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Saturday night storm leaves behind damage in Madison County, NWS confirms EF-1 tornado

Witnesses said high winds blew an Amazon delivery truck off of Troy-O'Fallon Road

MADISON COUNTY, Ill — The weather system that passed through St. Louis Saturday night did so without a lot more than wind and rain. But it did some damage before it cleared the Metro East.

The National Weather Service said an EF-1 tornado touched down from St. Jacob to Highland, Illinois, just after 7 p.m. The NWS said the tornado touched down along Marine Road, where it toppled several trees and partially tore off the roof of a large metal shed. The tornado then lifted before touching down again near Lake Road, where it did damage to the siding and roofs of some homes. It also snapped a power pole in the area. 

The NWS said the maximum wind speed of the tornado was 90 mph. The track of the tornado was more than five miles long. 

In Madison County, tire tracks in a muddy field are all that remain along Troy-O’Fallon Road Sunday morning after witnesses say an Amazon delivery truck was blown off the road.

It happened in front of Debbie McEwing’s house.

“They said the wind completely picked it up and threw it into a red pickup," said McEwing. “It ended up in the farmer’s field with all the windows blown out."

Mel Juergens lives next door. The weather left a path of destruction in front of and behind the home he and his wife built in 1971.

“There’s a lot of pine trees down in my neighbor’s yard and my yard," Juergens said. "Plus, there’s a full-grown walnut tree back there that’s laying down flat on the ground.”

McEwing’s and Juergens’ neighbors spent a good part of Sunday cleaning up tree damage on their own nearby property. 

“We were barbecuing and next thing you know, straight winds came flying through and trees started going down, one after another,” Troy resident Jonah Brown said.

Farther east, an out-of-place dumpster along Route 143 in Highland was the only thing giving an indication of what happened across the street at Tri Ford car dealership. A tarp covers part of the roof damaged by high winds.

Along Highway 40 west of Highland, crews worked to replace utility poles and restore power lines.

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