WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Borden Hit Hard By Storm, But No Injuries Reported

Borden Hit Hard By Storm, But No Injuries Reported

By Chris Parente

(LOUISVILLE May 28th, 2004, 5:30 p.m.) -- The small town of Borden, Indiana felt the full fury of Thursday night's storms. WAVE 3's Chris Parente spent the day there as residents began cleaning up the mess the storm left behind.

The force of a storm late Thursday night was made terribly clear in the light of day.

"We could hear the tornado go over," said Mason Thomas, a lifeling resident of Borden. "If it would have hit the house, it probably would have destroyed the house and us."

Jeannie Inouye owns one of the many trees that "popped like a matchstick" Thursday. "I just pride myself on having a beautiful yard," she says. "It's like taking somebody out of the family, taking this tree."

Just about everywhere in Borden, roadways were turned to waterways, treetops were leveled and services were cut off. All of Borden's major businesses were shut down.

"The bank, post office, grocery store -- people rely on those so much," says Pat Glotzbach with the New Washington Bank. "When they're not open, not sure where to go."

It was hard to find anyone in Borden who wasn't affected by the storm's devastation. Trees damaged power lines, vehicles and homes.

The old Kimbell plant, which employs 300 people, had an entire warehouse wall made of cinderblock stripped away like paper. "And while the damage looks bad, officials at Kimbell say they're lucky: the production side of the plant was not damaged, and that means the jobs and the productivity can continue.

It's a common theme around Borden one day after the powerful storm: things were bad, but could have been a lot worse.

Schools were cancelled in Borden on Friday, but the kids will have to make up the loss next week -- after graduation Tuesday night. They'll have to go back to class one more time next Wednesday.

Online Reporter: Chris Parenter

Online Producer: Michael Dever