‘It’s overwhelming’: Neighbors react to deadly explosion on Weinbach Ave.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - The explosion on the 1000 block of Weinbach Avenue on Wednesday afternoon left three dead, one injured and 15 families displaced.

In the wake of the incident, families and individuals are doing their best to come to terms with the incident. Some of these people include Benjamin and Madison Hite, who say it was pure luck that they’re still alive and well – all thanks to finding something on the ground while leaving an arcade.

“Right before we were leaving, we found a $20 bill on the floor, and we used it, because no one was around, to go play games,” Madison said. “If we weren’t playing games, we would’ve been here whenever it happened.”

[Coroner releases names of victims killed in Evansville house explosion]

Meanwhile, Brenda Bennett was house-sitting for her daughter and didn’t know what had happened, until her daughter called and said her house was on the news.

She got her first look at her house since the incident on Thursday.

“It’s just, you don’t know what’s inside,” Bennett said. “You don’t know what condition it is, and then you just feel so bad for everybody around here.”

The Hite’s home has been deemed uninhabitable, joining 14 other families who were displaced, and staying at a local hotel.

For Bennett, she was a little bit luckier.

Her home is not deemed uninhabitable, and that’s not something she’s taking for granted.

“You just worry about your neighbors, you know,” Bennett said. “And how it’s going to affect them, what they need. It’s overwhelming.”

Both Bennett and the Hite family say it’s not something they would’ve anticipated ever happening near them, let alone outside of their front doors, but they’re each glad that they themselves are safe.

When 14 News spoke with Benjamin and Madison, they said many of their neighbors had smelled natural gas in the area the day before the explosion, and had called CenterPoint Energy but received no response.

Both said they smelled it themselves in their basement.

When we reached out to CenterPoint Energy, utility representatives said they received no such calls.

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