Jump to content

Hurricane in Carbondale?


scenario

Recommended Posts

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.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (BearSox @ May 10, 2009 -> 11:12 PM)
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 by scenario
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ May 11, 2009 -> 12:15 AM)
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.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ May 11, 2009 -> 11:10 AM)
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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ May 12, 2009 -> 11:21 AM)
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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (shipps @ May 12, 2009 -> 11:24 AM)
Good to see your alright there row44. Dont get drunk and think tornado chasing is a good idea. :cheers

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

 

Post pics :lolhitting

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 12, 2009 -> 11:27 AM)

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

 

Post pics :lolhitting

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ May 12, 2009 -> 11:26 AM)
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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...