Community preparedness — Indiana
Purdue Extension in every county. CERT teams from Indianapolis to Evansville. The largest singly accredited community college in America. And 40+ ham radio clubs that keep Indiana connected when severe weather knocks everything else out. Here's where to plug in.
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Community calendar
CERT trainings, canning workshops, ham radio exams, garden workdays, first aid classes. Events from local organizations that build community resilience.
92
County extension offices
5
NWS offices (incl. shared)
40+
Amateur radio clubs
19
Ivy Tech campuses
Where to plug in
Indiana sits in the eastern edge of tornado alley, with the Ohio and Wabash Rivers adding flood risk and the Great Lakes amplifying winter weather in the north. The organizations below operate county by county because a tornado that hits Henryville demands a different response than an ice storm that paralyzes Fort Wayne.
Purdue Extension operates offices in all 92 Indiana counties. Programming spans agriculture (Indiana is a top producer of corn, soybeans, and poultry), horticulture, food safety, nutrition education, financial literacy, community development, and 4-H youth development. Purdue's agricultural expertise makes county extension offices the most trusted resource in rural Indiana.
The Master Gardener program trains volunteers across Indiana's diverse growing zones. Extension runs food preservation workshops, Homeowner Pest Management clinics, and severe weather preparedness programs. Counties like Tippecanoe (Lafayette), Marion (Indianapolis), Allen (Fort Wayne), and Vanderburgh (Evansville) have some of the state's most active programs.
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) coordinates the state's emergency preparedness program. IDHS works through county emergency management agencies across all 92 counties and maintains the state emergency operations center in Indianapolis. Indiana's EM system is shaped by frequent tornado outbreaks, Ohio and Wabash River flooding, ice storms, and extreme heat events.
CERT programs are active across Indiana. Marion County (Indianapolis), Allen County (Fort Wayne), St. Joseph County (South Bend), Vanderburgh County (Evansville), Monroe County (Bloomington), and Hamilton County (Carmel/Fishers) run established programs. After the devastating EF-4 tornado that hit Henryville in March 2012, killing 13 across southern Indiana, CERT enrollment grew. Training is free.
The American Red Cross Indiana Region serves the entire state through chapters in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Evansville, Terre Haute, and other cities. All offer first aid, CPR, AED, and water safety classes year-round. Indiana chapters respond to home fires daily and deploy for tornado outbreaks and flood events.
During the March 2012 tornado outbreak that devastated Henryville and several other southern Indiana communities, Red Cross volunteers opened shelters across Clark, Washington, and Jefferson counties. Volunteers served meals, distributed supplies, and provided mental health support for weeks. Volunteer entry points include shelter operations, disaster assessment, feeding, and blood drives.
Indiana has over 40 amateur radio clubs in the ARRL Indiana Section, part of the Central Division. ARES teams are activated during tornado outbreaks, river flooding, and ice storms. Indiana operators provide shelter communications, damage reports, and emergency coordination when commercial networks are overwhelmed during severe weather events.
Getting licensed costs $15 for the exam and about $35 for a basic handheld radio. Study at hamstudy.org, then find an exam session. Clubs in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Evansville, Bloomington, Lafayette, and Terre Haute host exams regularly. The Indiana State Convention draws operators from across the Midwest.
Multiple NWS offices serve Indiana: Indianapolis (central IN), Northern Indiana/North Webster (northern IN), Louisville KY (southeastern IN), Paducah KY (southwestern IN), and Chicago (northwestern corner). Each runs SKYWARN spotter training, typically before severe weather season in spring.
Indiana averages about 20–25 tornadoes per year, with the most dangerous outbreaks typically in spring and early summer. The state also faces severe thunderstorms with damaging hail, Ohio and Wabash River flooding, lake-effect snow in the northern tier, ice storms, and extreme heat. Trained spotters provide critical ground reports. Training is free and runs about 2 hours.
Indiana has over 200 public library locations overseen by the Indiana State Library. Systems like Indianapolis Public Library, Allen County Public Library (Fort Wayne), St. Joseph County Public Library (South Bend), and Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library run extensive community programming. Indiana's library system is among the most used per capita in the country.
Ivy Tech Community College — the largest singly accredited community college in the United States — operates 19 campuses across Indiana, reaching every region of the state. Ivy Tech offers affordable continuing education in EMT certification, fire science, welding, HVAC, electrical work, nursing, and dozens of other practical programs. Vincennes University also serves southern Indiana with similar trades training.
Why this matters
On March 2, 2012, a massive EF-4 tornado tore through Clark, Washington, and Jefferson counties in southern Indiana. The small town of Henryville took a direct hit. The high school was heavily damaged. Homes were reduced to slabs. Across southern Indiana, 13 people were killed and hundreds of structures were destroyed.
In Henryville and the surrounding communities, the response was neighbor-to-neighbor. Within minutes of the tornado passing, residents were pulling people from collapsed buildings. Volunteer fire departments from across southern Indiana converged on the damage path. Ham radio operators established emergency communications when cell towers were destroyed. CERT-trained volunteers assisted with search operations and welfare checks.
Red Cross opened shelters across Clark County. Extension agents helped connect displaced farm families with agricultural disaster recovery resources. Churches that were still standing became supply distribution centers. The community organized fundraisers, rebuilt homes, and supported families through the long recovery.
Henryville rebuilt. And the organizations that made the response possible continue to train new volunteers every year, because in Indiana, tornado season comes back every spring.
The foundation
Community resilience begins with a household that can take care of itself. Cover the first 72 hours, then extend outward to your street, your neighborhood, your town.
Start with the first 72 hours