Deadly Tornado Tears Through Kentucky, Indiana

Nov. 7, 2005 — -- A tornado roared through parts of Kentucky and Indiana early Sunday, killing at least 22 people as they slept, and injuring at least 200.

"It was Mother Nature at her most insidious and sneakiest," said Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. "To come in the middle of the night in November this way."

The tornado, which packed winds of between 158 and 206 mph formed in Kentucky. The storm then crossed the Ohio River and made its way to Evansville, Ind., where it leveled part of a mobile home park, killing at least 17 people, including three children. It also hit the Ellis Park horse track in Kentucky, destroying the grounds and killing several horses.

The tornado was rated an F3 on the Fujita scale which ranges from F0, the weakest, to F5, the strongest, making it the deadliest tornado in the United States since 1999.

Hours after the storm, rescuers pulled an 8-year-old boy from the rubble.

"That's what it's all about," said Chief Jerry Bulger of the German Township Fire Department in Indiana after the boy was rescued. "It's just a good feeling."

Bulger said the chances are not good that the boy's family survived.

Rescuers described a scene littered with the debris of people's lives: a bicycle, toys, mattresses and a pregnancy guide thought to belong to a pregnant woman who perished along with her husband and young child in Degonia Springs, Ind.

Joan Fulps, who lives in the Evansville mobile home park, and her husband survived the ordeal and she is currently in the hospital awaiting surgery.

Fulps said she could not fall asleep on Saturday night and was able to hear the tornado warning. She took cover in her closet.

Nevertheless, the strong winds picked her up and moved her home three to four streets.

"I didn't really feel any pain," she said from her hospital bed. "I don't know how long I laid there, neighbors from other streets came over and started helping us."

It was a close brush with fate.

"A pickup truck crashed into house right behind me," she said. "It stopped a steel beam ... from crushing me."