By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

GIRARD, Ill. — On April 19 the skies darkened while radio and television airwaves were filled with dire warnings of impending storms and tornados bearing down on Montgomery and Macoupin counties in Illinois.

John Early, Emergency Management coordinator for Macoupin County, was assisting in coordinating efforts at the Mark Prose residence afterward. The Prose farmhouse had been ripped from its foundation and the shed containing his farming equipment was destroyed.

“At approximately 5:30 Tuesday evening, weather radar indicated that weather moving into the area deemed more eyes on the sky,” Early explained.
He said in Girard, they activated more weather watchers. He spotted the tornado that would wreak havoc on this small Macoupin County town: “I saw the funnel cloud form around six o’clock just northwest of Girard. It just missed the nursing home by a mile.

“Approximately 22 structures were damaged. Six homes were destroyed and six more may be, also.”

The Prose home was one of the farmsteads that were completely destroyed. Mark Prose said his wife, Lisa, and their youngest child moved to the basement. “It was coming and we decided to eat supper in the basement. It was pretty dark, then all of a sudden the air pressure changed, we knew that something wasn’t right,” he said, standing near what was left of his home. “We got in the basement bathroom. You could tell the house was gone, but the subfloor stayed in place. I got to the top of the stairs and could see daylight, so I knew it was gone.”

Prose knew the fire department was on the way and once the rain let up, they went up out of the house so the firefighters would know they were okay. While the house and machine shed were gone, no one was actually hurt.

“What can you say?” he said, looking around his site. “No one had a scratch.”
A large group of helpers came to assist with the cleanup at their home. “The amount of people that showed up was unbelievable,” Prose said. “This is not what I had planned to do on a Tuesday, but ...”

“Over 100 volunteers helped (April 20),” Early added, last week. “There are 50 to 60 today and 100 more in the countryside.”

There were several equipment dealers in the area that brought out loaders, track hoes, ATVs and much more. Early’s twin brother, Bob, brought out equipment from the Pawnee Fire Department, and area churches organized meals on wheels to the disaster areas.

The Red Cross and a multitude of other agencies came together. When all was said and done, the storm that stretched across several states generated a total of six tornados in Illinois; the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed the tornado that went through Macoupin County and Girard was an EF-3. The NWS added that the tornado had peak winds of 150 mph and a path length of 6.5 miles. Power to thousands was knocked out and cleanup efforts were extensive.