Heavy storms kill 3

At least three people were killed following heavy thunderstorms that swept through the state Friday and early Saturday. The storms continued Saturday evening, hampering cleanup efforts.\nTwo Carroll County women drowned Saturday morning after thundershowers produced widespread flooding and forced many people to evacuate their homes.\nCarla J. Barber, 36, of Cutler, died while trying to clear a drain in the pond at her home just outside Burlington, said Carroll County Sheriff's Department Deputy Kevin Hammond.\nPolice did not release the name of the second victim, pending notification of next of kin, but Hammond said the rural Camden woman died when she apparently attempted to drive a van through five to six feet of water and was swept off the road into a ditch containing nine to 10 feet of water.\nA Kokomo man was killed Friday afternoon in Fulton County after being trapped under a tree that had fallen during the storms, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Department. Ada D. Havens, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene from massive blunt force trauma.\nThere were no confirmations of tornados with Saturday evening's storms, though the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department said they had reports of funnel clouds near Crawfordsville, about 30 miles northwest of Indianapolis.\nAn official with the department said there were reports of damage, with power lines and trees down, but no injures had been reported.\nRain totals of two inches or more fell throughout the region Saturday evening, according to the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. This was in addition to the up to two or more inches of rain that fell Friday and earlier Saturday throughout the region.\nMore than two inches of rain fell at Indianapolis International Airport on Saturday evening, the weather service said.\nWind gusts of up to 61 mph were reported Saturday evening near Butler University in Indianapolis, the weather service said. There were also reports of nickel-sized hail in Carmel, in Hamilton County, north of Indianapolis.\nAbout 22,000 customers in the Indianapolis area were without power Saturday evening, according to Crystal Livers-Powers, spokeswoman for Indianapolis Power and Light Co. Earlier in the day, 12,000 customers had been without power, but the additional storms added to the outages.\nPowers said Indianapolis Power and Light Co. had 10 circuit lockouts between Friday and Saturday and each lockout affects thousands of customers.\n"It really speaks to the severity of the storm," she said.\nPower was expected to be restored to some residents Saturday evening, with more following Sunday.\nIn the Muncie and Marion area, northeast of Indianapolis, more than 16,000 residents were without power Saturday, according to American Electric Power spokesman Mike Brian. He said power could be out for much of the weekend.\nAEP also reported hundreds of power outages in the Fort Wayne area.\nAEP was bringing in crews from other states to help restore power to its customers, Brian said.\nNorth of Indianapolis, communities were worried about flash flooding.\nAuthorities in Cass and Miami counties Saturday reported some roads closed due to water and some creeks spilling over their banks. There were reports of evacuations in Walton in Cass County.\nThe National Weather Service issued flood watches through Sunday morning for more than a dozen Indiana counties, including Carroll, Howard, Tippecanoe, Warren, Clinton, Tipton, Madison, Delaware, Fountain, Hamilton, Montgomery, Boone, Henry, Hancock, Marion, Hendricks, Putnam, Rush and Shelby.\nThe fast-moving storms that swept across Indiana on Friday included three tornado touchdowns in Boone County, including one that sheriff's department employees watched from the front door of the county jail. No injuries and minimal damages were reported.\nThe National Weather Service confirmed Saturday that a tornado touched down Friday afternoon near Plum Tree in Huntington County, about 20 miles southwest of Fort Wayne, and moved into Wells County.\nThe twister's path was 8.5 miles long, causing damage to houses, trees and power lines, officials said. No injuries were reported.\nScattered thunderstorms were expected in parts of Indiana through the weekend and into next week. Forecasters also warned residents to be prepared for high temperatures and humidity through the middle of next week.