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| Severe Weather Pounds Area; Major Damage in Elmwood -- SEE PICTURES HERE |
POSTED 9:21 p-m 6/5/10, UPDATED 7:43 a-m 6/6/10 Storms roared through western and central Illinois Saturday night, prompting tornado warnings and watches while leaving damage behind.
The warnings started after 7:30 p-m in the Galesburg area as a dangerous weather system made its way east. A suspected tornado reportedly touched down near Abingdon in the Delong area before 8 p-m, but there were no initial reports of property damage. A tornado warning was in effect for southeastern Knox County until 8 p-m.
Reports of funnel clouds and tornado touchdowns followed shortly after 8:00 to the east - in Yates City, Elmwood and Brimfield - causing damage in all three communities.
The most serious damage occurred in Elmwood. Storm spotters and emergency responders said the downtown area was hit especially hard. Some of the older buildings sustained heavy structural damage. A gas station and a movie theater were also casualties of the storm.
Officials say homes were searched and there were no reports of injuries as of 9 p-m. The main problem authorities encountered was gas leaks. Power was knocked out in Elmwood and buses were brought in to move people out. Authorities also shut down Illinois Route 8 west of Yates City and east of Elmwood to keep people out of the damaged community.
Ameren Illinois reported 869 outages in Peoria County as of 6:00 a-m Sunday, about half of the total number of customer outages crews were trying to restore statewide.
Torrential rainfall accompanied the storm in several area counties, prompting flood warnings and watches. A flood warning remains in effect for the Spoon River at London Mills until Monday night and at Seville until Wednesday afternoon.
The Spoon River south of Maquon is outside of its banks Saturday night. The river at London Mills is under a flood warning until Monday evening and the river at Seville is under a flood warning until Wednesday afternoon.
Emergency personnel on Illinois Route 8, about one mile west of Yates City, stop traffic from going any further east because of damage in Yates City and Elmwood
(WGIL News Story and Photos by Mike Perry)
Submitted photos (Ed Morris, Kevin Cox, Jennifer Staggs, and others) showing tornadoes Saturday night:
A look at a tornado from Fairground Acres in Elmwood from Kevin Cox
A tornado spotted between Douglas and Yates City from Jennifer Staggs
Submitted photos showing damage in Elmwood from Saturday's violent weather/tornado
Elmwood City Hall
Widespread damage and debris in downtown Elmwood |
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| 06 05 10 by Newsroom |
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