Deadly Tornado Kills Many in Sullivan

Deadly Tornado Kills Many in Sullivan 4/10/23

By: Kinley Butler & Kaitlyn Goodall

Imagine just being in your house, when all of a sudden your phone goes off. It’s a tornado sighting, on the street next to you. What would you do? This is exactly what people had to figure out when a tornado destroyed the town of Sulivan on March 31st of this year.

Completely restart life? This is what some of the Sullivan County residents had to do after the devastating tornadoes on the night of March 31st, 2023. Sullivan is located near the Illinois state line about 95 miles southwest of Indianapolis. Hundreds of houses were destroyed, and tons of people were either killed, hospitalized, or went missing. “The storm damaged more than 150 homes and buildings in Sullivan and 200 total across the county,” according to wthr.com. Some citizens were even still missing on Saturday morning. Emergency crews were also dealing with downed power lines and reported gas leaks.

Payton Baugh, a 6th grader, said, “My dad has a bunch of army friends that live there, their houses got destroyed,” And Poppy Bishop, another 6th grader, had her own stories. “My sister’s friend from her psychology class lives in Sulivan with her family and her whole entire house got blown over, their cars also got smashed and flipped over,” she shared.

Some specific stories of certain Sullivan residents include the story of Calvin Cox, who said he doesn’t have homeowners insurance, lost his home, his vehicles, and got injured by glass during the tornado. He said the tornado sounded like a train. In the city of Sullivan, the path of destruction follows nearly a straight line – parallel with Silver Street. Some homes were completely leveled.

This tornado, one of many that flew through Indiana on March 31st, killed 3 people and left many more injured. It went for a total length of 8-10 miles before it stopped. In its path the tornado destroyed many houses, vehicles, trees, property, and much more. If you were hit by these destructive tornadoes, we hope that everything is back to normal now.