Illinois Tornadoes Rip Into Buildings, Big Rigs

Tornadoes cut across a wide swath of northern and central Illinois on Tuesday, scattering trees like twigs, flipping big-rig trucks and ripping the roofs off homes and a school.

Nearly every home in this town of 125 people 10 miles north of Springfield was damaged, but no serious injuries were reported. Elsewhere, there were minor injuries, mainly cuts and bruises.

“The sky was really yellow, and the dust was just whirling,” said Sally Prohaska, one of the few people in Cantrall whose home was not damaged by a tornado that hit late in the afternoon. “I just knew it wouldn’t hit my house and I thanked God for that.”

The tornado ripped the roofs off an elementary school auditorium and kindergarten classroom building, but schoolchildren had already gone home for the day.

It also downed power lines and a gas leak sparked several fires, said John Mitchell, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

Mitchell said the tornadoes touched down in a six-county area covering hundreds of square miles of central and northern Illinois.

“We do have some overturned vehicles, trees down, lines down” in all of the counties, he said.

Six tractor-trailer rigs and nearly a dozen cars overturned on Interstate 55, south of Springfield, said state police Lt. Mike Beagles. No motorists were seriously hurt.

State troopers closed the interstate’s northbound lanes for several hours and turned traffic back toward Springfield.