City crews, homeowners, landlords, tenants and neighbors were busy Tuesday cleaning up from a tornado that touched down briefly on Elkhart’s south side.
No one was killed or even injured when a tornado hit Elkhart shortly before 2 a.m. It struck an area the size of a few square blocks between Lusher and Hively avenues, where tree limbs were knocked down and whole trees were uprooted.
On Pleasant Plain Avenue, Steven Wright was helping his neighbor, Marco Cabrera, cut up tree branches that had fallen. A tree had crashed through Cabrera’s kitchen ceiling. Wright, pausing from his chainsaw, said this was the first time he’d met his neighbors.
"It doesn't matter if you know them or not, I live two houses down from them," Wright said. "I just wanted to make sure they were safe."
Cabrera rents the home with his wife and teenage daughter, who are Chilean immigrants. His comments to WVPE were translated from Spanish.
"Unfortunately we are facing a catastrophe which we are pleading for help," he said through the translator. "We currently need help removing the trees off the house so that we can take our cars out (of the garage) and access our food. I do realize there's chaos everywhere but we truly need help."
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security has opened its 211 phone line and website to residents with damages to report. The state ultimately could use the reports to award compensation to victims.
