,” said IDHS Executive Director Joe Wainscott. “The faster we can assess the situation, the better.”

National Weather Service officials say that actually two tornadoes hit Henryville and that one packed 175 mph winds. Weather service officials said Saturday that the first tornado that cut a swath of destruction through Henryville on Friday was on the ground for 52 miles and measured about 150 yards wide. That tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale that measures tornadic force. EF-4 tornadoes are the second-strongest of classified tornadoes in terms of intensity, with winds between 166 mph and 200 mph.

A second, smaller tornado passed through a short while later. Across the Southern Indiana and Kentucky, 10 tornadoes have been confirmed.

“We prepare and try to get people prepared as best as you can,” Goodin said. “But how do you prepare for the type of devastation that happened [Friday]?”

A National Guard convoy poured into Henryville on Saturday morning and FEMA sent a team to help coordinate state and local responders.



REGIONAL RESPONSE

Amid the destruction, startling stories of survival began to emerge, including that of a couple who was hiding in a restaurant basement when a school bus crashed through the building’s wall.

The tornado outbreak, predicted by forecasters for days, killed at least 37 people in four states — Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

The landscape was littered with everything from sheet metal and insulation to crushed cars and, in one place, a fire hydrant, making travel difficult.

An overturned car sat on top of a pile of wood planks and rumpled metal outside City Hall in West Liberty, Ky. The storm had tossed two white police cruisers into the brick building. At least five people died in Morgan County, where the town is located, and authorities were only letting people who lived or owned property in the town to enter.

The Rev. Kenneth Jett of the West Liberty United Methodist Church recalled how he and four others huddled together in a little cubby hole in the basement as the church collapsed in the storm.

“We’re thankful to God,” he said. “It was a miracle that the five of us survived.”

Angel Babcock, a toddler found alone in a field near her family’s home after a tornado hit in New Pekin died Sunday evening. Authorities learned Saturday she was the sole survivor of her immediate family at that time, said Cis Gruebbel, a spokeswoman for Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville. The girl’s mother Moriah Brough, father Joseph Babcock, 2-month-old sister and 2-year-old brother all died Friday, Washington County Coroner Rondale Brishaber said.

Friday’s tornado outbreak came two days after an earlier round of storms killed 13 people in the Midwest and South, and forecasters at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center had said the day would be one of a handful this year that warranted its highest risk level. The weather service issued 297 tornado warnings and 388 severe thunderstorm warnings from Friday through early Saturday. In March, a storm of this magnitude happens once a decade, meteorologists said.

However, the storm still didn’t measure up to the one on April 27, when tornadoes killed more than 240 people in Alabama. On that day, 688 tornado warnings and 757 severe thunderstorm warnings were issued from Texas to New York, said Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist at the storm prediction center.

The storms had been carrying strong winds that changed direction and increased in speed as they rose in the atmosphere, creating a spin, said Corey Mead, a storm prediction center meteorologist. The tornadoes develop when cold air in the storm system moving east from the Mississippi River Valley hits warm air coming north from the Gulf of Mexico, he said.

Twelve people died in Indiana, and 21 were killed in Kentucky, where National Guard troops, state troopers and rescue workers searched counties east and south of Lexington on Saturday. Three deaths were reported in Ohio, and one in Alabama.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Authorities on Saturday were trying to maintain order across Northern Clark County as residents began cleaning up from Friday afternoon’s powerful tornadoes.

Road blocks were set up along Interstate 65 near Henryville and along Ind. 3 near Marysville, as throngs of people — volunteers, media and gawkers — flocked to the two small towns where the worst of the damage occurred.

Clark County Sheriff Danny Rodden said Indiana State Police were manning check points and asking for identification before letting motorists in. Additionally, a curfew is being enforced in the two areas between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“We don’t really have the need for a gigantic bunch of volunteers,” Rodden said.  “If you’re not specifically involved, please stay out of the area.”

Emergency crews have combed the two towns, knocking on doors in some instances, checking rubble in others. In the 24 hours since the storm hit, Rodden said he believes most people have been accounted for. However, he said communication was still difficult as cellular service was spotty to nonexistent in the affected areas.

Those still looking for loved ones should contact ISP at 800-872-6743.

The statewide death toll sits at 14, with one confirmed fatality in Clark County. That took place on Speith Road, near Henryville, but Rodden was unable to release the name of the victim.

As for clean up, Rodden noted that electric crews from Duke Energy, Hoosier Energy and Clark County REMC have been working since the storm moved out of the area. Further, the Clark County Commissioners as well as other local governments and private businesses were donating dump trucks and Dumpsters.

“It’s going to be a long effort,” Rodden said.

As the work got started, Gov. Mitch Daniels came to the area to see the devastation for himself.

“Once again mother nature has dealt harshly with Indiana,” Daniels said to reporters. “I can’t tell you how proud and impressed I am with the response of state and local people. Regrettably, we’ve had far too much practice with this.”

Daniels noted 21,000 residents around the state were without power immediately after the storm but that number had dropped to around 600 by Saturday. Additionally, he said, water was back on in Henryville, however a boil advisory was in effect.

“Each place we’re going to be today, I’ve got memories and usually friends — and it’s very, very difficult,” he said. “As always, when things are at their worst, people in this state are at their best.

