SOUTHERN ILLINOIS – Wednesday’s severe storms brought a few tornadoes to Southern Illinois.
According to storm reports from the National Weather Service in Paducah, around noon, an EF-1 tornado impacted the community of Cora in extreme western Jackson County.
The tornado began south of Cora where it uprooted a tree in the Mississippi River bottomlands and did roof damage to a nearby barn. Moving north, the tornado did significant tree damage in Cora and did roof, siding, and facia damage to a few homes. A couple small barns and a carport were destroyed as well. One manufactured home slid about a foot off its foundation. One person caught outside by the tornado was injured by a falling tree limb. The tornado ended immediately north of Cora.
At 3:10 p.m. an EF-1 tornado was reported in Makanda in Jackson County. Damage was mainly to tree limbs along a path beginning southeast of Carbondale along Giant City Blacktop. Several large tree limbs were downed on Wagon Wheel Road and County Line Road. Crossing into Williamson County, a large tree was uprooted on Skyhawk Road. Moving east, a barn suffered roof damage on New Hope Road. The tornado lifted after crossing Spillway Road on the southwest side of Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge.
At 4:04 p.m. an EF-0 tornado did intermittent damage from the central subdivisions of the Lake of Egypt community to just south of Creal Springs in Williamson County. The great majority of the damage was from downed tree limbs. A couple trees in waterlogged soil were also uprooted.
Then at 4:13 p.m. a tornado two miles east southeast of Carrier Mills in Saline County snapped or uprooted several dozen trees with many large branches broken along the path. A few homes and barns suffered minor roof damage. One home was slightly shifted off its foundation.
A likely tornado damaged a large outbuilding near Highway 145 and Willow Grove Road about five miles east southeast of Carrier Mills around 4:15 p.m.
A tornado was also reported around 4:30 p.m. five miles southwest of Equality.
