Woman killed in Portage, Indiana, house explosion during severe storms

A woman was killed in a house explosion in Portage, Indiana, during a severe weather outbreak on Tuesday afternoon.

The area was hit hard with storm damage during Tuesday's storms. Neighbors say they were out here helping with the downed trees and debris when they heard and felt the explosion.

 "It was just a big bonfire. It just went as high as you could imagine," said neighbor Shirley Golob.

When Golob stepped outside her Portage home this afternoon, she couldn't believe what she saw. In seconds, her neighbor's home across the street exploded and went up in flames.

"When we moved here about 25 years ago, they were the first ones that we met here," she said.

City officials confirmed that one person died. Neighbors told CBS News Chicago that an elderly couple lived at the home and had licved there for at least three decades if not more. The husband went to the doctor earlier Wednesday and almost brought his wife.

"He asked if she wanted to go with and she says no, that she was going to stay home and do a few things, and so he went by himself to the doctor's appointment," Golob said.

While the husband was gone, the house exploded with his wife still inside. Golob said when the husband got home, he was in a state of shock.

"I got out there, I put my arms around him and I said, 'Come with me, come sit down,'" Golob said. 

The explosion hit and damaged neighbors' homes and sent debris down the street. Trees were already down and uprooted from the storm that tore through there earlier, making it difficult for first responders to get to the scene.

"It took the fire department, oh my god, a couple of hours to get here. They couldn't get through," Golob said.

City officials addressed the explosion during a press conference on Tuesday. They are not sure if severe weather caused the blast.

CBS News Chicago First Alert meteorologists said they believe the house was likely hit with straight-line winds going 100-110 mph, which are the same strength as an EF-1 tornado.  

"Unfortunately, when these large trees come down, they do disrupt the underground piping, which can cause some problems with the meters in the homes or just exteriorly. So there are several gas leaks in the city," said Portage Police Captain Rob Maynard.

The city says NIPSCO is working to keep the gas leaks under control and restore power.

"I wanted to get away from my house because I didn't know if my house was going to catch fire or not," Golob said.

For Golob and her neighbors, they watched as fire crews put out the last flames, the state fire marshal investigated and gas crews worked to secure the gas line, as they recover from the shocking scene they saw earlier. 

"You see it on TV and you hear it, but you never think you'll see something like this," she said.

On Wednesday morning, fire crews returned after a small stream of smoke was seen coming from the property.

Next-door neighbor Jojo Balce talked about the damage left behind.

"One of the things we notice is that we're smelling gas, but of course, like, how is it so much gas? Where's it coming from? We don't hear anything. We don't know." Balce said. "And then like two or three minutes later, it's an explosion. It went up high past the trees, like really high."

The family of the woman who died started arriving Wednesday morning to gather and salvage any remaining belongings and memories from the scene — such as a teapot that the woman used to use every day. The woman's son said his brother actually recovered his mother's body from the rubble at the home.

The family grabbed teddy bears to place on the front steps where the home once stood.

Much of the area remained difficult to access Wednesday morning because of all the damage.    

City officials say they think the storm played a role in the explosion, but they won't know for sure until the investigation is complete.

Portage schools canceled classes on Wednesday, which was supposed to be the first day of class.