Another round of deadly storms hit the Midwest Sunday evening, causing 28 deaths, massive damage and power outages in 8 states.
The states affected were Ill., Ind., Iowa, Mo., Ohio, Tenn., Ark., and Ken.
The new round of tornadoes hit the Midwest less than one month after a similar grouping of twisters, high winds and damage hit a five-state area on March 12. Insurance agents and claims adjusters are still in the midst of handling the remaining claims from the that storm and will be facing more in the days ahead.
One meteorologist said the the storms developed after a cold front approaching from the West slammed into a mass of warm, humid air. Early reports indicated a swarm of 63 tornadoes touched down on April 2 and 3rd. The states affected were Ill., Ind., Iowa, Mo., Ohio, Ark., and Ken.
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher compared the destruction to “Sherman’s march” through the South during the Civil War.
Tens of thousands of Illinoisans remained without power on Monday, a day after storms packing high winds raked much of the state, killing one man when part of a roof collapsed.
About 43,000 homes and businesses in central and southern Illinois had no power Monday, with additional outages in neighboring Missouri affecting about 60,000 customers.
Cleanup efforts were under way Monday in Fairview Heights east of St. Louis, where high winds caused the collapse of a clothing store Sunday evening, killing 54-year-old Delancy Moore of East St. Louis. Delancy was a former jail superintendent of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, authorities said.
Lingering outages forced the closure Monday of Champaign’s (Ill.) public schools.
About 1,100 Ameren workers in Illinois and Missouri scrambled to get the power back on as of today’s Associated Press report.
As the storms began moving across Illinois Sunday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich activated the State Emergency Operations Center in Springfield.
Representatives of more than a dozen state agencies have assembled in the center, and were contacting local emergency officials to determine if they need state assistance.
High winds also knocked out power in Chicago’s suburbs to about 6,100 customers of Commonwealth Edison, but power had been restored to about half of them by 3 a.m. Monday, the utility said.
Many Chicago suburbs reported large hailstones, some of them as much as an inch and a half in diameter.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Former MLB Player, 3 Others Charged with Staging Auto Accident in Miami 
Cargo Owners in Baltimore Disaster Face ‘General Average’ Loss Sharing, MSC Says 
Coral Gables, Florida Tops Beverly Hills as Ritziest Home Market in US 
California Chiropractor Sentenced to 54 Years for $150M Workers’ Comp Scheme 
