Violent storm sweeps through region Winds topping 100 miles per hour reported in region Friday afternoon; more severe weather possible
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Clean-up work and restoration of utility services continued this week in the aftermath of a major storm which struck the region last Friday. Some observers were describing the storm as an inland hurricane.
Even as the recovery effort continued, weather forecasts were calling for the possibility of another round of severe weather on Wednesday of this week.
Damage caused by the storm was reported Friday in parts of Union County and throughout Southern Illinois after a storm system struck the region.
State disaster declarations were issued for Jackson, Williamson and Franklin counties in the aftermath of the storm.
The National Weather Service, NWS, forecast office in Paducah reported that "a widespread damaging wind event" occurred in Southern Illinois and parts of Southeast Missouri on Friday.
NWS reported that an EF1 tornado touched down in northern Jackson County at about 11:30 a.m. Friday.
The tornado snapped and uprooted dozens of large trees and caused damage to numerous structures.
Friday's storm was the latest in a series of severe weather outbreaks which have struck the region over the past several years.
During that time, Union County and other parts of Southern Illinois have experienced major ice storms, flooding and the remnants of a hurricane passing through the region. An earthquake even was thrown into the mix in April 2008.
Friday's "wind event" caused damage in a number of locations in Union County and knocked out power throughout the area.
No injuries were reported in Union County in the aftermath of the storm.
Locally, the worst damage appeared to have been in northern parts of Union County.
Damage was reported in Anna, and in the Wolf Lake, Alto Pass, Lick Creek and Dongola areas.
Union County Sheriff David Livesay said that about 25 homes appeared to have sustained damage. The sheriff's home was one of those which was damaged.
Livesay said that locally, the worst damage appeared to have been in the Wolf Lake and Alto Pass areas.
The sheriff said that the Grand Tower area "was pounded hard" by the storm. Grand Tower is in southwestern Jackson County.
Numerous trees along Illinois Route 127 were snapped by the storm. Personnel from the Alto Pass and Cobden fire departments, the Union County Highway Department and the Illinois Department of Transportation worked to clear the highway.
Livesay said the sheriff's department was helping authorities in Jackson County in the aftermath of the storm.
Because of the storm, classes in Shawnee School District 84 were cancelled. The district has an elementary school building in Grand Tower, where trees were down all over town, the sheriff said.
Friday's stormy weather began late in the morning with very heavy rain, lightning and thunder. At about 11:25 a.m. Friday, heavy rain deluged the Anna area. The downpour was accompanied by frequent lightning and thunder.
After the heavy rain came to an end, high winds began to batter the region, causing damage to the area.
Major damage occurred in areas just north of Union County, including Murphysboro, Carbondale, Carterville, Herrin, Marion and neighboring communities.
In Anna, a maple tree estimated to be about 60 feet tall toppled during high winds which swept through the area early Friday afternoon.
The tree came down in a residential area along West Spring Street, between Morgan and South Main streets. The tree fell onto the street, taking down two utility poles and knocking out power.
The National Weather Service's reports about the storm indicated that peak wind gusts were measured around 80 miles per hour at several locations, including Du Quoin in Perry County and Carbondale in Jackson County.
The peak gust recorded by the automated system at the Carbondale airport was 81 mph before the system failed.
An observer at the airport visually observed a separate anemometer located on the rooftop reach 106 mph.
The automated system measured a sustained wind of 68 mph before failing.
Extensive tree and power line damage occurred in the Murphysboro, Carbondale, and Marion areas of Southern Illinois and Perry and Bollinger counties of Southeast Missouri.
Numerous structures were damaged in the Marion, Carbondale and Murphysboro areas.
The Williamson County airport near Marion reported a peak gust of 86 mph. There was extensive damage at the airport, including hangar buildings.
Wind damage extended eastward into the Harrisburg area (Saline County). The system weakened before exiting southern Illinois.
Damage surveys were conducted on Saturday.
NWS reported that the damaging winds were associated with the “comma head” of a bow echo.
The comma head maintained unusually strong intensity after the bow echo began to dissipate.
A radar image showed that an “eye” feature developed in the center of the comma head.
The “eye” was located just north of Carbondale and due east of Farmington, Mo.
The severe storms left more than 67,000 Southern Illinois Ameren Illinois Utilities customers without electrical service, while downed electrical wires and debris created hazardous conditions.
In Union County, more than 3,100 Ameren customers were left without power after the storm hit. By Tuesday evening, all of Ameren's customers had power once again, according to the utility's website.
The Ameren Illinois Utilities activated their Emergency Operations Center, which has been directing the service restoration work.
By Tuesday, Ameren reported that in the 93 hours since the service restoration work started, the lights had been turned on for nearly 40,000 of its customers while a workforce of about 2,000 field and support personnel moved to get the electricity flowing for the remaining 29,300 customers
The utility's emergency operations center estimated that the majority of remaining customers would have their service restored by early Wednesday.
However, some outages will persist into Thursday and possibly Friday as crews work to repair the facilities most severely damaged by the inland hurricane.
On Friday and again Saturday, many people in areas without power made their way to Union County to look for fuel and food.
Long lines were seen at gas stations in Anna, Cobden and Jonesboro.