By KAREN BINDER
Illinois Correspondent

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Nearly all of Southern Illinois University’s Carbondale campus farm buildings sustained major damage in the May 8 storm system that has racked up more than $3 million in damages.

Not many of the 50 horses at the Equine Center sustained minor flesh wounds from storm shrapnel, but the stallion barn, the indoor training arena, a hay barn and thousands of feet of fencing are either gone or unusable, said Sheryl King, equine program director. Power lines are still down across the horse pasture and the center’s vaccination supply spoiled without refrigeration.

Also damaged in the gale-force winds was a roof at the Beef Center, a grain elevator and a machine shed.

Without a hay barn for storage, King and her staff are relying on volunteers and donations to help keep the center running. Contributions may be made to the SIUC Foundation, which is responsible for the Horse Program Activities Fund, directly to King at the SIUC College of Agricultural Sciences. King said she’s already received a donation from Purina in St. Louis.

SIUC’s Equine Center isn’t the only farm suffering from damages reaped by a line of violent storms and high winds, defined as a derecho (see related story). Richard Borgsmiller is president of the Jackson County Farm Bureau and was busy last week clearing his Illinois fields from fallen trees.

“There’s a lot of debris and trees that must be cleared along the edge of the fields. And the fields, well, they are wet again. It’s way too muddy to be out there. It’s going to be awhile before we’re in the fields again,” he said.

The southern Illinois region has had an especially wet season, with few fields planted. Borgsmiller said he hasn’t been able to get into the fields since April 5.

Gov. Pat Quinn toured the storm-torn areas in Marion on May 12. Besides sizing up the damage, he thanked volunteers and utility workers for their efforts thus far. He also added Gallatin, Randolph and Saline counties to Franklin, Jackson and Williamson as state disaster areas, a designation which ensures state resources will be available to support local governments in their storm recovery efforts.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the widespread damage this storm caused to homes and businesses throughout this area, and I want to assure you that the state of Illinois will do everything within our power to help these communities get back on their feet,” Quinn stated in a press release. “I’m truly inspired by the spirit of the hundreds of volunteers and utility workers who are working dawn to dusk to speed the recovery process.”

 Key to strategizing recovery efforts is the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), which is coordinating local requests for assistance with several state agencies that have available personnel and assets to help communities recover from disaster.
Andrew Velasquez III, IEMA director, who accompanied Quinn on the tour, said, “While this recovery won’t happen overnight, I’m confident everyone at the local and state level will continue working closely to help these communities.”

Other state agencies called in to help include the Illinois State Police with traffic assistance and curfew enforcement and the Illinois Department of Transportation, with Illinois Department of Corrections inmate work crews on debris cleanup in Carbondale, Murphysboro, Herrin and Marion.

Most homes had power restored by May 14, nearly a week after the storm hit.