Published: May 31, 2008 12:34 am      

Severe storms cancel KHS graduation

Kokomo High School valedictorian Nicklus Barnes didn’t expect to make closing remarks for the Class of 2008’s graduation ceremony. But, as Mother Nature would have it, he did.

After his address Friday evening, seniors were to take the stage at Memorial Gym and receive their diplomas. Instead, they found themselves being ushered across Apperson Way and into the basement of Central Middle School, where they would ride out the storm barreling through Kokomo.

With the awarding of Academic Honors held before Barnes and salutatorian Kirsten Milliron’s speeches, some students were able to make the trip across the stage during the ceremony.

When the ceremony began at 7:30 p.m., Howard County was under a tornado watch, said community relations liaison Dave Barnes. When the threat was upgraded to a warning, the call was made to halt the ceremony.

“When we went from a watch to a warning, we stopped and evacuated to Central because there’s no basement in Memorial Gym,” he said. “Then we announced it would be canceled.”

Though it was a short walk across the street, the rain was pouring down.

“A lot of people got quite wet,” he said.

Some students returned to the gym after being released from Central and were able to have their pictures taken onstage. The ceremony will not be rescheduled, but students will be able to pick up their diplomas at the high school on Monday and Tuesday when they return their caps and gowns, Barnes said.

Friday night’s Final Fling was to go on as scheduled, though more storms were possible.

“The high school has tunnels in case of more inclement weather,” he said.

The storms wreaked havoc across much of Howard County, with a real threat of tornados forming.

Officials were given little warning from the National Weather Service in Indianapolis about the impending threat of tornadoes, said Larry Smith, director of the Kokomo-Howard County Emergency Management Agency.

“There was no [tornado warning issued] for Howard County until 8 p.m.,” he said. “By then, we were already under the gun. It was already here.”

Though the storm produced some hail and dumped a lot of rain on the area, no tornados were reported, Smith said.

“The make up [for tornados] was there,” he said. “There was rotation but nothing touched down.”

A funnel cloud was spotted in the sky near Ind. 26 and Ind. 29.

The threat of a tornado heading toward St. Joseph Hospital was enough to have staff taking precautions, said Sister Catherine Kelly, an administrator with the hospital.

“The drapes were closed, and patients were moved to more interior spots,” Kelly said, adding the actions were protocol in this type of situation.

“Caution on the side of safety, that’s what we did tonight,” she said.

The story was much different in Carroll County, where officials confirmed at least three to four tornados touched down near Flora.

“We haven’t had any damage reported as of now,” Dave McDowell, director of the Carroll County Emergency Management Agency, said after the storms passed through. “We have had an awful lot of lightning, so I expect there is damage somewhere.”

That damage, he expects, will come from flooding and high winds.