Twisters Rip Through LaGrange, Noble
Published: Friday, October 4, 2024
Michael Hilty had the rare, but scary opportunity to see a tornado hop up and down as it moved through LaGrange County. It took the roof off his calf barn and destroyed a nearby chicken barn.
The storm cell that originated near Ligonier moved northeast into LaGrange County last Tuesday afternoon. The twister struck the chicken barn owned by Mervin Bontrager, C.R. 200 South, LaGrange, sending metal siding into a soybean field. It then approached Hilty's property on C.R. 400 East. It was around 5 p.m., and Hilty was in the barn preparing to start chores.
"I saw the twist start up," he said last Wednesday, while cleaning up debris. "It was in the clouds to start with. It started going faster and faster until it was in a funnel shape. Then I seen I better run for the basement."
So, he quickly ran for the house and went down to the basement, where his wife and nephew were sheltering. As he stepped into the basement, the storm moved over the top of his farm, leaving the house untouched, except for a few shingles.
When he came back outside a minute later, the twister was continuing its northeasterly path.
"I saw it drop a bunch of metal on the east side of the road," Hilty said, referring to C.R. 400 East.
He said it was like an excavator that opened the drop bucket.
According to his eyewitness account, the storm "just kind of hopped" as it made its way through the countryside southeast of LaGrange.
"And this stretch here was one spot where it hopped."
The National Weather Service in North Webster confirmed that an EF1 tornado moved through LaGrange County just after 5 p.m. last Tuesday. According to the NWS, the tornado touched down near the intersection of 300 South and 300 East, close to Royer Lake. It destroyed a triple-deck chicken barn on C.R. 200 South before ripping the roof off Hilty's calf barn. Also, an Amish buggy was blown over in the 2900 block of C.R. 300 South, with two occupants suffering minor injuries.
The tornado stayed on the ground for less than two miles and had peak winds of 95 miles per hour, according to the NWS.
About a half hour earlier, the same storm system spawned an EF1 tornado in Noble County, just east of Engle Lake. With peak winds of 105 miles per hour, it damaged houses, trees and farm buildings. It moved across U.S. 6 where it tore the roof off a chicken barn. The twister traveled for nearly 7.5 miles before coming to an end near the LaGrange County line.
In addition to the twisters in LaGrange and Noble counties, an EF0 tornado with peak winds of around 70 miles per hour also was confirmed near the Meijer store in Mishawaka. NWS officials said it crossed North Main Street and was on the ground for less than half a mile. The only damage reported were some downed tree limbs and branches.
The next morning, volunteers were helping to clean up at Bontrager's farm, where 27,000 layers were housed in a large confinement building near LaGrange. The storm ripped off the outer shell, leaving the cages mostly intact. Hundreds of chickens were able to break free from their cages and were running loose as volunteers with skid loaders and telehandlers collected the metal siding and other debris.
At Hilty's farm, family, friends and fellow church members arrived to help with the cleanup and rebuild the metal roof on the calf barn. By midafternoon, a new roof was in place.
Hilty said watching the tornado approach his farm was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"It's just crazy," he said. "As far as watching it come, I've never seen anything like it, and I hope I never will again. But it was still—how shall I say it, a good experience? I'm just glad that nobody got hurt."
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