Tornado Sparks Mass Casualty Incident

Several U.S. states have been ravaged by a series of severe storms, resulting in a mass casualty incident.

A suspected tornado hit a trailer park in Logan County, Ohio, near Indian Lake, around 70 miles northwest of Columbus. Indiana and Kentucky were also hit by a powerful storm that led to numerous injuries and properties being destroyed on Thursday night through Friday morning.

The Context

Tornadoes have been reported overnight in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The National Weather Service in Wilmington issued several storm warnings over the course of the evening, including a tornado watch that spread across all three states.

"THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS and dangerous tornado on the ground," the National Weather Service's Cleveland office wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

What We Know

According to images shared on social media, buildings and cars were extensively damaged in some areas. Amber Fagan, president and chief executive of the Indian Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, said the village of Lakeview, Ohio, was "completely demolished," as per a report by CBS News.

"There's places burning," she said. "There's power lines through people's windows."

The total number of injuries so far is unclear at this stage, though reports from news outlets and social media suggest there are many.

In Ohio, police confirmed the deaths of two people, according to a report by The Associated Press. Newsweek has contacted Logan County Sheriff's Office in Bellefontaine for confirmation via email.

Despite reports of three people dying in Winchester, Indiana, state police told USA Today they couldn't confirm any deaths as of Friday at 12:15 a.m. ET.

Indiana State Police Sergeant Scott Keegan said at a news conference Thursday night: "I wish we had more information about the loss of life or significant injuries. There have been many many significant injuries but I don't know the number. I don't know what those injuries are. None of us do."

Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Winchester said that as of midnight it was treating 39 patients injured in the storms, according to a report by NBC News.

Winchester Mayor Bob McCoy said: "I'm shaken; it's overwhelming. I heard what sounded like a train and then I started hearing sirens. I've never heard that sound before; I don't want to hear it again."

Images and videos posted on social media show widespread destruction caused by the storms. X user Jack Straw posted a video of a trailers turned over and widespread debris scattered across the ground in Brooksburg, Indiana.

Views

Writing on X, meteorologist Noah Bergren said the storm will "go down as one of the more notable and significant severe storm episodes in March in a while."

"The tornadoes have been most across Ohio and Indiana. Areas around Paducah, KY got spared comparatively so to Oklahoma, NE Texas, and Missouri," he continued.