Long road ahead for Lake Village, Indiana, after deadly tornado

Restoration efforts continued in Northwest Indiana on Thursday after a massive tornado ripped through the town of Lake Village earlier this week — leaving an elderly couple dead.

CBS News Chicago crews were out in Lake Village all day Wednesday and Thursday, and multiple people said the same thing — it all happened so fast.

Some said they didn't hear tornado warning sirens go off during Tuesday night's storms. Gov. Mike Braun said the sirens are tested once a month, and authorities will look into whether they went off on Tuesday as the tornado approached.

The National Weather Service confirmed that Lake Village got hit by an EF3 tornado, which means winds of up to 150 mph.

Indiana State Police counted 106 buildings with damage around Lake Village, but believe that number will go up. Approximately 1,800 people live in the small town in Newton County.

A total of 32 buildings were destroyed. Homes and a gas station were leveled, among other buildings.

On Thursday morning, in the parking lot of what was a Family Dollar store in Lake Village, there were still pieces of sheetrock, tree limbs, and pieces of debris — including lots of bricks that appeared to have been sheared right off. The façade completely fell down, and lights were hanging out.

At the gas station across the way, pumps were tipped over, and the roof was completely sheared off. Power lines nearby were bent.

Repair crews also had to tear the damaged roof completely off a local bank. Nearby, a gigantic tree was also ripped out of the ground by the tornado, leaving a hole behind.  

Steven Travis said he was home when the storm came barreling down his street, and had to rush to take cover in his closet for safety.

"I was looking out the front window and I seen a dumpster fly by; that's when I went for cover," he said. "I went to the bedroom. The roof lifted off, the ceiling come down, knocked me down, I climbed into the closet. And that's where I come out and debris was everywhere. I mean, the place was destroyed."

CBS News Chicago also talked with a Lake Village woman whose adult son's house was flattened by the tornado. The son and his family, including a 2-year-old daughter, will be living at grandma's house for the foreseeable future.

Indiana State police said the sunshine on Thursday is going to help immensely in efforts to deal with the damage. Destruction of some buildings was obvious, but the rainy weather on Wednesday made it difficult to assess areas with less severe damage.

On Thursday, crews were focused on cleaning up and clearing debris.

"This is the worst I've ever seen, and it really makes you feel for people that are in tornado alley when something like this happens," said Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield. "You don't realize how powerful it is."

Fifield said the process of recovering from the damage is not going to be speedy.

"Today, they're primarily going to be focused on volunteers. You can see some of the forklifts going on now," he said. "This is when the process really starts beginning. There's a lot of work. It's not going to happen overnight. It's not going to happen in a week. It's not going to happen in a month."

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun surveyed the damage in Lake Village on Thursday and toured the Lake Village Fire Department, where donations for storm victims were dropped off.

Meanwhile, search and rescue crews were out on Wednesday to make sure everyone was accounted for.

A total of 10 people were injured in Lake Village.

Lake Village residents Ed Kozlowski and his wife, Arlene, didn't survive the tornado. The 89- and 86-year-old died from blunt force trauma, according to the Newton County, Indiana Coroner's office.

The couple's son-in-law described them as wonderful human beings who lived a good life. He imagined how quickly the storm took their lives.

"We were talking on the way here," said son-in-law Steve Rehfeldt. "These cars, they're big heavy V8 engines in big trucks, and the wind has literally taken his car, which was parked somewhere — you know, maybe even like right there — and taken it and flipped it upside down."

Neighbor Hugh Ulrich said he was driving near the Kozlowski's home on Tuesday night, when he saw dark clouds behind him. Soon after, the tornado was trailing him, and he said in that moment all he could do was pray.

"It's here and it's going to gobble me up any second now, which it did. So I did, I don't know if there's a classic of this thing happening, but I did end up in the air, twisted," Ulrich said. "I figured that was it. Of course, it's the death."

Asked what his next step will be after his remarkable survival, Ulrich said he's just taking it day by day. He's now staying at North Newton Jr/Sr. High School for the time being.

People in surrounding communities stepped up to help Lake Village residents. Donations of pet food, water, and toilet paper, among other commodities, came in by truckload Wednesday night.

Energy provider NIPSCO said the storm broke at least 130 poles and damaged two solar facilities in the area, leaving 11,000 homes in the dark on Tuesday night.