Torrential, crop-damaging weather prevailed across central Illinois north of Interstate 74 during most of last week, dumping more than 3 inches of rain and leaving 10,700 Ameren Cilco power customers in the dark the evening of June 10.

At 10:15 p.m., the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood warning for residents of Peoria, Fulton, Marshall, Knox, Mason, Tazewell and Woodford counties, while cautioning that flooding could affect numerous towns and stretches of interstates 74, 474 and 155.

Peoria and Woodford counties’ Farm Bureau managers Patrick Kirchhofer and Jolene Neuhauser, respectively, said they had heard of no major crop or farm building damage from the storm in their areas. However, many farmers located to the north in Marshall County were not as fortunate, reported Tiffany Moodie, Marshall County Farm Bureau manager.

"We lost two trees, had three damaged cars and a damaged roof and siding. It was a mess," she said. Marshall County grower Rich Shanklin, who farms just south of Lacon near State Route 26 and in other areas east of the Illinois River, reported heavy crop damage on his land.

"My beans are pretty much stripped down to the stem," he said of his 90-acre Lacon-area farmland. "More than likely they need replanted, but by the time it dries up I’m not sure if I’m going to be past the insurance date or not. I’ve got sandy ground, and if I get them replanted I likely won’t have time to get them out of the ground to get my wheat planted in time this fall. We’ve been in wheat and beans for 20-something years."

Another 100 acres of wheat were planted nearby. Shanklin estimates he lost 75 percent of the wheat in the north end of that field and 25 percent in the south end to the storm, which produced 1.5- to 1.75-inch diameter hail in the Lacon area, according to the NWS.

Land farmed by Shanklin to the east in the Wenona and Eureka areas was not affected by the storm, he reported. "But if you drive two or three miles south of Lacon on Route 26, almost all of the corn is down there," he said. "Anybody who had corn in that area doesn’t have it anymore."

The flooding prompted transportation officials to close the bridge on State Route 17 over the Illinois River at Lacon. Water flowed over roads in Marshall County, closing Route 26 north of town. Thunderstorm wind damage snapped 10-15 power poles three miles northwest of neighboring Sparland, the Peoria Journal Star reported.