Illinois Department of Transportation blocks Illinois Route 4 with barricades and vehicles while power companies work to restore power.
UPDATE Wednesday, March 8, 7:30 pm: The National Weather Service has determined the cause of the damage was a tornado and not straight-line winds like originally proclaimed. More details will be available on Thursday on TheBenGilPost.com.
UPDATE Tuesday, March 7, 6:00 pm: Both the northbound and soutbound lanes of Illinois Route 4 are reopen after being closed for approximately 17 hours.
Damaging winds hit the BenGil area and its southern neighboring communities of Sawyerville and Wilsonville in the early hours on Tuesday around 1 in the morning downing power poles, damaging structures and uprooting trees.
Weather experts say it is too early to confirm if the winds were strong enough to be classified as a tornado, but the National Weather Service was predicting wind speeds upwards of 30 mph during the overnight hours of Monday and a tornado watch was issued for Macoupin County before 9 p.m. Monday evening that expired at 4 a.m. on Tuesday.
Regardless if the cause gets classified as a tornado or remains as straight-line winds, the damage was widespread and many citizens in the area were unable to see the full extent of the damage until sunrise. In addition to the damaging wind, the area experienced large hail and thunderstorms.
Ameren Illinois said they activated its Emergency Operations Center at 2 a.m. to manage the storm response. Most of the response was located in Alton, Bunker Hill, Brighton and Sawyerville. At the time of publication, 261 customers were without power although Ameren Illinois anticipates having all power restored by 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Only one Sawyerville person is reported to have suffered an injury because of the storm. According to a social media post on the Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance Service’s (GBAAS) account by Joshua J. Ross, EMT-P, LI, CAC and EMS director of GBAAS, the ambulance service was dispatched at 1:10 a.m. on Tuesday morning for an occupied camper that was overturned. The social media post explained that first responders gained access to the camper and extricated one patient who was transported to a local hospital for “evaluation of minor, non-life threatening injuries”.
See more photos from the storm damage here
Assisting Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance on-scene was the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office, Benld Fire Department, Gillespie Fire Department, Benld Police Department and Gillespie Police Department.
Sawyerville suffered the brute of the damaging winds as several power poles along Illinois Route 4 were toppled onto the roadway closing the road that connects Sawyerville and Staunton. Illinois State Police District 18 announced the closure on its social media account warning drivers to use an alternate route for their commute. Route 4 remained closed at the time of publication as Ameren and J.F. Electric made emergency repairs.
Benld Fire and Rescue also announced that Stewart Avenue in Sawyerville was closed because of downed power lines. Stewart Avenue connects Route 138 and Clark Street, but was reopen at the time of publication.
The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Wentzville, Missouri in St. Charles County at 11:51 p.m. Monday evening and was on the ground for three minutes ending at 11:54 p.m. Preliminary surveys indicate three people were injured in the storm that is estimated to have reached a peak wind speed of 98 mph, was 100 yards wide, and had a path of three miles long.
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