Power Outage in Beardstown, IL

Power lines were blown onto railroad tracks.

A tornado touched down about 4 miles south-southwest of Virginia at 7:47 PM CST. The tornado tracked northeastward, heavily damaging a farmstead on Parlier Road about a half mile west of highway 78. Here, a house had significant damage to its roof and several farm buildings were completely demolished. One horse was killed and another injured. The tornado crossed highway 78 about a half mile north of Prairie Creek. It damaged approximately 15 power poles on Conover Road and overturned several storage tanks nearby. After crossing highway 125 about 2 miles southeast of Virginia, the remainder of the track mainly consisted of damage to trees. It crossed much of the Panther Creek Fish & Wildlife Area before lifting about 2 miles west-northwest of Newmansville at 7:59 pm.

Twenty power poles were broken along US-67 southwest of Beardstown prompting the closure of the road.

Twenty power poles were broken along US-67 southwest of Beardstown prompting the closure of the road.

Westerly winds increased to around 40mph with gusts of 50-60mph. A few large tree limbs and power lines were blown down due to the strong winds.

A tornado touched down 1.1 miles southeast of Beardstown at 3:25 PM CST. The tornado damaged some power poles near the railroad tracks east of the nursing home south of Beardstown, then tracked northeastward, causing tree damage as it crossed IL Route 125. The tornado damaged the Water Treatment Plant, including 3 of the 4 wells that serve the city, and knocked down numerous trees as it passed just east of Roy Roberts Park. It also knocked the windows out of several vehicles in the parking lot of the Park. The tornado continued moving to the northeast across Chandlerville Rd, causing an elongated area of tree damage along Duck Slough Rd before dissipating in a field east of Phelps Ditch Rd about 3.9 miles northeast of Beardstown at 3:33 PM CST.

Numerous tree limbs and power lines were blown down.

A power pole was blown down in Beardstown.

Several trees and power lines were blown down.

A power pole was blown down in Beardstown.

Several trees and power lines were blown down in Beardstown.

Numerous large trees were uprooted, and many large tree branches and power lines were downed. Thirty nine structures sustained damage and most needed repairs to be returned to a habitable state. These structures included single and multiple family homes, mobile homes, and businesses. Three structures were a total loss.

Numerous tree limbs and power lines were blown down.

Significant icing was reported in Cass county, with a maximum report of 7 tenths of an inch of ice received around Philadelphia. Around 2,000 homes and businesses lost power and numerous trees were damaged.

Few trees and power lines down.

Scattered wind damage was reported in portions of Cass County along and south of a Beardstown to Philadelphia line. The damage was due to the rear flank downdraft of the severe thunderstorm. Damage consisted of numerous trees toppled or broken off, power poles snapped off, an irrigation rig thrown over and damage to a barn.

A tornado briefly touched down 3.5 miles east southeast of Bluff Springs near Illinois Route 125. It was on the ground for about 2 miles, moving east northeast. Thirty to forty large trees were either broken off or uprooted. Also, a grain bin and three barns were destroyed. An ATV was picked up and thrown a short distance into a pickup truck. A number of power poles were snapped off. The tornado lifted about 2.5 miles northwest of Virginia.

Several trees and power lines were blown down.

A tree was blown down, as well as some tree limbs and power lines.

As a severe thunderstorm moved east across Cass County, numerous trees, tree limbs, power poles, and power lines were blown down. One mile southeast of Virginia more significant damage occurred to a house. The brick attached garage was destroyed and part of the roof of the house sustained minor damage. Also, two vehicles that were parked nearby were destroyed by flying debris. Seven miles northwest of Ashland, a machine shed suffered minor damage. In the Newmansville area, two storage tanks were blown over and a house sustained major damage when its entire roof was blown off. Debris from the home was blown up to 1.5 miles away to the northeast. No injuries were reported. In Chandlerville, numerous power poles were blown down.

Isolated supercell thunderstorms developed along an outflow boundary from previous convection across the Illinois River Valley during the early afternoon of August 23rd. One of the cells produced 50-60mph wind gusts, which broke numerous power poles southwest of Beardstown in Cass County.