Thunderstorms, Tornadoes Pummel Midwest

Friday, May 28th 2004, 5:56 am

By: News On 6

FREDERICKSBURG, Ind. (AP) _ Powerful thunderstorms that spawned tornadoes and soaked the Midwest pushed southward on Friday, leaving flooded roads and toppled trees in its wake.

Dozens of West Virginia schools canceled or delayed classes Friday, while some residents had to be rescued by boat from flash floods that stranded them on highways or in flooded homes.

Tornadoes touched down Thursday in Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri, damaging a handful of homes. There was no immediate word of any injuries.

In Indiana, the Blue River surged out of its banks near Salem, lifting semi trailers from a parking lot and carrying them down river until they crashed into a bridge.

Thousands of homes lost power in Indiana and Kentucky, and state and county workers spent the early morning Friday trying to reopen routes made impassable by water and debris.

An apparent tornado damaged about 50 homes that were then struck by a flash flood near Martinsburg, Ind., about 25 miles northwest of Louisville, Ky., said Ken Hollingsworth of the Indiana Emergency Management Agency.

In nearby Fredericksburg, sheriff's deputies used boats to rescue people from homes, a church and a tavern.

At Russ's Pop-a-Top Tavern in New Pekin, about eight people fled for an interior room when tornado sirens sounded about 6:45 p.m., said bartender Boots Martin. Nearly three hours later, with the power out, patrons were drinking by candlelight.

``We're just kind of muddling through,'' he said. A handful of homes in New Pekin were severely damaged.

In Kentucky, a tornado touched down in Henry County on Thursday night as harsh winds and rain moved east through the Louisville area, the National Weather Service reported.

Henry County Judge-Executive John Brent said a tornado hit Eminence, a town of about 2,300.

Television images showed broad stretches of destruction around Eminence, with house parts scattered for miles across the rolling farmland. Several wooden barns were flattened, and their wooden supports were stacked like children's pickup sticks.

``This little town was smashed hard,'' said resident Cynthia Siler, who said high winds destroyed part of her roof and uprooted apple and peach trees in her backyard.

The weather service warned of possible flash-flooding Friday in eastern Kentucky. States of emergency were declared in two counties.

St. Louis and much of eastern Missouri were hammered with high winds, torrential rain and flash flooding for the fifth straight night Thursday. A weak tornado touched down in Jonesburg, Mo., on Thursday night, causing minor damage, the weather service said.

Meanwhile, recovery efforts continued in Iowa after four days of tornadoes, flooding and hail. Gov. Tom Vilsack on Thursday declared 37 more counties as state disaster areas, bringing the total to 61.

Jeremy Grams, a weather service meteorologist in Des Moines, said another storm system could dump up to 3 inches of rain on parts of Iowa over the weekend.