EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — It’s been three years since a deadly tornado hit Edwardsville, killing six people working at an Amazon warehouse.
“This process is the result of the hard work of our local teams and the great partnerships we have with local leaders and organizations. We could not be more grateful for the support of the Edwardsville community and we’re ready to ramp up at this facility and deliver for our customers,” Amazon Spokesperson Steve Kelly said in a statement.
But each new development since the tragedy brings back a lot of emotions for the Cope family. They're still hopeful for change in Illinois.
In December 2021, Alexandra Cope lost her brother Clayton ‘Clay’ Cope after an EF 3 tornado hit the Edwardsville Amazon warehouse where he worked.
“It's something that you don't think is real in the moment when someone tells you that your 29-year-old brother is dead,” Cope said.
Ever since then, the Cope family has been fighting for the safety of warehouse workers.
“I don't want to see what has happened to our family, my brother and the other individuals who were killed that night to happen again,” Cope said.
Cope said they’ve been contributing to a new state task force that's gathering information to make recommendations to legislators.
“We've heard everything from shelters to very important training measures. So people having a place to go, and knowing where to go are really important factors, making sure buildings are up to code,” Cope said.
The City of Edwardsville did change its city code requiring buildings be able to withstand winds up to 114 mph.
Kelly said while they didn't build a specific storm shelter, "Our emergency shelter-in-place areas have always been compliant with OSHA, state, and local guidance and we worked with a third-party registered design professional before reopening in order to determine the optimal refuge locations inside the facility."
He said the company has also hired meteorologists and employees are now given lanyards with a card that has all the information they need for extreme weather events.
The Cope family and local legislators still want to see more done.
State Representative Katie Stuart said in a statement, "Storms are more frequent and stronger and we want to do everything we can to make sure that workers who go to work in the morning come home at night."
Cope said people need to take tornadoes more seriously.
“We need to have a mindset shift of like tornadoes do tear people apart. They tore many families apart,” Cope said.
Next Wednesday, the workers' safety task force will be meeting at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to look at a draft of recommendations to bring to the Illinois state legislature. They hope to present their findings early next year.