Power Outage in Chester, IL

Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs around town. Some of the fallen limbs also knocked down a couple of power lines.

Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees onto Illinois Route 155 in Ruma. Numerous tree limbs were blown down in Baldwin. In the Sparta and Eden areas, numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down. Several buildings in Sparta sustained minor damage from fallen trees and tree limbs.

The tornado moved out of Missouri (Ste. Genevieve County) into Illinois (Randolph County) moving though flood plains and crossing the Mississippi River just north of the Menard Correctional Center. The tornado crossed Route 3 south of Lochhead Drive destroying a small barn, snapping or uprooting trees, and caused minor damage to several homes and a hardware store. Snapped or uprooted trees and downed power poles were found along the remainder of the tornado track through Chester with roof damage to several homes on Brenda Street. The worst damage in Chester occurred just northeast of the Palestine Road and Three Spring Roads intersection, where two farm outbuildings were completely destroyed. The larger of the two buildings was well-built with anchor bolts every 18-24 inches in the concrete foundation. This damage was rated EF-2. Further northeast, minor roof damage and the loss of the roof-mounted HVAC unit was found at the nursing home near Old Lodge Lane and Three Springs Road. The tornado continued to the northeast into Bremen paralleling and crossing Route 150, producing tree damage and minor roof damage to several homes. Minor roof damage to several homes, damage to several farm outbuildings, and snapped and uprooted trees were found along parts of Chester Road and Paradise Road. The worst of this damage was rated EF-1. The tornado dissipated around 1.6 miles northeast of Bremen, just west of Route 150. Overall the tornado was rated EF2 with a path length of 16.47 miles and a max path width of 400 yards.

The tornado moved out of Missouri (Ste. Genevieve County) into Illinois (Randolph County) moving though flood plains and crossing the Mississippi River just north of the Menard Correctional Center. The tornado crossed Route 3 south of Lochhead Drive destroying a small barn, snapping or uprooting trees, and caused minor damage to several homes and a hardware store. Snapped or uprooted trees and downed power poles were found along the remainder of the tornado track through Chester with roof damage to several homes on Brenda Street. The worst damage in Chester occurred just northeast of the Palestine Road and Three Spring Roads intersection, where two farm outbuildings were completely destroyed. The larger of the two buildings was well-built with anchor bolts every 18-24 inches in the concrete foundation. This damage was rated EF-2. Further northeast, minor roof damage and the loss of the roof-mounted HVAC unit was found at the nursing home near Old Lodge Lane and Three Springs Road. The tornado continued to the northeast into Bremen paralleling and crossing Route 150, producing tree damage and minor roof damage to several homes. Minor roof damage to several homes, damage to several farm outbuildings, and snapped and uprooted trees were found along parts of Chester Road and Paradise Road. The worst of this damage was rated EF-1. The tornado dissipated around 1.6 miles northeast of Bremen, just west of Route 150. Overall the tornado was rated EF2 with a path length of 16.47 miles and a max path width of 400 yards.

Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs and power lines between Ruma and Ellis Grove. Also, the winds snapped a power pole.

Thunderstorm winds blew down several power poles on the east side of Chester. Also, several trees were blown down along Illinois Route 3 between Chester and Rockwood.

About 1 inch of sleet and 3/4 inch of ice accumulated by 1 am 2/2. Some trees and power lines were reported down mainly across the northeast part of the county.

Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large trees, tree limbs and power lines around town. Just northwest of town at a recreational complex, a fifth wheel RV was blown over. A man was inside at the time sleeping. He sustained a broken arm and other minor injuries. In Sparta, one large tree limb damaged a carport and a nearby unoccupied car.

Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large trees in St. Patrick's Cemetery and in town. Also, numerous large tree limbs and power lines were blown down around town. Several tombstones were damaged in the cemetery and a large shed was destroyed just south of Ruma.

Thunderstorm winds partially flattened a corn field and blew 40 empty train coal cars over. One home in the area sustained moderate roof damage and several power poles were blown over.

Thunderstorm winds partially flattened a corn field and blew 40 empty train coal cars over. One home in the area sustained moderate roof damage and several power poles were blown over.

Numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down countywide due to the remnants of Hurricane Ike.

Strong winds associated with the passage of a cold front, knocked down several power lines onto Illinois Route 4 about 2 miles south of Sparta.

The fourth tornado from the Southeast Missouri supercell crossed into Randolph County Illinois about 9:47 pm CST moving across the southern portion of Kaskaskia Island. Debris originating from near St. Marys, Missouri was found in some fields on the island. Numerous snapped or uprooted trees were found on the island. The tornado crossed the Mississippi River on the north side of Chester with a damage path about 300 yards wide. F2 level damage was found just north of the Chester Correctional Center where a number of trees were leveled or snapped off. The tornado produced F1 damage at the Gorden Bud Cohen Recreational Complex where three wooden light posts were snapped off near the base, and several ball fields backstops and fences were blown over. Just to the east, three large pole barns and several outbuildings were destroyed, and a house had roof and exterior damage. The damage at this point was 300 yards wide and rated F2. The tornado continued to produced F1 to F2 damage along the remainder of its path through Randolph County with a nearly continuous 300 yard width. A Notable area of F2 damage were found just north and northeast of Bremen along Highway 150. This damage consisted of metal high power electric towers blown down, a destroyed mobile home, a number of destroyed barns and metal outbuildings, roof and exterior damage to several homes, and numerous trees uprooted. F2 damage was also found near Highway 150 about 1.5 miles west of Steeleville. The rear portion of a house had considerable roof and structural damage, several detached garages were destroyed, at least 5 metal outbuildings were destroyed, several barns destroyed, signs broken, and trees and power poles snapped. The tornado finally exited Randolph County about 1.5 miles south of Highway 154 on County Line Road about 10:15 pm CST.

Emergency management officials reported trees and a few power lines down in Chester.

Thunderstorm wind gusts caused scattered damage across west Randolph County. Some trees and large tree limbs were reported down in Ellis Grove, Evansville, and Chester. Power was out in many areas as well.

The County Sheriff reported trees and power lines down in Ruma and Percy.

Trees and power lines were reported down across the northern part of Randolph County. Damage was reported in Prairie du Rocher, Ruma, and Baldwin. Trees were also down on Highway 154 near Baldwin.

Wind gusts estimated around 70 mph caused damage at several locations in Randolph County. Trees and power lines were down in Ellis Grove. A mobile home, several outbuildings, trees and power poles were downed near Chester.