Posted on 03/12/2006 6:39:21 PM PST by silentknight
A large tornado has moved through Illinois and has just hit the City of Springfield. Spotters reported a large tornado moved through the city. Damage is being reported. Emergency responders are being called in from surrounding areas.
NWS reports that this was a large wedge tornado.
Yep, never build OVER a miles long fisher in the ground, that could be bad news.
When I was in High School, we had a field trip to one of the major fault lines.
We were up on a hill so we could see the real topography of the fault.
Below there were actual homes on the darn thing, mostly mobile homes and I was amazed.
I live in Virden, 20 miles south of Springfield. Virden was spared last night. The local ISP had its tower bent over, but it had internet service back up by noon. The town to the south, Girard, was without power this morning, as was the town to the north, Auburn. REA customers are without power in many areas. Ameren CIPS has nearly 200 poles down, mainly south and west of Springfield.
The southwest side of Springfield is a disaster area. Businesses such as Wal-Mart at Parkway Point got hit, as did Gordman's, Best Buy and the Wabash Avenue corridor all the way to MacArthur Blvd., which itself had a lot of damage. The close-in suburb of Jerome on Springfield's SW side has so much damage, vehicular traffic is being kept out. Power is still out is much of the capitol city.
Large highway signs along the interstates were severely damaged. Some underpasses flooded. Gas leaks were also reported in parts of the city. Two gas pumps at a convenience store in Parkway Point were knocked over and the smell of gasoline permeated the air.
The local TV station and several radio stations survived and using their generators got back on the air. Amazingly, the State Journal Register printed its Monday edition and got it delivered, at least to the outlying areas.
Lots of light poles and power lines down around Parkway Point, Veterans Blvd., Wabash Avenue, Chatham Road on across the town to the eastside. A house at 7th and Oak was completely destroyed and the resident missing. 7th and Oak is several blocks south of the downtown area, in the center of town. Only a few blocks south of Abe Lincoln's home. Most of the trees at Bergen Park snapped in two. I-72 between Springfield and Decatur is shut in places due to debris.
Governor Rod gave the day off to state employees--without pay.
Don't worry. We'll manage. And come roaring back.
Kind of hard to avoiv Anderas isn't it?
Storms do heavy damage in Springfield
~Snips
whipped through Illinois, Kansas and Missouri. A tornado was confirmed in central Illinois.
Power went out in most areas of the city about 8:30 p.m., and downed lines feeding into the 911 center were causing problems with the communications system. Gas leaks were reported, and several homes and businesses sustained major damage. Cell phone service in the area was unavailable.
There were no preliminary reports of damage to the state Capitol or Abraham Lincoln memorial sites.
The University of Kansas campus was littered with trees, roof tiles and window glass after several buildings were damaged, authorities said.
During the night, several people were injured as the storm system pounded the central Mississippi Valley with hailstones as big as softballs, high wind and torrential rain.
It was not clear how many tornadoes struck the area straddling the Mississippi River from Missouri into Illinois. The twisters were part of a long line of stormy weather that stretched from the southern Plains up the Ohio Valley.
Heavy rain prompted flash flood warnings in southern Missouri. The heaviest rainfall was 3 to 4 inches about 100 miles east of St. Louis in Illinois
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-storm13.html
Glad you were spared!
Sorry, avoid, long night ;)
Channel 17's radar system, the best downstate by far, showed a small area during the supercell's run between LeRoy and Farmer City last night that showed as black, which translated as either a rain rate of 16"/hr, or heavy hail, or a combo of both.
We are currently getting 60mph wind gusts up near Bloomington. Too much Spring too soon!
Nope, just live in the Fresno area, home of FR.
Yes he is ok.
Thanks for asking.
"Governor Rod gave the day off to state employees--without pay."
How nice of him. Without pay??!!?? Oh boy.
Maybe I'm out in left field but it should have been with pay especially if you are without power and you need to take care of your family. That man... grrr.
Does anyone know what the "F-scale" was? F-2, F-3? I didn't know it was a wedge when I heard about it before.
Glad you're safe.
Snowed in here today ... schools closed.
Yeh, im an hour and a half north east of Springfield.. Just missed us by a couple miles north of my town.
Glad you are OK, and hoping that all of our FReepers in the tornado areas are safe and sound.
Sorry to hear that Springfield took such a huge hit. I hope there is no great loss of life.
Did the Lincoln home survive?
Last I heard there was one person missing, 24 injured.
Don't know if Lincoln's home was unscathed but the one house that was completely flattened was just a few blocks south of there.
We know one thing, it is Bush's fault!!!!
Sorry to bother you, my mistake..
No problem, there are a lot of us old timers around, we all start to look and sound alike.
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