Power Outage in Caseyville, IL

Thunderstorm winds blew down several power lines around town.

A tornado first caused damage along the west side of the town of Caseyville, Illinois along Forest Blvd, just east if Interstate 255. Over twelve witnesses observed the tornado along the leading edge of the bowing squall line as they saw debris tossed several hundred feet into the air. The tornado traveled east southeast along Forest Blvd and West Lincoln Avenue. Three house trailers were severely damaged by the tornado between 85th and Black Lane. Two injuries occurred in two of the three house trailers. Numerous large trees were severed or downed by the tornado. The roof of a large machine shed on Black Lane was uplifted and displaced several hundred yards to the east. The tornado then ripped through an auto salvage area where several vehicles were over-turned, damaged or destroyed. The width of this damage area was 50 to 100 yards wide while damage intensity was rated F1. The tornado continued to travel just a bit south of due east causing damage to two homes and a camper and completely destroying another mobile home. Some of the remains of the mobile home was observed 3/4 mile to the east just west of Highway 157. Pieces of metal were wrapped around snapped power poles while one 2 x 4 board was driven into the front windshield of a pickup truck. The width of this damage area varied from 50 to 75 yards while the damage intensity was rated low-end F2. The tornado continued east and showed a convergence pattern in a nearby wheat field south of West Lincoln Ave. The tornado then caused minor damage to six new homes 100 to 300 yards south of West Lincoln Ave and 1/4 to 1/2 mile west of Highway 159. Roofs from five homes were partially uplifted and tossed 200 to 400 yards downwind to the east. One home under construction was completely destroyed. The width of the damage area varied from 75 to 150 yards. The damage intensity was rated the lower end of F1. The tornado continued east up a ridge just east of Highway 157. Several large trees were snapped or uprooted just east of 157. Additional tree damage was found along Hill Road east of Highway 157. One home on Hill Road sustained minor roof damage. The tornado crossed East O'Fallon Drive and severed or uprooted several large trees. One home sustained minor roof damage while a machine shed and garage was severely damaged. The tornado damage track ended just west of Highway 159. Width of the damage area again varied from 75 to 100 yards while the damage intensity was rated at the lower end of F1.