Storms hit Southern Illinois; tornado watch in SE Missouri

The Associated Press

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. -- Heavy thunderstorms raked southern Illinois on Wednesday, uprooting trees, derailing a train and overturning trucks.

No serious injuries were reported and a tornado watch was in effect for several Southeast Missouri counties until 4 a.m. this morning.

Shortly after 10 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the following counties: Bollinger Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Iron, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve and Stoddard.

Late Wednesday the storms hadn't created any serious damage in Cape County, but winds derailed 12 Norfolk Southern railroad cars south of Staunton. Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband said the train was traveling about 20 mph from Granite City to Decatur when the storm struck about 1:55 p.m.

Two semi tractor-trailers overturned on I-55 about 2 p.m. near the Livingston exit. Illinois State Trooper Ralph Timmins told the Belleville News-Democrat there was one minor injury from the accidents.

The storm also uprooted trees, destroyed farm storage buildings and caused power outages to 1,800 customers in Greenville and Hillsboro. Illinois Power spokesman Shirley Swarthout said power would be fully restored before morning.

The storm might have produced winds up to 50 mph to 60 mph, said Carl Erickson, Accu-Weather meteorologist.

Byron Sikma, general manager of South Central FS in Greenville, said high winds destroyed a grain elevator.

"Basically, every grain bin has some destruction," Sikma said.