Central Indiana braces for first potential bout of severe weather

INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time this season, central Indiana is under the gun for its first bout of severe weather.

Marion County EMA Director Jacob Spence said the timing could be dangerous.

“The overnight is obviously our worst time period,” explained Spence. “Most people, unless you’re a shift worker, you’re asleep for the most part, you’re inside of a house or apartment or something like that and our outdoor warning sirens are not meant to get into those areas.”

That’s why Spence said it’s all the more reason to be on alert tonight. High winds, rain, possible tornadoes and hail are all risks with this storm.

Weather Authority Meteorologist Ethan Rosuck said the biggest threat with this storm will be the wind.

“Winds are always an underrated threat,” said Rosuck. “We can see winds that are up to hurricane strength and with the deepening pressure system like this and that is going to be the case.”

The Weather Authority said most of the area will experience around 40-55 mile per hour wind gusts.

That’s when Rosuck said we start to see power outages. Thunderstorms could ramp those winds up to 70 miles per hour.

That’s when Rosuck said you start to see minor roof damage. At 80 miles per hour or more, there’s the potential for widespread outages.

“This is not going to be the worst storm we’ve ever seen. I’m just going to emphasize that here,” said Rosuck. “This is just going to be a big wake up call for Hoosiers across central Indiana that severe weather does happen here.”

Rosuck and Spence are urging you to be prepared both in and outside the home.

• Have a severe weather kit with enough food, batteries, chargers and blankets to get you through a possible outage.
• Make sure to clear debris from gutters and drains as that can lead to flash flooding.
• And most importantly, review your safety plan with your family to make sure you know where to go if a warning is issued and have a way to get those warnings.

“Before you go to bed check the weather, check the radar, know where you’re at, make sure your phones are charged and make sure they are on an audible alert, not on silent, not on vibrate and that you have ways to get alerts so that wakes you up in the middle of the night,” said Spence. “We always recommend having a NOAA weather radio for those overnight periods because that is going to wake you up.”