Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • A7

1 Decatur HeralD review Sunday, april 28, 2019 A7 How they responded That Taylorville would be able to be rebuilt at all was not certain that evening of Dec. 1. Crews said a severe weather threat was indicated nearly 12 hours before the storm hit, and they decided about an hour before the Christmas parade there was a substantial risk. also determined the means to alert those already lining the pa- rade Crews said. Barry was supposed to be the grand marshal and raced with city and county officials to the command center in the fire station.

By 5:20 p.m., the tornado was moving through south side with estimated winds speeds of 155 mph and a half-mile width. The twister would eventually travel more than 12 miles through Taylor- ville and Stonington. The National Weather Service issued a Tornado Emergency due to the severity of the storm, one step higher than a Tornado Warning. had only been issued twice in 20 Crews said. The Taylorville and Christian County emergency teams had prepared for intense weather, but not like this.

practice every said fire department Assistant Chief Andy Goodall. we never practiced it to that Weather spotters were dis- patched, and tornado reports from around the Raymond-Harvel area southwest of Taylorville came in. For an added warning, the fire de- partment activated the weather warning sirens twice. the hopes residents would not confuse that activation as an all Crews said. second siren activation was immediately followed by a post on social me- Social media played a key role: the tornado was coming through, we were getting good, solid Crews said.

Barker, the Coal Street resi- dent, said it sounded like one of the freight trains that pass by off Illinois 48. next thing I know, my win- dows in my back bedroom started flying and I had branches in the dining she said. froze. I just stood there and Her two dogs, cat and cocka- tiel huddled with her husband in safety in the center of the house. was a rough she said.

Then came the emergency calls. And more. And more. of those calls would be bad, much less 12 or Crews said. The darkness and debris made rescue and clean-up tasks diffi- cult, but every house was searched by midnight.

Rural Stonington and Blue Mound also had damage. Another twister was reported in the Maroa area. Statewide, 22 tornados had been sighted that night. One of the 21 injured in Taylor- ville was husband, Larry, who was hospitalized after inhal- ing natural gas fumes. He had gone outside to inspect the house and there was a gas leak.

got him in the house and he went into a heart she said. Altogether, 15 are fire depart- ments arrived at the Taylorville fire station. had an immense amount of help, from EMS, fire, police, public Crews said. By the next morning, donations of food, clothing and money ar- rived. how Taylorville said Shirley Neithe, manager of the Ace Hardware store on West Spresser Street, who was part of the first clean-up wave and whose work continues today.

Next door to the store is a ware- house in which building materials, water and other goods were stored. name it, they had it over Neithe said. still looks like a war Neithe said a side benefit of the storm is that it helped local busi- nesses. was a tragedy, but it pulled everyone she said. Nearly 4,000 truckloads of trees and debris were carted away in the immediate aftermath.

There is still substantial work needed, even five months later, Neithe said. still looks like a war she said. are houses sitting there that basically have any Barry, the mayor, is meeting weekly with about 15 people to talk about long-term recovery plans. There are also public meet- ings with insurance officials. amazing how much work has been done in the last month and a how much more still needs to be he said.

re- covery will go on for at least two years, if not Kerns, the Missions for Tay- lorville official, said transitioning to how to fund the long-range plans. Shortly after the tornado hit, the organization began receiving calls from others outside the com- munity. we ready to accept Kerns said. long- term recovery team is starting from scratch. We had to learn about what to Crews said progress is being made.

He credits the work of city officials to notify people quickly. He also was a representative for the rescue and emergency person- nel as the guest of U.S. Rep. Rod- ney Davis, R-Taylorville, during the State of the Union address in February. Crews said the Taylorville story is seen as an example of how to be address emergencies.

are trying to help other communities out with these is- Crews said. Champaign, Litchfield, Decatur, I have talked to a lot communities. It is important to help Recovery also continues for Vickie Barker. They live in a rental home for now, and her husband is recovering there. The plumbing and utilities for the new house is expected to be installed in coming weeks, then the home will be assembled.

She never thought about going anywhere else. surely could have got an- other house, but this is my Vickie Barker said about her neighborhood. are starting all over Contact donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: LOCAL Vickie Barker stands in front of the foundation for her new home in Taylorville. Her previous home that stood on the same site was heavily damaged in the dec.

1 tornado. CLAY JACKSON PHOTOS, HERALD REVIEW amity Food Store on West Spresser Street in Taylorville is shown the night of dec. 1. Tornado clean-up continues. Employees of lyle prosser Construction, including dave Stiefel, work on a house on South Houston that was destroyed from the tornado in Taylorville.

More photos and a video can be seen at www.herald-review.com By the numbers 155 Estimated speed, in miles per hour, of dec. 1 Taylorville tor- nado 11 Miles traveled by twister 26 reported injuries in storm 0 deaths 23 Storms that touched down statewide on dec. 1 Taylorville tornado victims informational meeting WHAT: insur- ance claims: a practical guide to knowing what the terms of your insurance claim WHEN: 7 p.m. on Tuesday, april 30 WHERE: davis Memorial Chris- tian Church Fellowship Hall, 1500 W. Franklin St.

Taylorville From A1.