Intense videos and photos capture tornado outbreak across Illinois
Central Illinois endured several tornadoes on Saturday, resulting in fascinating footage of the funnels spinning through the state.
According to ABC News, a total of 22 tornadoes were reported to the National Weather Service, appearing across counties including Christian, Mason, Fulton, Cass, and Macoupin among others.
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The storms reportedly caused injury to at least 20 people and significant structural damage. No reports of fatalities have been recorded in Illinois, although one person has been killed in neighbouring Missouri as a result of the storms.
The National Weather Service reportedly deployed teams on Sunday to assess the damage and measure the strength of the twisters.
A rash of tornadoes broke out Saturday afternoon and evening across central Illinois, injuring at least 30 people and turning homes into piles of splintered wood. https://t.co/RWYXD1t48U pic.twitter.com/4s1HlF7nTI
— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2018
Outgoing Gov. Bruce Rauner activated Illinois' State of Emergency Operations Center on Saturday.
"We activated the State Emergency Operations Center so that we could closely monitor the situation, keep in contact with local officials and quickly mobilize any state assets that may be needed," Rauner said in a statement to AP.
"If state assistance is need, we are well-positioned to provide it quickly and efficiently."
Sitting about 25 miles southeast of the state capital of Springfield, the Christian County town of Taylorville was among the hardest hit areas, with major damage to at least 100 buildings reported. The town received a 41-minute advance warning from the National Weather Service.
"It was one of those storms that just blew up," Christian County sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp told reporters on Saturday.
"It just kind of came out of nowhere."
Residents across Illinois captured footage and photos of the tornado, with images posted to Twitter over the weekend.
My dad watched a tornado cut through his crops and other farms and then literally JUMP OVER our 3 generation farmstead and barn in Illinois tonight. pic.twitter.com/WQx3Z1zfWX
— Jennifer Barron (@TheOrdBarroness) December 2, 2018
Violent damaging tornado outside of Havana, Illinois a bit ago. #ilwx pic.twitter.com/NewFR1sj3a
— Kholby Martin (@StormChaser220) December 1, 2018
View looking north from Highway 67 at 3:27 PM CT of the funnel cloud/tornado at Beardstown, #Illinois —!witnessed tree and minor structural damage in the city. @accuweather @breakingweather @NWSLincolnIL @NWSStLouis pic.twitter.com/XkGrWXKrMn
— Blake Naftel (@BlakeNaftel) December 1, 2018
NEW: Close-up video of a tornado moving through Staunton, Illinois earlier today. We sped the video up to show you the end #ILwx pic.twitter.com/who3ZMFZsr
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) December 2, 2018
Among the destruction, one photo captured a group of Illinois residents clearly used to this type of extreme weather.
These kids are just playing basketball while there’s a funnel from a tornado in the background. If this doesn’t sum up Illinois. pic.twitter.com/16Q1n8I5mT
— Chlo🍒 (@chloeprzyko) December 2, 2018
According to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar, Illinois has an average of 47 tornadoes per year, not including December, which Chinchar explained does not have its own average.
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