Historic Tornados impact Central Illinois

When tornadoes swept across the midwest Sunday, the school’s production of “The Wiz” had the perfect setting. However, while Champaign-Urbana fared okay throughout the storm, portions of nearby Gifford, Il. were flattened by an EF3 tornado, with peak winds of 140 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Of the 12 states affected by the recent tornados, Illinois had the worst outcome, with at least six confirmed deaths.

According to Senior Meteorologist Jon Erdman ofweather.com, “Sunday was the second most active severe weather day of 2013, with roughly 500 total reports of wind damage, high winds, tornadoes, and large hail.”

Around 80 tornadoes were reported as of Sunday night. However, due to the same tornado being reported multiple times, the actual number of tornadoes is likely to end around 30 or 40 according to the National Weather Service’s Bunting.

According to the Ameren Outage Map, as of Tuesday evening outages of 50 to 500 people were still taking place in around Danville, Gifford, and Normal Il..

Tuesday was the first day volunteers were allowed in Gifford to help with the relief effort, before then only emergency personnel were allowed in the affected area. Volunteers are now helping sort through the debris caused by this out of season tornado.

According to the News-Gazette, a release from Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh and Champaign County EMA Coordinator John Dwyer, approximately 200 homes were reported destroyed or damaged. Homeowners should be aware that scammers tend to use the opportunity of disaster to take advantage of people and always check references and shop around for the best deals.

“It’s horrible. There’s probably 50-60 homes leveled. Most of those that got hit, there’s no way they can do anything with them,” Gifford Grade School Superintendent Grimsley told the News-Gazette. He reported that while the school only has minor damage to the roof and bus barn, the school will be closed for several days.

For more information on how to help the Gifford area relief effort, please visit www.uwayhelps.org/gifford.