Update on Tornadoes Friday Night in Our Area

More details are available from National Weather Service officials on the tornadoes that struck our area Friday night.

A twister visited the Herrick area. The Weather Service reports that the storm entered Shelby County at 9:26pm, downing several large wooden power poles two miles west of Herrick. The most significant damage occurred to a residence one mile north of Herrick, where an addition to a house saw significant damage, causing injury to one person. The tornado continued northeasterly, damaging several outbuildings and downing trees and power lines. The tornado lifted about 9:36pm, two miles northwest of Cowden.

An even more serious storm affected the Windsor, Gays and Mattoon areas. 

The tornado touched down at 9:50pm, about one mile south of Windsor, causing loss of roof panels to a farm outbuilding. The tornado strengthened, causing total destruction of a small farm outbuilding and breaking wooden power poles southeast of Windsor. An ag services plant saw buildings damaged or destroyed, and three large tanked trucks flipped. Several houses and outbuildings were damaged in western Coles County, from west of Mattoon to northeast of Mattoon. The more significant damage included a roof completely removed from a one-story brick house, and two large metal storage buildings that saw loss of roof and siding, and buckling of a metal support structure. The tornado lifted at 10:04pm about four miles north-northeast of Mattoon. 

Tornadoes were also reported near Virginia in Cass County and near Atterberry in Menard County.

The Windsor-Gays-Mattoon tornado was an EF2 with estimated peak winds of 125MPH, a path of 15.8 miles and a maximum width of 200 yards.

The Herrick tornado was an EF2 with estimated peak wind gusts of 118MPH, a path of 7.7 miles and a maximum width of 200 yards.

Those storms followed the tornado that hit the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, killing six people. That storm struck about 8:30pm. One person was injured and was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital for treatment. 45 individuals made it out of the building safely. Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford said 150 yards of the building collapsed when the tornado hit.