Storms deliver punch to area

BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL

DANVILLE June 20, 2009 01:28 am

— Storms struck all corners of Vermilion County on Friday, turning hot and humid weather into a parade of strong thunderstorms.
The first large cell struck Vermilion County just after 5:30 p.m. as a large storm deemed capable of producing a tornado entered the county headed east. A rotating wall cloud was reported then with rotation also reported just after 6 p.m. above the Emergency Management Agency at 2507 Georgetown Road.
Early figures from the county’s weather spotters station measured winds gusting up to 27 mph, according to tools located near the intersection of Illinois Route 1 and Interstate 74.
As much as 1.25 inches of rain had fallen by 7 p.m., according to the weather spotters station.
The storms rolled across the county, bringing damage to several areas. In Danville, AmerenIP reported a little more than 350 people without power. Downed power lines were reported across the county, as well as reports of fallen trees and limbs.
Some traffic signals were reported out in Danville.
Ted Fisher, director of the county EMA, said there was one tornado that touched down near Fairmount for about 30 seconds.
Strong winds caused damage across the county, including overturning a shed in Westville.
Damage was in several shapes and sizes as a result of the first squall line of storms that came across the region.
Fisher said as many as 38 train cars derailed on the rail line between Catlin and Tilton.
The cars were turned over on the tracks and did not receive a lot of damage. Fisher said flour and dog food were spilled from the tipped cars.
A firefighter at the scene, Fisher said, indicated that corn plants were flattened on either side of the train cars, leading him to believe the National Weather Service will look into the reason for the derailing.
No cars carrying hazardous materials overturned on the tracks, owned by Norfolk Southern.
Downed trees, power lines and power poles were reported across the county, including some falling on houses. Details were continuing to roll in Friday night.
Officials were already conducting damage assessments and, with another squall line moving in from western Illinois, Fisher said before 8 p.m. that he expected flash flooding to also develop.
“It’s going to be an all nighter,” he said from his truck.
Warnings early Friday predicted the presence of intense lightning with the storms. By mid-afternoon Vermilion County was announced as part of a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m. along with 64 other counties throughout the state.
Central Vermilion County was under a severe thunderstorm warning for close to an hour while the southern part of the county was under a tornado warning.
The parade of bad weather began in the mid-afternoon hours as large storms popped up over the Peoria area and just across the Indiana border in Benton County before 3 p.m. Friday.
This was the second day of storms to come through the area this week. A first round of showers that plowed through the region Wednesday morning dropped heavy rain in some areas. In southern Vermilion County, rains caused roads to begin to flood near Indianola.
According to EMA severe weather manager Rick Harper, Friday’s round of storms were the result of a warm humid air mass colliding with a cold front advancing from the southeast.

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