A Disaster In Illinois
Connor Strange
Staff Writer
A total of 16 or more tornadoes ravaged Illinois Sunday, Nov. 17, and left a wake of devastation across the state with countless homes ripped apart.
Places like Coal City, IL and Washington, IL were hit hard, and much the of news centered around the disaster focuses on the latter two of the cities. An EF-4 tornado (the second strongest ranking for tornado wind speed) in Washington destroyed roughly 500 homes, injured 120 people and killed one. The weather service said that the tornado ravaged a stretch of land 46 miles across and through two counties. It was massive.
Other tornadoes weren’t quite so severe, but they did damage regardless. Gifford, IL got hit by an EF-3 that injured six. An EF-2 touched down in St. Elmo, IL, and another in Effingham, IL, population 2300. Other smaller ones were reported throughout the state.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has listed 13 counties as disaster areas throughout the state due to the massive size of the twisters’ devastation. He did this hoping to increase the ease of transport of resources to the people who were affected.
In total, eight people have died and the estimated damage will cost Illinois $1 billion. Over 800,000 homes and businesses were without electricity on Monday, Nov. 18, and 130,000 remained powerless through to the following Wednesday.
Rescue crews and volunteers are spread throughout the state to help those affected by the disasters. Many are without homes and need all of the help they can get.
For more information, check here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-illinois-tornadoes-20131119,0,3693175.story
