Just talked to my sister who lives in C'Dale.

 

Friday they had a storm classified as an inland hurricane (I kid you not) with winds of 106mph.

 

Looks like sections of the Carbondale area are expected to be without power for a week and possibly more.

 

I heard absolutely nothing about this in the news. Not sure if I just missed it or if it didn't get any coverage.

 

Anyway, I thought it was worth mentioning for those with Carbondale connections.

 

 

Carbondale as in where SIU is located?

 

That's pretty messed up.

Carbondale as in where SIU is located?

 

Yep.

 

Here's a quote from one of the few articles I could find about it on the internet... although I'm sure we'll hear more about it soon.

 

Williamson County officials are estimating between 35 and 50 injuries and millions of dollars worth of damage from a storm that ripped through Southern Illinois Friday afternoon.

 

The storm, being referred to as an "inland hurricane" by the National Weather Service, produced winds clocked as high as 106 miles per hour in neighboring Carbondale and up to 86 miles per hour near the Willamson County Airport.

 

"For the National Weather Service to refer to this as an inland hurricane is significant," said Williamson County Emergency Managment Agency Director Alan Gower. "The storm had all of the characteristics of a hurricane — the circular motion, the eye, and of course the hurricane force winds."

 

Williamson County Board Chairman Tracey Glenn signed an official disaster declaration at 4:19 p.m Friday. That declaration opened the door to possible state and federal assistance.

Edited May 11, 200916 yr by scenario

MY GOD WHERE'S ROW44 IS HE OK??? [/small concern]

MY GOD WHERE'S ROW44 IS HE OK??? [/small concern]

He was probably so drunk he didn't even notice, and if he did, he just made sure his beer didn't blow away.

 

/small concern

whoa, an inland hurricane? Has this ever happened before??? :-O

Here's what happened:

 

Friday was the last day of finals so everyone was kind of packing up and getting read to move out. Weather was s***ty in the morning, but more the miserable Chicago weather s***ty than the Gulf Coast in hurricane season s***ty. Around 12:00 it got pretty bad, winds at about 50 mph. Half hour later, 106 mph winds sustained for at least 20 minutes. A bunch of cars got crushed by trees, the town isn't going to have power until probably next weekend and the radio stations were telling people to ration food and water for the long haul. My dad took 4 hours to get from Marion to Carbondale because a semi got blown over on Route 13.

 

It was pretty bad.

MY GOD WHERE'S ROW44 IS HE OK??? [/small concern]

Yeah, he's probably dead.

 

/no concern

whoa, an inland hurricane? Has this ever happened before??? :-O

Summer 2003 one hit Memphis, TN. Took weeks for the city to get all the street lights back up and running and all the downed trees off the streets. People went days without power - without A/C in Memphis in July. 100+ mph winds, straight line and downdraft, just like what apparently hit Carobondale. They called it Hurricane Elvis.

 

Update...

 

Clean Up Continuing from Southern Illinois Storms

 

The clean up continued Saturday in the Carbondale and Marion area after thunderstorms packing 100-mile per hour winds and spawning funnel clouds slammed through the area on Friday. Governor Pat Quinn has declared Franklin, Jackson and Williamson Counties a state disaster area. That will ensure state help is available to local officials to protect public safety and quickly recover from the destructive storm.

 

Ameren IP (utility company) reports a small army of more than 12-hundred men and women are working to restore power to more than 63-thousand electric customers. The company has set a goal of completing the restoration effort by midnight on Tuesday. Winds described as an 'inland hurricane' toppled hundreds of utility poles, brought electric wires to the ground, slammed trees into transmission lines and damaged equipment. The Red Cross has set up four storm shelters.

 

Meanwhile, Commencement will go on as planned this weekend at Southern Illinois University's Carbondale campus despite damage from severe storms. Some trees are down and windows broken on campus cancelling Friday graduation ceremonies. Those scheduled for Saturday and Sunday are being held at McAndrew Stadium.

 

At least seven persons were injured in the storm. A truck driver who had to be extricated from an overturned semi-trailer was in serious condition at a Carbondale Hospital. The six others brought to Memorial Hospital in Carbondale all reportedly had minor injuries.

 

 

 

95% of the homes in Williamson County were without power as a result of the storm. Saw on another site that the utility company has 1,400 people working round the clock trying to get power back up. As of Monday morning, approximately 1/3 of the homes have power back on again.

 

 

Nobody's even concerned about me

 

But yeah the storm that hit was unbelievable, we had a tornado warning during my first final at 10:10 am. Then when i left C'dale at 1 there was another tornado warning, and thats when the winds hit.

Nobody's even concerned about me

 

But yeah the storm that hit was unbelievable, we had a tornado warning during my first final at 10:10 am. Then when i left C'dale at 1 there was another tornado warning, and thats when the winds hit.

 

 

Thank God you are ok!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

who the hell is this guy?

I kid because I care™*

*Used by permission of FlaSoxxJim

 

this was fairly typical everywhere.

Here is a home video. A tree falls on the house about 5 minutes in. Some bad language.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short version with tree falling:

Edited May 11, 200916 yr by Leonard Zelig

Some people driving around town.

"Sorry about your car"

 

sorry the roof of your car is now pushed to the floor of your car, while we laugh our asses off, dude

Texted Rowand44 and no response. Hope he is ok.

 

I should of texted, "Free Beer." Probably would of gotten an answer.

First off, you guys are hysterical. Second, I've never seen anything like that, it's wild. It's pretty much a ghost town around here right now though, everybody went home. I'm still in Carbondale though, me and a few buddies are just grilling and drinking everyday. It's wild down here for sure though, are house still doesn't have power but they've made a lot of progress the past few days so I'm thinking we should soon.

I gtfo'd once I realized I had no food and no means to get more.

Good to see your alright there row44. Dont get drunk and think tornado chasing is a good idea.

I gtfo'd once I realized I had no food and no means to get more.

My buddies supported me the first few days cause I had 0 money but my mom just wired me down some money. But ya, everyday we all just pitch in some money for chicken/burgers/hot dogs/steak/etc to grill and then to buy booze. I'm actually sitting in trueblood right now cause they got all their s*** back up and they have free food here, so this is the place to be right now.

Good to see your alright there row44. Dont get drunk and think tornado chasing is a good idea.

but do get drunk and think it's a bad idea, that you should do.

 

Post pics

but do get drunk and think it's a bad idea, that you should do.

 

Post pics

I have some pics that I'll try to post eventually. BTW, I just got a new car about 2 months ago(2009 cobalt), it literally missed getting crushed by a tree by maybe 2 feet. Lucky as hell.

My buddies supported me the first few days cause I had 0 money but my mom just wired me down some money. But ya, everyday we all just pitch in some money for chicken/burgers/hot dogs/steak/etc to grill and then to buy booze. I'm actually sitting in trueblood right now cause they got all their s*** back up and they have free food here, so this is the place to be right now.

Hahaha I'm pumped to never go back to Trueblood again. Aspen Courts next year I'm pumped

Trueblood is so much better than Lentz... I'm shocked that place passes inspection. Either way I'll be right down the street from Sonik next year! Creekside 09!