SPRINGFIELD, IL – At least two tornadoes on June 17 have been confirmed in central Illinois by the National Weather Service, and reports are starting to come out about the damage.
One tornado was confirmed near Salisbury, which is in Sangamon County. The other was located near Jeisyville, a Christian County village.
NWS received the most reports of damage in the Arthur Area and over to Humboldt, with very large hail reported (up to 3″ in diameter). The hail was accompanied by strong winds.
“We had reports that they (the hail) were basically putting holes in the sides of people’s houses — the siding of their houses,” said Ben Deubelbeiss, who is a meteorologist with the weather service out of Lincoln. “They broke windows. So it was pretty significant wind-driven-hail damage,” he added.
Owners of Hand of Fate Brewing Company believed wind around 4 p.m. June 17 was the culprit in toppling a facade panel from the brewery/restaurant on the Petersburg town square. Hand of Fate was closed Wednesday, but owners Mike and Brie Allison announced on Facebook that it would be open for business for Brews & BBQ at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Strong wind might have been to blame for the roof of the Ameren Building in the 100 block of North Sixth Street in Petersburg being sheared off.
Mark Hanna, executive director of the Springfield Airport Authority, told The State Journal-Register that American Airlines crew members, airport workers and passengers sheltered in place Wednesday afternoon after emergency sirens were activated.
An American flight from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport was delayed by about three hours in taking off for O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
Hanna said Thursday he had not fielded any reports of storm damage to airport property.
Last week, signage and fencing at the airport was damaged by storms. Hangars and an airplane cockpit from the Air Combat Museum were thrown around by the storms but no items of historic value from the museum were damaged.
Some of the worst damage that was likely tornado-related was in the Mattoon through Charleston area. Some semi-trucks flipped over on I-57. A lot of trees were snapped and blown down, along with power lines and power poles.
Further south, in Effingham, NWS received some reports of tornadoes that caused some damage to homes.
NWS teams are out surveying the area. The weather service is also asking people to send them damage reports so they can better assess the weather event.
“Obviously there was a lot of video footage that came out yesterday, so we know there were tornadoes, but we’re going to have to wait for those survey results to come back to get a tally of how many there were and how intense they were,” Deubelbeiss said.
Storms were happening across the region, but some of the most intense damage paths started just east of Springfield, moving through Decatur, Arthur, towards Charleston and Mattoon.
To report damage to the weather service, head to inws.ncep.noaa.gov/report/ or text 309-279-5735, email nws.lincoln@noaa.gov, or reach out on social media.
The weather service asks for reports that include the type of event, the time, the location (exact as possible), photos, direction facing (if applicable), damage and type of structure, and any other relevant details.
(This story was updated with new information.)
Reporter Steven Spearie contributed to this story.
Tom Ackerman covers breaking news and trending news along with general news for the Springfield State Journal-Register. He can be reached at tackerman@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Central Illinois sees damage from tornadoes, large hail, strong wind
Reporting by Tom Ackerman, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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By Tom Ackerman, Springfield State Journal-Register | USA TODAY Network
