Published: May 16, 2009 12:24 am      

Heavy storms blow through

HOOPESTON — Residents who had their eyes trained upward in anticipation of more strong storms were not disappointed on Friday.

A funnel cloud, hail and drenching rains all erupted as thunderstorms raced across central Illinois and into Vermilion County Friday night, setting the stage for flooding in the days to come.

The northern end of the county started the evening early with parallel storms traveling along Illinois Route 9 and U.S. Route 136 just after 6:30 p.m.

Jeremy Green, a weather spotter for the Hoopeston Emergency Management Agency, set up along County Line Road near County Road 1130E when the first storm came through, snapping pictures of the cloud formations.

Green said pea-sized hail pelted the area as well as winds that were clocked at up to 25 mph. Excessive lightening was also brought on by the storm.

Hoopeston EMA Coordinator Scott Strawser confirmed a funnel cloud was spotted west of Rossville during the first round of storms.

Between two waves of storms that hit the northern part of the county, rainfall was measured at between almost 2 ¼ and 3 inches.

Strong storm cells rolled across much of the state, traveling across every part of the county before heading into Indiana.

Statistics from the Vermilion County EMA weather station in Tilton recorded 1.43 inches of rain during the 8 p.m. hour, carried by winds that reached up to 30 mph.

Storm spotters were not the only ones kept busy Friday night, however. Personnel from three fire protection districts were called to the scene of a residence on fire in the 1400 block of Hungry Hollow Road. Kickapoo, Bismarck and Lynch fire crews responded to the home, which was fully involved.

According to the National Weather Service, a cold front Friday evening was expected to initiate the storms, which carried forecasts of large hail, damaging winds and very heavy rainfall. A flash flood watch that eventually enveloped Vermilion County and others was put into effect and extended to 7 a.m. today.

By 8:45 p.m., the Vermilion County EMA had issued a warning for cautious travel because of streets and roads throughout Vermilion County that were flooding as a result of the wet weather. Danville streets were also reported as flooding because of the storms.

The waters of the Vermilion River, forecast early Friday to gradually drop by Sunday, were instead predicted by late Friday to continue to rise. The National Weather Service forecast the river to crest at almost 17 feet by Sunday afternoon, just a foot below flood stage.

As of early Friday evening, neither the Middle Fork River nor the North Fork River had begun any drastic increases. Nonetheless, the Middle Fork River remains closed as a result of the water conditions. The river has been open only sporadically this spring as a result of rains causing high water levels and dangerous conditions.

The storms were just the latest weather chapter for the county, which had seen 1.60 inches of rain on Wednesday and Thursday, a large majority of the 2.71 inches of precipitation for the month. In addition to the rain, Wednesday’s storms produced an early morning tornado near Homer that destroyed one machinery shed and damaged two others as well as knocking down power lines.

Across the state line, the Wabash River was producing minor flooding at points during the day on Friday around Covington, Ind., and Clinton, Ind. As of Friday afternoon, the river had reached 18 feet with predictions stating waters would rise another 1 ½ feet by Sunday morning.

With the Friday night storms, those figures were changed to predict a crest of 20.2 feet — well into flood stage — by early Tuesday morning.

Joe Whitaker, director of the Fountain County EMA, said the rising levels up to Friday afternoon hadn’t caused many problems as of yet for the area, with no evacuations coming as a result.

Most of the damage up to this point has come from the Wednesday night storm, which Whitaker said succeeded in washing out a couple of roads in the county and causing as much as $20,000 damage.