MORTON/WASHBURN, Ill. – Cleanup efforts are underway across central Illinois after violent severe storms Thursday night.
One of the worst impacted areas by the storms was in rural Marshall County, just north of Washburn. Initial surveys conducted Friday by the National Weather Service indicate at least EF-3 damage with the Washburn tornado, with surveys still being conducted. Along the area’s county roads were destroyed houses, fallen trees and branches, and tattered steel metal.
Kim Tegg’s house in rural Washburn is still standing, but took a heavy punch in the tornado. Shingles on the roof were blown away, windows blown out, and nearby barns were completely toppled.
Tegg says she only got home from Peoria for ten minutes when she received word about the tornado warning and heard the sirens going off, seeing the massive cyclone out of her bedroom window. That’s when she grabbed her dog and headed to the basement.
In the basement, Tegg says she took cover behind a washing machine. She was able to see the swirling of the tornado through her basement windows.
Tegg says it was “surreal” to see the tornado, especially with her barns damaged by a tornado last year.
In the aftermath, Tegg found that pieces of her barn were inside her house, with pieces of wood and steel metal embedded in the house. She also found trees blown down, and hay bales blown across the street.
Despite the damage and the long cleanup ahead, Tegg says she feels fortunate.
“I’ve had neighbors here all day, helping clean up, and I’m very grateful for that. And nobody’s dead,” Tegg said.
Dwight Gerdes of Morton says he was watching the weather on television when the storms arrived.
“Wife went to the door, the front door, it was calm,” Gerdes said. “I went to the kitchen and back through the garage and looked out and the wind was blowing in, the garage door was open, and I yelled at her, and we went down to the basement.”
In Morton, cleanup mostly consisted of getting fallen trees and branches off of houses and yards. Although a tree did not fall on Gerdes’ house, his roof was blown off enough from the structure to make it uninhabitable. He is unsure if having the garage door open contributed to the roof damage.
Gerdes says for the time being, they’re staying at his mother-in-law’s house. Family members came by Friday morning to help clean up the yard, and what they could.
Overall, Gerdes was very thankful that everyone was okay, and that all the neighbors were okay. He says the next steps are being planned out, with guidance from his insurance agent.
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