Indiana tornado deals death and destruction

EVANSVILLE, Ind., Tuesday (Reuters) Shocked survivors of a tornado that killed 23 people in Indiana returned to shattered homes on Monday thankful to be alive but stunned by the destruction.

"The reality sets in. I came back today and just lost it," said Sherri Hudson standing near the one wall that was left of her house in the town of Newburgh.

She and her husband, Jerry, survived, she said, only because of a frantic telephone call from their son, Casey, telling them to ask no questions but to go to the basement immediately as the middle-of-the-night storm struck on Sunday."We no sooner got down there than it was like a bomb exploded. All the debris came falling down the stair," she said in an interview. "The only thing left are the cabinets in my kitchen. The dishes are still in them untouched."

But she said she and her husband consider themselves fortunate compared to those who live about a mile (1.6 km) away in the Eastbrook mobile home park in Evansville where 18 people died.

The dead there ranged from children aged 2, 5 and 6 to a 78-year-old man. Five deaths were confirmed in neighboring Warrick County, including a couple, their 4-year-old son and the woman's near-term fetus.

More than 200 people were injured in the southwest Indiana region, some of them critically, after the storm hit at 2 a.m.

U.S. President George W. Bush, visiting Panama, said he had called Indiana Gov. Mitchell Daniels and asked him if more federal action was needed.