Severe weather damages more than a dozen homes in Merrillville, Indiana
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (CBS) -- Severe weather that swept across the Chicago area also damaged more than a dozen homes in Merrillville, Indiana, Friday.
Winds ripped open roofs and tore apart the walls. Two neighborhoods, Madison Meadows and Forest Hills, seem to have the most damage.
It is remarkable to see the wreckage in the daylight, but leaders say there were no major injuries, just major damage.
Roofs can be seen pulled clean off of buildings and pieces of debris caught in the trees that are still standing.
Just a couple of blocks away, one tree was uprooted.
Repairs started early Saturday. Crews could be seen already at work making temporary patches and tarps covering open spaces until they can get in with permanent repairs.
Town leaders say there are multiple road closures because of downed trees and power lines.
Crews were out Saturday pushing the debris to the side, and they say a lot of that will remain on the side of the road as they schedule pick-ups over the upcoming days.
There are also still a lot of neighborhoods with power outages. Saturday afternoon the power company reported more than 2,300 customers in Merrillville were without power.
CBS 2 spoke with one resident who says her neighbors evacauted because their mom is elderly and they stayed in place Friday night.
She says it sounded like an airplane landed on her home.
"There was loud wind. A lot of wind, a lot of loud wind. And I started to get concerned that point, but it's one of those things. You never think it's going to happen to you," said Lisa Lancaster.
Town leaders say this all happened around 9 p.m. as part of a suspected tornado.
Lancaster says she's grateful to see all her neighbors pull together and officers standing watch outside their house Friday night to make sure they were OK.
