2 weeks after damaging tornadoes, Kentuckiana communities continue to clean up the mess

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nearly two weeks following damaging storms that included one EF2 tornado, communities in and round Louisville are still cleaning up the mess left behind.

A powerful line of storms brought winds more than 100 mph into Jeffersonville, Indiana, that toppled trees, damaged homes and scattered debris. That storm would pick up speed as it traveled toward the Ohio River and cross into Kentucky.

The line of storms April 2 left damage in 13 Kentucky counties and another four counties in Indiana. Three days after the storm, the NWS had confirmed tornadoes in the following locations:

Indiana

Harrison/Floyd: EF1 with 95 mph
Clark: EF1 with 100 mph winds

Kentucky

Jefferson: EF2 with 120 mph winds
Oldham: EF2 with 115 mph winds (Buckner)
Oldham: EF1 with 95 mph
Henry: EF1 with 110 mph winds
Bourbon/Clark: EF1 with 105 mph winds
Jessamine: EF1 with 110 mph winds
Anderson: EF1 with 95 mph winds
Nelson: EF1 with 95 mph winds

Thousands of people were left without power. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issued a state of emergency for Louisville but said it will take some time to find out how much the state could get from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"It's horrible," said Toby Sowder, a roofer repairing damage in Jeffersonville nearly two weeks later. "It took roofs away. Complete chunks of them."

Sowder and a crew of workers were just some of the people outside Monday repairing the damage. Neighborhoods in southern Indiana were riddled with blue tarps and lumber, signaling both progress and inconvenience.

"We're swamped," Sowder said. "We keep getting calls. We can't even get to them to estimate them. It's bad."

LRC Roofing crews could be seen moving from roof to roof on the same street.

"We actually pulled all of our crews together, and our primary purpose is to get these people back in their homes as soon as we can," said Lisa Livingston, an LRC Roofing supervisor.

LRC has been on site in Jeffersonville for an entire week but estimates it will take three to six months to make all the repairs needed.

The same work is happening miles away in Kentucky, where the tornado picked up speeds over 120 mph.

"They say you hear a train coming," said Jack Crawford, a Prospect resident. "We heard that. My father-in-law lives with us. He's older, so we got him down in the basement first. Everybody was just following behind that."

Beachland Beach in Prospect was hit hard by the storm, and Crawford finds himself with the same perspective of many other homeowners in the path: on top of his roof.

"We actually put this addition on about two years ago and were just finishing up," he said Monday. "It's actually what I do for a living. It just all came back down."

Crawford works in construction but finds himself as his own client for the first time. Nearly the entire roof must be replaced, as is the case for many neighbors.

"It's gonna be a while before it looks normal again, because everywhere is just damage," he said.

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