Indiana
Indiana County man recounts storm that produced EF-1 tornado, damaged his property
The storms that rolled through Indiana County early Sunday afternoon produced an EF-1 tornado, according to the National Weather Service.
RELATED COVERAGE >>> 4 EF-1 tornadoes touched down in Westmoreland, Indiana counties Sunday, NWS confirms
“[It] was definitely something to experience,” said Joseph Canton, who lives in Blairsville.
He said it all happened in an instant.
PHOTOS: Strong winds, severe storms blast Western Pennsylvania
“Dark skies, a little bit of debris, and bad wind, that was it. No really big rain or nothing like that,” Canton told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek. “I started hearing that freight train typical sound you get coming off the mountain off the back side over here, and I looked out the window and it really picked up steam with wind. Everything was blowing bad, and the building started disappearing pretty much. Quick in and out within about 20 seconds.”
Most of the damage on Canton’s property was to a dry storage building that his family used to use as a turkey farm.
“We just got it done last year too, because a storm passed through,” he said, noting the second time the building has been damaged by weather.
He said about 30 trees on his property were uprooted or damaged.
“It’s gonna take us a few days, but we’ve got the chainsaws, so we’ll make it happen,” Canton said.
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh sent out two teams to survey damage. One crew stopped first in Derry Township, Westmoreland County.
“It was a very large squall line that came through yesterday just afternoon so there’s damage kind of all up and down through Westmoreland, Indiana and even into Armstrong County,” said Jared Rackley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. “We’re looking at the uproots, which indicates really strong winds, and then we’re looking at things like whether the trees are converging in a pattern or if they’re all down in the same way.”
Another place Rackley stopped to survey damage was the Yellow Creek State Park. He said the tree damage there was caused by straight-line winds, not a tornado.
The tornado in Blairsville marks the first tornado in Indiana County since June 26, 2024.
Canton said he’s going to get the dry storage building on his property rebuilt. He’s thankful nobody was hurt.
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A suspect accused of making threats and violating a protection order led officers in northwest Indiana on a chase that ended when he crashed into a tree and was ejected from the vehicle, police said.
The Portage Police Department said on Friday, officers were called to a residence on Fiesta Drive after complaints of threats and a protection order violation. Later in the day, at around 3:45 p.m., officers were again dispatched to the property for the same reason, police said.
As officers arrived on the scene, the suspect’s vehicle was seen traveling away from the home. An officer later attempted to pull the driver over along Willowcreek Road near 700 North. The vehicle made a U-turn, and the officer believed he was coming to a stop – but the driver quickly sped away, police said.
At the intersection of Willowcreek Road and U.S. 6, the driver went through a red light and struck an oncoming vehicle before losing control and slamming into a tree. The suspect’s vehicle rolled several times, causing the driver to be ejected, police stated.
The driver was airlifted for treatment, but his condition wasn’t immediately known. A female passenger was taken by ambulance to an area hospital with injuries.
The driver who was hit at the intersection was treated at the scene and released, police said.
A third vehicle in a nearby parking lot was hit by the suspect’s vehicle as it rolled, and a person inside that vehicle was hospitalized with minor injuries.
The incident remained under investigation as of Friday night.
Indiana basketball practice observations from June 25: Freshmen mixing in
IU has a game-changer, Thursday’s practice open to the media showed. IndyStar IU insider Zach Osterman explains what he saw.
BLOOMINGTON — Whatever he can.
That’s the answer. The question — one prompted by an urgency to add strength to his game — is what Vaughn Karvala, Indiana basketball’s athletic freshman wing, is doing to add weight. IU’s highest-ranked signee in the 2026 class, it’s not hard to envision a role for Karvala in Darian DeVries’ second season in Bloomington. The player himself knows that starts with meeting the physical demands of the college game.
Which starts with building onto to his 6-foot-7, 190-pound frame.
“The biggest thing for me is just putting on weight,” Karvala told reporters after practice Thursday. “That’s my biggest thing, getting stronger, trying to play with these guys that are three, four years older than me. I have to get stronger, I have to get faster, everything.”
A three-year letter winner at Oregon (Wisconsin) High School, Karvala spent his senior season at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona, bolstering a profile that saw him ranked No. 62 nationally per the 247Sports Composite.
Karvala averaged 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his final season with Oregon, shooting close to 42% from behind the 3-point line. He averaged another 14.7 points per game with Team Herro on the EYBL circuit.
He handed DeVries a major recruiting win last fall, when Karvala picked the Hoosiers over Xavier and Cal. Now, both at the rim and behind the arc, Karvala looks like a player who can contribute meaningfully in his first year in college.
“I know my athleticism catches the eye, but I can still shoot it,” Karvala said. “But another thing is just working on rebounding, trying to get extra possessions for us.”
Whether on the glass or elsewhere, embracing the physical challenge of college basketball has been an emphasis for Karvala since he arrived in Bloomington earlier this summer.
That manifests itself offensively, when he tries to push the ball downhill and leverage that athleticism to attack the rim. It shows up defensively, where Karvala said he’s comfortable guarding the two, the three and, matchup depending, the four.
It even plays out on the glass, battling bigs up to including 7-2 teammate Samet Yigitoglu, who Karvala described with a smile as “the biggest guy I’ve ever seen.”
“Physicality, 100%,” Karvala said, when asked where he’s challenging himself. “Just playing with all these guys that have 20, 30, 40 pounds on me.”
Which starts with the physical demand of more weight. Karvala said he’ll eat chicken, steak or “whatever we have in the locker room” that can help him in that effort. His focus, he said, is simply to “eat a lot, and work out every day.”
As that weight and strength begin to build, Karvala knows the next step — to mentally prepare for the rough-and-tumble nature of life on the floor in the Big Ten — is just as important. Preparing his body comes first. Challenging himself to toughen up once it’s required follows quickly after.
“Just getting fully there, mentally,” he said. “You’re going to have to push your body to get through this.”
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