High winds damage northern Indiana cities

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- Wind gusting more than 100 mph off Lake Michigan blew over trees and knocked out power to thousands in northern Indiana, but meteorologists found no evidence of a tornado touching down, the National Weather Service said Thursday.\nPeople reported seeing funnel clouds midway between South Bend and Gary Wednesday evening. But investigators determined that winds of 80 to 100 mph caused the damage, said weather service meteorologist Jon Hitchcock.\n"All the damage they found is consistent with straight-line thunderstorm winds," he said.\nSince the storms came off the lake, there was nothing to slow the winds, Hitchcock said.\n"Over the lake there's no friction to the wind at all," he said.\nA wind gust was measured at 106 mph at Michigan City, Hitchcock said.\nResidents from Gary to LaPorte, a distance of about 30 miles, emerged from their homes after the storm to begin clearing numerous downed trees and other debris.\nAll available repair crews were out trying to restore electricity but found many broken utility poles, said Mike Charbonneau, a spokesman for Northern Indiana Public Service Co.\nMore than 20,000 customers were without power in the hours after the storm, Charbonneau said. About 7,500 customers were still without power, mostly in northern LaPorte and Porter counties as of noon Thursday.\nAn estimate for when power would be restored to all customers was not immediately available.\n"The storm hit pretty hard in those areas," he said.\nDiane Maddox saw the damage as she drove to work Thursday morning from LaPorte to Valparaiso.\n"It looked like a crop circle in this cornfield in Westville, but not in any pattern, just 20-foot sections of corn just lying down. Trees were still blocking theroad," Maddox said.\nHeavy damage was also reported at a boat show scheduled to begin Thursday at the Washington Park Marina in Michigan City, as instruments at the nearby U.S. Coast Guard station measured wind gusts of up to 92 mph.\n"It was intense. I've never seen anything like it," said Roscoe Serrells of Charlevoix, Mich., who rode out the storm on a boat in Trail Creek.\nLaPorte County 911 Assistant Director Beth West said Thursday that some minor injuries were reported in the county, but nothing serious. She said the storm hit especially hard in Westville, where the wind scattered a lumber company's entire stack of wood across the railroad tracks.