by Nicole Clark, CompetitionPlus Social Media Editor
Brownsburg, Indiana is home to most of the NHRA nitro race teams and their families.
On Wednesday night, a destructive tornado touched down smack in the middle of those shops. Thursday morning was spent with people checking in on each other and also cleaning up. Damaged in its path was the John Force Racing shop.
From pictures and eyewitness accounts, the tornado blew in the garage doors and a hole can be seen in the roof. According to a post on social media, the JFR shop suffered, “severe storm and water damage.”
The drag racing community is very close-knit, and when one team finds itself dealing with a problem – other teams will rally around them to help. This was the case as many people showed up to help John Force Racing last night and this morning to lend a hand.
John Force Crew Chief, Tim Fabrisi, expressed his gratitude to other teams on social media.
“Thank you to ALL that stopped and helped JFR last night. It was not your duty or responsibility to help, but you did anyways. It proves humanity still survives in people. John Force asked me to extend his gratitude and Thanks you all from his heart.”
The National Weather Service confirmed it was an EF-2 tornado that struck Brownsburg on Wednesday night, with additional survey information forthcoming. In Brownsburg, cleanup efforts continue after the tornado heavily damaged the Sur La Table warehouse on Northfield Drive.
The Indiana National Guard has been activated to assist recovery efforts in at least 41 of Indiana’s 92 counties following severe storms on Wednesday. The governor’s office announced the deployment on Thursday afternoon.
This marks the second time in five days that residents are dealing with damage from severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. Approximately 50 soldiers from units in Jasper, Vincennes, and Seymour will participate in damage assessments and recoveries as part of Operation Sandcastle.
Additional units from Bedford, Terre Haute, Indianapolis, and Chandler may be activated if needed.
As of 2:12 p.m. Thursday, over 59,000 Hoosiers remained without power. Multiple school districts, including Indianapolis Public Schools, switched to e-learning for the day.
Police reported downed power lines and trees obstructing streets in Indianapolis. Some intersections lacked functioning traffic signals, and AES Indiana reported nearly 19,000 outages at 2:20 p.m., with crews working throughout the day to restore power to approximately 25,000 customers, prioritizing those without power for the longest duration.
