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 Post subject: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:14 pm 

Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:48 pm
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Location: Lounging back in a parlor chair on the "400"
All during the day today we (as in the people of Illinois) have had severe rain storms all day long and right now as I am watching WGN they stated that class 5 Tornados as in plural touched down around Rochelle Il along with an area around Marengo which the Illinois Railway Museum is very near by. This is everything that I currently know I am sure more will be posted soon.

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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:41 pm 

Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:45 am
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Well, IRM webcam's are still up, so the museum is still there. Let's hope nobody was hurt!

Those storms took aim at Kenosha after they moved out of Illinois. That's too close to home!

Steve


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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:45 pm 

Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:48 pm
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Location: Lounging back in a parlor chair on the "400"
Listening to NBC right now the EF5 tornado that hit Rochelle is though to have traveled 19 miles and completely destroyed a town named Fairdale Illinois.

I also hope and pray that no one is seriously hurt in this storm.

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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:49 pm 

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Location: Lounging back in a parlor chair on the "400"
Watching NBC now the town of FairDale is completely destroyed with apparently none of the buildings standing along with at least one fatality the first known death of this storm.

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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 11:34 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:40 pm
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Location: Hamilton, Illinois
Sad about Fairdale. My daughter and family live just a few miles away in Kirkland. When I was living there I would pass through Fairdale often. My daughter didn't indicate that the whole town had been leveled (it's a small place only about three streets) but perhaps she didn't know the extent of damage. Rail content: Kirkland and Fairdale are on the former Milwaukee Road main line west of Chicago (then SOO, then IMRL, then ICE, now Canadian Pacific) just east of Davis Junction.

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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Fri Apr 10, 2015 4:35 pm 

Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 7:45 pm
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Location: Boyertown, PA
Being in PA, I was out of dodge but it is nice to hear that (almost) everybody is alright. For the devastation I saw I was afraid more people would have been injured.

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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2015 11:13 am 

Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 11:13 pm
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The Chicago Tribune has a series of images taken from above that show the destruction in Fairdale. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tornado-damage-north-central-illinios-aerial-photos-20150410-photogallery.html

My Cousin and her Husband lost their house and both cars. They're Ok, but its just the prospect of having little more than the clothes on you back and the stress of dealing with the Insurance companies, etc. Quite a few folks have had accounts started on planes like "Go Fund Me" for donations.

Amazingly there has been only a single known fatality as of this morning. Its a testament to science in the 21st Century as everyone in Northern Illinois had been told for 24+ hours to expect extreme weather and very likely a tornado somewhere. I think most sat watching TV seeing the storms progress, the tornados develop and when to find shelter. My cousin and her husband were in their basement, listening to the tornado destroy their house. I might enjoy 19th century railroading, but I sure love 21st Century technology and Science.


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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2015 1:29 pm 

Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 7:45 pm
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Location: Boyertown, PA
I couldn't agree more.

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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2015 10:53 pm 

Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:45 am
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mspeterson, sorry about your cousin's loss, but glad that they are OK. The reports I have read indicate that the main tornado was on the ground for the entire length, and that there were other tornado's from this same storm that came and went. This sometimes happens with rare huge super cell storms. I live in Kenosha Wisconsin, and some items from Rochelle have been found in Kenosha and Racine Wisconsin. Most have been paper and photos, but there was one fairly large piece of metal found near Silver Lake in Kenosha County!

The weather folks had this one on spot. I was hearing about the risk of tornado's for Thursday 4/9 as early as Monday 4/6.

Steve


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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2015 10:57 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:16 pm
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Location: Rochelle Illinois
Image

The above photo appears to be taken south of the Tornado on Rt. 251 as it was traveling from left to right and approaching the intersection of Rt. 251 and Rt. 64 where it destroyed the Grubsteakers restaurant and trapped 12 people in the basement.

http://abc7chicago.com/weather/12-peopl ... ar/646274/

Image

Living in Rochelle I can say that the main tornado missed our town. It touched down west of us near Ashton and tracked East North-East at about an EF-2 stage when it entered Skare Park, about 4 miles from our house (as the crow flies) which was the closest it came to us. There it leveled trees and had a ground track of about 100-200 yards. As it traveled it increased in size and power so that by the time it crossed I-39 it was probably EF-4 power with a 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide ground path. When it hit Fairdale it was still at EF-4 stage. 2 deaths reported. I talked to a resident of Fairdale whose home only had a tree fall on its roof but essentially all homes in Fairdale are destroyed or sustained damage. 11 people were hospitalized. We have friends that lost their homes but have no injuries as they made it to their basements. We have media teams from Chicago for the major networks. My wife assisted in the clean-up operation for a friend in our church today who lost her house as I took care of our son. The volunteer response has been from all around the State.

For a video of the tornado as it passed over I-39 and nearly lifted the vehicle from which the video was taken:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGmJCB0 ... cation=ufi

And this video caught the flipping of a semi truck onto its side on I-39:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10 ... 11&fref=nf


Steve

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 Post subject: Re: Severe weather in Illinois
PostPosted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 12:57 am 
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Location: Hamilton, Illinois
The second death reported in Fairdale was the mother of a close friend of my daughter in Kirkland. Her body was found in the bathtub of her destroyed home; she was clutching her purse. If you can't get to a basement when a tornado is approaching, I believe they tell you to get into your bathtub or an inner room. The lady did the right thing but, sadly, in her case it didn't help.

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