“You try to learn from each instance. As far as I can tell, lessons learned were applied here.”

In the immediate term, food, shelter and medical assistance will be the state’s focus, followed quickly by financial assistance. The governor also noted he was sure that the damage he’d surveyed early in the day would qualify the area for aid from the federal government.

Daniels declared disaster emergencies for 11 Southern Indiana counties. He issued the declarations Saturday for Clark, Gibson, Harrison, Jefferson, Posey, Ripley, Scott, Shelby, Vanderburgh, Warrick and Washington counties.

Rep. Todd Young funding would likely include funding from both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration.

“We’ll play the role of traffic director,” he said, noting that his office would try and point people toward assistance as it becomes available.

“You can’t help but feel for all the communities affected,” he said. “We dust off our trousers, we roll up our sleeves.”

Hoosiers who sustained damage caused by severe weather that started Thursday are asked to report damage online by visiting www.in.gov/dhs and clicking on “Citizen Damage Reports for March Severe Weather” in the middle of the page under “Topics of the Day.”

“Individuals with damage from the severe weather must report quickly,” said IDHS Executive Director Joe Wainscott. “The faster we can assess the situation, the better.”

National Weather Service officials say that actually two tornadoes hit a tiny southern Indiana town and that one packed 175 mph winds. Weather service officials said Saturday that the first tornado that cut a swath of destruction through Henryville on Friday was on the ground for 52 miles and measured about 150 yards wide. That tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale that measures tornadic force. EF-4 tornadoes are the second-strongest of classified tornadoes in terms of intensity, with winds between 166 mph and 200 mph.

A second, smaller tornado passed through a short while later. Indiana State Police Sgt. Jerry Goodin says searches for the missing are slowing down as authorities receive fewer calls about missing people. He says authorities expect to begin shifting to cleanup mode Sunday.

Across the Southern Indiana and Kentucky, 10 tornadoes have been confirmed.

“We prepare and try to get people prepared as best as you can,” said Indiana State Police Sgt. Jerry Goodin at a morning news conference in Sellersburg, “but how do you prepare for the type of devastation that happened yesterday?”

Search teams with dogs were combing through the rubble, but Goodin said police believed everyone had been accounted for in Clark, Scott and Washington counties.

A National Guard convoy poured into Henryville Saturday morning. Police closed a road leading into Holton in Ripley County so that utility crews could replace downed poles and restore power. FEMA sent a team to help coordinate state and local responders.



REGIONAL RESPONSE

Amid the destruction, startling stories of survival began to emerge, including that of a baby found alive in a field 10 miles from her Indiana home and a couple who were hiding in a restaurant basement when a school bus crashed through the building’s wall.

The tornado outbreak, predicted by forecasters for days, killed at least 36 people in four states — Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio — but the death toll was expected to rise as state troopers, the National Guard and rescue teams made their way through counties cutoff by debris-littered roads and knocked down cellphone towers.

The landscape was littered with everything from sheet metal and insulation to crushed cars and, in one place, a fire hydrant, making travel difficult.

An overturned car sat on top of a pile of wood planks and rumpled metal outside City Hall in West Liberty, Ky. The storm had tossed two white police cruisers into the brick building. At least five people died in Morgan County, where the town is located, and authorities were only letting people who lived or owned property in the town to enter.

The Rev. Kenneth Jett of the West Liberty United Methodist Church recalled how he and four others huddled together in a little cubby hole in the basement as the church collapsed in the storm.

“We’re thankful to God,” he said. “It was a miracle that the five of us survived.”

A baby was found alone in a field in Salem, about 10 miles north of where her family lives in New Pekin, said Melissa Richardson, spokeswoman at St. Vincent Salem Hospital, where the little girl was initially taken. The child was in critical condition Saturday at a hospital in Louisville, and authorities were still trying to figure out how she ended up in the field, Richardson said.

A tornado hit the New Pekin area Friday, but it wasn’t clear whether it had picked up the child. Authorities have not identified the baby or her parents.

Friday’s tornado outbreak came two days after an earlier round of storms killed 13 people in the Midwest and South, and forecasters at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center had said the day would be one of a handful this year that warranted its highest risk level. The weather service issued 297 tornado warnings and 388 severe thunderstorm warnings from Friday through early Saturday. In March, a storm of its magnitude happens once a decade, meteorologists said.

However, the storm still didn’t measure up to the one on April 27, when tornadoes killed more than 240 people in Alabama. On that day, 688 tornado warnings and 757 severe thunderstorm warnings were issued from Texas to New York, said Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist at the storm prediction center.

More severe storms were expected Saturday across parts of southern Georgia and northern Florida.

The storms have been carrying strong winds that change direction and increase in speed as they rise in the atmosphere, creating a spin, said Corey Mead, a storm prediction center meteorologist. The tornadoes develop when cold air in the storm system moving east from the Mississippi River Valley hits warm air coming north from the Gulf of Mexico, he said.

Fourteen people died in Indiana, and 19 were killed in Kentucky, where National Guard troops, state troopers and rescue workers searched counties east and south of Lexington on Saturday. Three deaths were reported in Ohio, and one in Alabama.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.