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Two factories were among the damaged structures in Kosciusko County, with Da-Lite Screen Co. Inc. on Ind. 15 the hardest hit, and R.R. Donnelley & Sons sustaining "fairly significant damage to the east plant," according to Grant McGuire, vice president and division director of the Warsaw facility.
At least 14 people were reported injured at Da-Lite. However, none of the injuries was believed to be serious, officials said. Several employees of Da-Lite said the company was at shift change when the tornado struck and speculated that fatalities would have resulted had it hit five minutes later.
Much of the front of the Da-Lite Screen building was pulled off by the storm, showering bricks and pieces of metal onto and into vehicles parked outside the building. Witnesses said the debris was blown away from the building rather than into it, although piles of debris were visible deep into the structure.
Two Consolidated Freightways truck drivers who just completed loading their semi trailers considered themselves lucky - both the rigs ended up on their sides on the south end of the facility.
Gary McIntosh of Fort Wayne said he was ready to go but decided to take a bathroom break before hitting the road. Otherwise, he would have been inside his tractor cab.
Ted Adkins, also of Fort Wayne, said the twister appeared to change direction after hitting the front of the building before heading around to the back, where the rear wall of the shipping department was torn off.
Cindy Warstler of Burket said she had just gotten off work and was sitting in the passenger side of her sport utility vehicle waiting for her co-worker husband, Roger, to come out when the storm hit.
"I saw semis and cars starting to swirl out on 15 ... and I decided to get out," Cindy Warstler said. But before that could happen, the driver's side window blew in and she saw about a 12-foot piece of metal coming at her vehicle. She said she ducked as the debris crashed through the two rear windows of the SUV. By the time she opened the vehicle door, the front of Da-Lite was gone.
"I've never in my life seen anything like this," Warstler said.
Several law enforcement officials said this is the worst storm damage they have seen in Kosciusko County since beginning their tours of duty. However, some officials compared the damage to the devastation that struck Atwood in April 1974. More injuries were reported in that storm, but the path of the tornado was similar to this one, officials said.
Among the injuries at Da-Lite, most were cuts and scrapes, and an employee said one of his co-workers was reportedly struck by flying debris and taken from the scene by ambulance. Several people reportedly inhaled concrete dust and were treated at the scene.
Brian Schmidt of Warsaw said he was in his car ready to leave when "it got kind of windy and my car started hopping a little bit." He said he ducked to avoid a piece of plywood coming at his car, then ran to check on other people as the tornado moved past.
Schmidt, who works in the frame-making area, pointed out the area he was working in prior to the storm. Light fixtures dangled loosely above piles of debris.
Juanita Danner of Warsaw said she was talking with her boss inside her cubicle when "we saw the wind and rain coming through the building." Danner said she and Kris Carney started to go toward a designated shelter area, but saw that it was not there, so they got onto the floor and covered their heads. When the two women crawled out over the debris, they could see three walls of Danner's cubicle standing at the center of the destruction.
Officials at Da-Lite could not be reached this morning, but several employees said Wednesday night that they were told to report for work today. KEMRAD volunteers were on the scene throughout the night to watch the building and keep people away from it.
At Donnelley's, McGuire said, "Overall, we were very, very fortunate."
One employee was treated at Kosciusko Community Hospital and later released for injuries suffered when the storm hit, and three others received first aid at the scene. About 400 to 500 people are in the facility during an average shift, he said.
The east plant has "quite a bit of structural damage," McGuire said, with a wall and part of a roof collapsed.
Damage to machinery and stored product is minimal, McGuire said, but "a lot of square feet needs to be covered" for protection from the weather.
"It's too early to know when we'll start up the bindery again," he said, adding that the facility is "70 percent up and running."
Both facilities have emergency plans in place and officials were impressed with the quickness of determining everyone's whereabouts. Within about one-half hour at both locations, all employees were accounted for and rescue workers had one less thing to worry about.
