This Goodyear dealership on Route 148 between Marion and Herrin partially collapses in Friday's storm. Photo by Darrell Shaw.

The clean up continued Saturday in the Carbondale and Marion area after thunderstorms packing 100-mile per hour winds and spawning funnel clouds slammed through the area on Friday. Governor Pat Quinn has declared Franklin, Jackson and Williamson Counties a state disaster area. That will ensure state help is available to local officials to protect public safety and quickly recover from the destructive storm.

AmerenIP reports a small army of more than 12-hundred men and women are working to restore power to more than 63-thousand electric customers. The company has set a goal of completing the restoration effort by midnight on Tuesday. Winds described as an 'inland hurricane' toppled hundreds of utility poles, brought electric wires to the ground, slammed trees into transmission lines and damaged equipment. The Red Cross has set up four storm shelters.

 

Downed trees cover the road and bring down power lines on Route 148 between Herrin and Marion on Friday. Photo by Darrell Shaw.

Meanwhile, Commencement will go on as planned this weekend at Southern Illinois University's Carbondale campus despite damage from severe storms. Some trees are down and windows broken on campus cancelling Friday graduation ceremonies. Those scheduled for Saturday and Sunday are being held at McAndrew Stadium.

At least seven persons were injured in the storm. A truck driver who had to be extricated from an overturned semi-trailer was in serious condition at a Carbondale Hospital. The six others brought to Memorial Hospital in Carbondale all reportedly had minor injuries. Law enforcement agencies reported tornado touchdowns in the Jackson County community of Raddle and just south of Pinckneyville in Perry County.

While the severe weather stayed south of Marion County, the storm system brought additional rain. 1.55 inches of rain was recorded on Thursday night and Friday at the Salem Water Plant and 1.64 inches at the Centralia Water Plant.

A gas station at Route 148 and 13 in Herrin falls over during the Friday storm. Photo by Darrell Shaw.