CHARLESTON — Thousands of residents were left without power following severe weather, including tornadoes, that touched down in Coles County Wednesday night.
The sound of chainsaws and running generators could be heard all over town on Thursday while they worked to clear debris off of main roads.
Marilyn Wendel and her son Alex live on Sixth Street, where they experienced some of the worst damage. Several large branches fell onto the front of their house and smashed the window and side door of Alex’s car.
She said they were sheltering inside when they heard the tree next to their house get uprooted.
“We didn’t know what the noise was,” Wendel said. “We thought the roof was coming off, that’s how bad it sounded.”
Wendel said after her husband passed away, she could no longer afford to live in Chicago and decided to move down to the house in Charleston, which they had been renting to Eastern Illinois University students for the last several years.
She and Alex had hoped to fix up the place after moving in.
“We just finished putting that whole roof on the porch there, and now look at it,” Wendel said. “We’re like starting from scratch, you know?”
Trees and power lines were downed throughout the city, blocking off roads and making it difficult for first responders to reach some areas with severe damage.
The relief work began within hours of the storm passing through. City councilmember Dennis Malak helped organize a food and supply drive at the Doudna Fine Arts Center on the EIU campus.
“We’re just coordinating food, individual bags for people as they come up, making sure they have enough food and water,” Malak said. “We have volunteers who are also going to help take and deliver food.”
Malak, who is also the director of programming, publicity and promotion at Doudna, said they had received donations and assistance from the local Rural King, Walmart, Jersey Mike’s and Pilsen’s.
“It’s very heartwarming,” Malak said. “It’s amazing the amount of support we are getting from the city and all of our local business leaders.”
The Wesley United Methodist Church in Charleston also opened its doors to community members in need of rest, shelter, or just a place to charge their phone.
Charleston’s mayor, Brandon Combs, stopped by the Doudna drive.
“It’s great to see the community come together like this,” Combs said.
Combs said city police, fire and public works are working to clear the main roads, but the full extent of the damage is still unknown.
“There’s roads that we haven’t even been able to make it to yet, because we’re trying to get the main roadways cleared,” Combs said. “Then you find trees that are down, then it’s wrapped in a hot wire, so we’re still pressing the fact that people [need to] still watch what they do and where they go.”
Residents said they received word from Ameren that power would be restored by 11 p.m. Thursday night, but the amount of power lines down left some people skeptical.
“They haven’t even touched this road yet, and they have to get all those poles replaced completely,” said Tricia Miller, who lives on Taylor Street, where power lines were down along several blocks. “So I’m not going to get my hopes up.”
Neighbors were outside helping one another all day on Thursday as the clean-up continued into the evening and roads gradually began to clear.
IPM meteorologist Andrew Pritchard reports a total of three tornadoes swept through the region on Wednesday. The other two touched down in Effingham and Rose Hill, he said.
Mayor Combs said residents looking for information on relief and clean up efforts should visit the city of Charleston’s website for updates.
