Tornadoes, storms take toll on Midwest

MARENGO, Ind. -- Thunderstorms continued battering the Midwest yesterday, killing one person in a southern Indiana town after three people in Missouri were killed by a tornado the night before.

Several people were injured by the weekend's tornadoes, which also ripped through parts of Nebraska and Kansas, where high wind was blamed for two highway deaths.

In Marengo, Ind., about 35 miles northwest of Louisville, Ky., witnesses reported a tornado that toppled trees, making roads impassable.

One person was killed in the storm, said Alden Taylor of the Indiana Emergency Management Agency, but he had no further details. Radio station WHAS in Louisville reported the victim was a man in a mobile home.

High wind also destroyed homes and businesses in the town of about 1,000 people. ''It's pretty well devastated," said Ralph Seacat, an emergency management director.

Seacat said there were several injuries, but he did not have an exact number.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis said it saw evidence of a tornado touchdown close to its office on the southwest side of the city. The worst of the storm passed south of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but rain delayed the start of the Indianapolis 500 and forced a nearly two-hour interruption.

A tornado reported in Spencer, about 50 miles southwest of Indianapolis, sent about 30 people scrambling to find cover in a gas station bathroom. The twister ''jumped over our store and touched down on the road in front of us. I was freaking out," said Billie Jo Roecker, assistant manager of the Speedway gas station.

Yesterday's tornado was not immediately confirmed, but strong winds sent trees and power lines crashing to the ground all over town, Spencer Fire Chief Rick Shields said.