By TED YOAKUM &
KELSEY HAMMON

NOTE: Online edition reflects updated information from the National Weather Service

Area meteorologists from the Northern Indiana Forecast said the storm that occurred Tuesday night produced three EF-1 tornadoes, one which struck Niles and the other hitting Dowagaic and the third tornado hit Vandalia, Michigan.

Peak winds reached up to 105 miles per hour in Niles and Dowagiac, representatives with the weather service said.

Hail measuring an inch in diameter, as well as gusts of rain, also pelted the area for about 30 minutes to an hour. The tornado in Niles touched down near Eastside Connections School from 8:54 to 8:56 p.m. In Dowagiac, the tornado touched down from 8:58 to 9:02 p.m. in a field southwest of town.

Two meteorologists began a survey of the damage in both the Niles and Dowagiac area Wednesday morning to first assess whether or not the storm was indeed a tornado.

According to Jeff Logsdon, a science and operations officer at the Northern Indiana Forecast, one of the factors that meteorologists study in this instance is the way that debris is scattered. If the materials seem to have fallen in the same direction, this would be a sign of straight-line winds, while more randomly scattered debris could mean a tornado had struck the area.

Tuesday night’s storm started culminating over the plain states, Logsdon said.

An area of low air pressure and a humid and unstable air mass and strong upper atmosphere winds created the formula for the powerful storm, which tore across parts of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan.

Meteorologists do not typically see a storm like this in the wintertime, Logsdon said.

“Usually this type of a system is more indicative of the middle of spring not the middle of winter,” he said.
In a release from the Niles City Administrator office, city leaders reported that around 550 customers still lacked electric service, down from the 850 people who reported outages immediately following the storm.
Unfortunately, getting these residents back on the grid will not be a simple process, said City Administrator Ric Huff.
The storm caused extensive damage to the power lines in the area, and may require crews to rebuild the poles themselves, he said. Many of the lines have also fallen near private property, which presents accessibility issues for crews.
“It is going to take a fair amount of time for our crews to get behind homes and replace the poles that have fallen,” Huff said.
It may take up to three days get the power system completely up and running again, Huff said.
There are also several homes that received damage to the resident’s side of the electric meter, which will need to be repaired by the homeowner prior to the city offering service, the release stated.
The outage also impacted the Salvation Army at 424 N. Fourth St. One of the services the organization provides is usually emergency disaster relief, but due to damage to their own property the aid service is temporarily closed, according to William Walters, the major commanding officer.
Walters said the building had no power and that gas had also been shut off.
The Salvation Army building itself was largely unscathed, except for some minor damages, he said. Crews would be working to restore gas and power and remove a tree that had crashed into the parking lot.
Additionally, Walters said the donations bin had been knocked on its side, while the facility’s dumpster had been carried across the street by the force of the storm.
Jan Nowak, the director of caring ministries/social services said that her thoughts and prayers were with those of the neighbors whose homes were damaged.
“I am just sad that we are not available right now,” she said.
Due to the power outage, she said all of the frozen food would have to be transferred and stored elsewhere. At this time, Nowak said she does not know when they will be up and running again.
Residents who are in need of emergency housing during the repairs are asked to contact the Niles Law Enforcement Complex at (269) 683-1313.
On top of the repairs, the city is also currently conducting an assessment of the damage caused by the storm, which should help leaders determine how much it will cost to completely patch things up, Huff said.
“Any storm like this is a tragic event for those impacted by it, and it is very costly to repair all the damage it caused,” Huff said. “It is not even close to the largest the city has ever experienced, but there are many people significantly impacted by it, and they are who we are trying to take care of.”
According to outage maps from Indiana Michigan Power and Midwest Energy, there were only a handful of homes still without power outside city limits as of Wednesday afternoon.