ST. CLAIR COUNTY, IL (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
Residents across St. Clair County spent much of Tuesday picking up the pieces after a small tornado cut a 13-mile path across the area. In O'Fallon, the storm struck Fulton Jr. High School, damaging a significant portion of the roof, before moving into the old part of town. Near Main Street, residents were working to cut trees off of several houses in the area. Chainsaws and wood chippers created an almost constant din in the neighborhood, just north of Interstate 64. Jack Thompson had just arrived home from work Monday afternoon, when the storm moved in.
"It happened so quick I couldn't tell you what it was," he says. "Like I said, I opened the door and when I opened the front door I saw the rotation and debris from everybody's homes and I just shut the door and we went in the hall."
The shed in his back yard landed in a neighbor's swimming pool three doors down. Thompson says his only instinct through the whole thing was, "getting out of the way."
The tornado wasn't finished. It hipped I-64 then moved into a subdivision off Lebanon Road near Greenmount. Michael Anderson was just arriving at his home when his neighborhood was struck, "I tried to open my front door. I couldn't open my front door, the pressure was so high. It was like someone was holding the door closed."
It was then, he says, that he and his family went for cover, "I watched the tornado come across. It almost like jumped his house and went between my house and the neighbors here. We were down in the basement and we seen it rip off the side of her house."
Signs from more than a dozen roofing companies were posted in front of the subdivision, where more than a dozen houses had damage. Some roofers are warning residents to ask workers to show state issued licenses before hiring them. They say scam artists have been showing up in areas down state, taking advantage of storm victims.
You can check a roofer's credentials in Illinois here: www.idfpr.com
===================
The tornado that ripped across Madison County Monday skirted towns, but wreaked havoc on some farms. Machine shops, grain bins, and storage sheds were knocked over. Swirling winds took down towering trees and ripped off roofs.
The twister destroyed the home of Kenneth Eidman, 80, and his wife Shirley. It also damaged their historic farm house next door where their son David and his family live.
"If we had been in the kitchen we'd be dead," said Shirley Eidman. "It took the kitchen, it took the sink and all that cabinet..just blew it away."
Tuesday some fifty friends and family attacked the piles of debris with bob cats, chain saws and even a crane. Salvaged furniture was quickly hauled to neighbors' sheds that survived the roaring winds.
By mid afternoon the collapsed machine sheds were pulled apart, metal debris in one pile, shattered lumber in another.
Neighbor Darryl Stein who brought the crane said the tornado came at a bad time, "What we're really trying to do is get him to where he's up and operating. Of course the hogs are most important to him, but he needs to plant his corn and beans."
David Eidman, who is following generations of farmers in his family, welcomed the help. His immediate family and several employees were on the farm when the tornado struck. No one was injured. Eidman foresees days of cleanup ahead, "Most of my machinery is in pretty good shape," he said while admitting there were a few repairs to make. "It's not gonna be easy because it's like any industry it's a damage to the infrastructure so it's serious," Eidman said.
Neighbor Stein described this tornado as the second worst he had seen in his lifetime. "Farmers are used to having tough things happen to them," he said noting Eidman is a religious man too. "So that's in his pocket also," he added. "I think everything will be fine."
"It happened so quick I couldn't tell you what it was," he says. "Like I said, I opened the door and when I opened the front door I saw the rotation and debris from everybody's homes and I just shut the door and we went in the hall."
The shed in his back yard landed in a neighbor's swimming pool three doors down. Thompson says his only instinct through the whole thing was, "getting out of the way."
The tornado wasn't finished. It hipped I-64 then moved into a subdivision off Lebanon Road near Greenmount. Michael Anderson was just arriving at his home when his neighborhood was struck, "I tried to open my front door. I couldn't open my front door, the pressure was so high. It was like someone was holding the door closed."
It was then, he says, that he and his family went for cover, "I watched the tornado come across. It almost like jumped his house and went between my house and the neighbors here. We were down in the basement and we seen it rip off the side of her house."
Signs from more than a dozen roofing companies were posted in front of the subdivision, where more than a dozen houses had damage. Some roofers are warning residents to ask workers to show state issued licenses before hiring them. They say scam artists have been showing up in areas down state, taking advantage of storm victims.
You can check a roofer's credentials in Illinois here: www.idfpr.com
===================
The tornado that ripped across Madison County Monday skirted towns, but wreaked havoc on some farms. Machine shops, grain bins, and storage sheds were knocked over. Swirling winds took down towering trees and ripped off roofs.
The twister destroyed the home of Kenneth Eidman, 80, and his wife Shirley. It also damaged their historic farm house next door where their son David and his family live.
"If we had been in the kitchen we'd be dead," said Shirley Eidman. "It took the kitchen, it took the sink and all that cabinet..just blew it away."
Tuesday some fifty friends and family attacked the piles of debris with bob cats, chain saws and even a crane. Salvaged furniture was quickly hauled to neighbors' sheds that survived the roaring winds.
By mid afternoon the collapsed machine sheds were pulled apart, metal debris in one pile, shattered lumber in another.
Neighbor Darryl Stein who brought the crane said the tornado came at a bad time, "What we're really trying to do is get him to where he's up and operating. Of course the hogs are most important to him, but he needs to plant his corn and beans."
David Eidman, who is following generations of farmers in his family, welcomed the help. His immediate family and several employees were on the farm when the tornado struck. No one was injured. Eidman foresees days of cleanup ahead, "Most of my machinery is in pretty good shape," he said while admitting there were a few repairs to make. "It's not gonna be easy because it's like any industry it's a damage to the infrastructure so it's serious," Eidman said.
Neighbor Stein described this tornado as the second worst he had seen in his lifetime. "Farmers are used to having tough things happen to them," he said noting Eidman is a religious man too. "So that's in his pocket also," he added. "I think everything will be fine."
