Merrillville, Indiana homeowners picking up the pieces after EF-2 tornado devastates town
Northwest Indiana was hit by at least three tornadoes on Thursday evening as powerful storms swept through the Chicago area, with Merrillville among the hardest-hit areas.
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-2 tornado in Merrillville, which caused complete destruction for many people who were left grateful to survive, but grappling with a long road of recovery.
The sounds of recovery echoed through a subdivision in the northwestern portion of Merrillville on Friday as cleanup efforts began.
Downed trees, furniture caught in high branches, torn roofs, and homes completely destroyed illustrated the power of storms that ripped through the area.
"Windows shattering, we've seen the ceiling open up, we start seeing lightning through the house, and it was just a chaotic scene," said Merrillville resident Paris Barnes.
Barnes and his mother were at home when the storm hit. His nephew, Khalil McClary, was video calling his mother at the time the tornado hit.
"I screen recorded it on my phone. She was showing it, and then I just seen the roof came down," McClary said.
A screen recording of that video call showed his mother's point of view, seeing destruction in the home when she said she heard something collapse and ran back to safety.
"I ain't never seen nothing like this before in my life," Katrina McClary-Harris said.
The family is now focused on recovery, both with financial efforts like a GoFundMe, and with the damage that can't be seen.
"It's the mental now that we're going through, the healing of the mental, you know?" McClary-Harris said.
In another part of the neighborhood, Africka Matthews shared her ordeal of survival.
"My daughter and I, we pulled into the driveway, and we was literally trapped in the car, because of the gust of the wind and the pressure," Matthews said.
Matthews is grateful her family is safe, and takes pride in seeing her community rally to support one another, but she also hopes more help arrives in the coming days.
"We are residents here. We need some kind of light shined on us. We need help," she said.
The town of Merrillville is encouraging residents who sustained damage to report that to IN211.org or call 211. Officials said that information is used to help determine community needs and next steps.
