A tornado that touched down in Gary, Indiana amid severe weather Wednesday left major destruction in its path, including at Frankie Woods McCullough Academy where classes were canceled for the reminder of the week after the school suffered ‘substantial damage’ and the gymnasium roof was nearly torn off.
“You can actually see the sky from the gymnasium,” Chelsea Wittington, Chief of Public and Community Relations for the Gary Community School Corporation said during a briefing at the school Thursday morning. Photos and videos of the damage revealed a shocking site, with debris from the roof strewn across the gym floor.
Wittington added that though officials knew there was a forecast for tornadoes, the area is typically spared of major damage.
According to a preliminary survey report from the National Weather Service, an EF-1 tornado impacted parts of Gary, Indiana Wednesday night as severe weather with several tornado warnings and watches tore through northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. NWS storm teams Thursday were also surveying parts of Highland, Indiana; Lynwood, Steger and Crete in Illinois; and parts of Will and Cook Counties to gather more information on Wednesday’s multiple storm tracks.
Across the region, the storms, with hail and heavy lightning, left trees uprooted and power outages behind as it moved from west to east.
“I’ve seen three houses completely torn up,” a Gary resident told NBC Chicago, of the storm damage. “Big prayers out to the families. Hope they are safe and warm, especially to the kids that can’t go to school.”
The closure at Frankie Woods McCullough Academy Thursday and Friday means spring break, which was set to begin Monday, will start early for students. Next week, officials will work to asses the damage to see if the students can return to the school, or if they will need to be relocated to a different building following the break, Wittington said.
According to school officials, no one was injured.
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