[LeArc] Springfield, Illinois, hit hard

[Duane Whittingham]

[Man were we lucky in Macomb but sorry for Springfield, Duane]


Ten dead in Midwest twisters
Springfield, Illinois, hit hard

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (AP) -- Swarms of tornadoes killed at least 10
people across the Midwest, shut down the University of Kansas and
damaged so much of Springfield, Illinois, on Monday that the mayor said
"every square inch" of town suffered some effects.

The violent weather started during the weekend, part of a line of storms
that stretched from the southern Plains up the Ohio Valley, and
continued Monday.

Fierce wind raked Springfield early Monday, causing more damage in a
city that had been struck by a tornado the night before. Power lines
were down across city, trees uprooted and windows blown out.

Nineteen people were treated for minor injuries, and police were
searching homes and businesses early Monday for other victims, city
spokesman Ernie Slottag said.

In a neighborhood of southwestern Springfield, Illinois, a mother,
father and child survived in their home overnight by huddling in a
bathroom as the storm ripped away the roof over their heads, CNN's Keith
Oppenheim reported. Powerful winds carried the roof across the street,
depositing it in their neighbor's backyard.

Not far away, at a Huck's gas station, snapped power polls dangled over
a roadway. Gasoline pumps were overturned amid widespread debris --
plastic, plywood and sheet metal.

Mayor Tim Davlin said he expected "every square inch of Springfield"
will have suffered some effect from the storms.

"It's just unreal," Davlin said early Monday from the city's Emergency
Operations Center.

Most major roads into the city were closed, and one man was reported
missing after his home was destroyed. The roof was torn off a
Springfield Wal-Mart store.

The tornado that struck Springfield on Sunday had made a two-hour pass
through central Illinois, striking a series of counties. The Scott
County, Illinois, sheriff's department confirmed that a tornado touched
down in Manchester, a town of about 300 people, although there were no
immediate reports of injuries.

"It's a mess over there," said Scott County sheriff's department
dispatcher Rosann Lindsey. "A lot of buildings are down over there."

That length of time on or near the ground made the twister "a highly
unusual event," said National Weather Service senior forecaster Ed
Shimon in Lincoln.

The same line of thunderstorms threatened to spawn more twisters Monday
in parts of Michigan and Indiana, where the National Weather Service
issued tornado watches until late morning and noontime, CNN
meteorologist Chad Myers said. Watches are issued when conditions are
favorable for tornadoes.

The Chicago area also was struck by high wind, with gusts to 70 mph
reported in suburban Tinley Park, and roofs were blown off several
apartment buildings in suburban Bridgeview. Localized flooding was
reported in the Chicago and Quad Cities areas.

Missouri was hardest hit by the weekend storms, with at least nine
people killed and hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed or damaged.
Hail as big as softballs pounded parts of Missouri.

Bobby Ritcheson, 23, said he watched as a neighbor was killed south of
Sedalia, Missouri.

"The trailer came down right on top of her," Ritcheson said from a
Sedalia hospital where he had taken his pregnant wife out of concern she
might be going into labor.

Homes were destroyed along a path of more than 20 miles south of St.
Louis, officials said.

Missouri authorities reported four bodies found in the rubble of homes
near the north-central town of Renick, two people killed when a tornado
hurled their pickup truck beneath a propane tank about 80 miles south of
St. Louis, the woman killed near Sedalia and another found dead in Henry
County. In southwest Missouri, a 63-year-old man died early Monday from
injuries suffered when a twister hit near Marionville.

Another storm victim was found in Indiana.

University of Kansas Provost David Shulenberger said classes were
canceled Monday because of safety concerns about debris falling from
roofs. The Lawrence campus was littered with trees, roof tiles and
window glass.

Two trees fell through Rhonda Burns' mobile home in Lawrence early Sunday.

"If the wind had shifted that tree just a few inches, I wouldn't be
talking to you," she said.

High wind lifted a cargo container off the airfield at Kansas City
International Airport and blew it into several vehicles.

Tornadoes also touched down Sunday in Oklahoma and Arkansas, and heavy
rain flooded roads in Indiana.

In northeastern Oklahoma, a tornado destroyed 25 to 50 homes near the
town of Oaks, said Mike Miller, spokesman for the Cherokee Nation. At
least 12 people were taken to a hospital, Miller said.

Several dozen homes were heavily damaged by a tornado in northwestern
Arkansas.

"It was over before you knew it," said Greg Kospar, 41, of Bentonville,
Arkansas. "The house is gone."