National Weather Service confirms tornado on N. Main Street in Mishawaka

MISHAWAKA, Ind. (WSBT) — The National Weather Service confirmed an EF0 tornado in Mishawaka.

The National Weather Service was on Main Street in Mishawaka to assess the damage.

Wind speeds reached 70 miles per hour. The storm began east of the Meijer parking lot and impacted the La-Z-Boy and Pot Belly furniture stores. It tore down tree limbs near Raising Canes and eventually dissipated in a field west of the hospital.

There were tree branches all over the parking lot and even a La-Z-Boy sign had been ripped off a building.

One tree was uprooted and another was split in half.

On the other side of the building, several pieces of the La-Z-Boy sign were found, as well as branches and debris.

La-Z-Boy employees who worked during the storm said the storm was severe.

One employee has worked at the store for 15 years and said she has never experienced anything like this.

“The water was just hitting the south side of the building and I was trying to herd everyone into the back of the store and it was kind of scary. The front doors were flying, the back door was flying, and we just saw it when we turned around,” said Patricia Merrill and Monica Werelius, employees at La-Z-Boy.

The La-Z-Boy store manager said management will work on repairs to the building and a new sign is on the way.

The Meijer on Grape Road in Mishawaka is dealing with debris from the confirmed tornado with winds of 70 mph.

At the Meijer store, the doors were blown wide open by the wind and a person inside the store reported seeing shopping carts flying through the air.

A piece of the roof came loose and there are now plastic trays inside to collect the water.

During the storm, customers were asked to go to the back of the store.

One person said they saw two people trying to close the doors, which then flew open, and told them to turn back because the wind was too strong.

“It could have been a lot worse if they had been sucked out the door. That’s what worried me so much. I know because the doors were ripped open like that. It could have just sucked them out. Yes, it was very strong! A very strong wind,” said Pamela Deitch, who was at Meijer during the storm.

A tornado warning was in effect for Mishawaka, Granger and parts of Cass County, as well as Edwardsburg, on Tuesday.

WSBT spoke with Joshua Hodges, a meteorology student at IU South Bend who took photos of the damage to report to the National Weather Service.

He said he called the NWS on Tuesday and reported that he thought it might be a tornado.

“So, I was at Plato’s Closet with my friend and her sister and all I saw was when I looked out the window, I saw a gray vortex about a half mile south of me. I pointed out the window and I was like, ‘Hey, that’s a tornado.’ And then everyone in the store was like, ‘Is that it?’ And then everyone was like, ‘Oh, crap, that’s a tornado,'” Hodges said.

The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes in the region. One in Mishawaka and the other in LaGrange County.