One year anniversary of tornado outbreak
SHERMAN, Ill. (WCIA) – It’s been one year since a deadly tornado outbreak tore across the region, including here in Central Illinois.
In the outbreak, 146 tornadoes were confirmed from Iowa to Arkansas and as far east as the Mid-Atlantic states. 14 of those tornadoes touched down here in Central Illinois.
READ: 14 tornadoes confirmed in Central IL during widespread severe weather outbreak 3/31/23
Some of the hardest hit areas included Sherman and Riverton in Sangamon County.
In Riverton, a daycare building was destroyed, while in Sherman, a tornado tore across neighborhoods on the north side of town.
One Sherman Police Officer was storm spotting from his patrol car when the tornado touched down and moved towards town. The full unedited video is available below.
And in Champaign County, a tornado touched down near Dewey, narrowly missing Rantoul and crossing I-57 south of Ludlow. The tornado hit multiple vehicles and rolled over a bus full of passengers. Amazingly, only a few injuries were reported. Here’s some video from that scene below.
The strongest tornado of the night touched down southwest of Robinson, narrowly missing the heart of town and moving east. Crawford County Airport was destroyed, and the tornado roared across the river into Indiana. In total, this tornado killed 6 people as it moved over 40 miles, with winds of 165 mph based on storm damage survey.
Here’s a severe weather blog from the night of the tornado outbreak compiled by the weather team and staff at WCIA, talking about what happened.
READ: Severe Weather Blog 3/31/23 – Archived
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