{"id":182,"date":"2013-12-10T13:27:37","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T19:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=182"},"modified":"2013-12-12T12:07:31","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T18:07:31","slug":"devastation-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2013\/12\/10\/devastation-in-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Devastation in Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"

On November 17, a catastrophic EF-4 tornado ripped through Washington, Ill. leaving destruction in its wake. As many as 1,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed with one casualty and more than 100 injuries. Thousands were left homeless. This is a closer look at the events as well as the recovery from that day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The day that rocked central Illinois<\/h3>\n

Tornadoes leave portions of Washington in rubble<\/h4>\n

By Alex Ross<\/p>\n

The forecast called for severe weather across Illinois and the rest of the Midwest on Nov. 17.<\/p>\n

The Storm Prediction Center gave a 30 percent chance for tornadoes striking central Illinois. But no one could predict the devastation that would rock Washington, the small community of more than 15,000, in the late morning that Sunday.<\/p>\n

At 10:30 a.m., the Washington community was going about its normal Sunday activities. Some were at church, others were out and about shopping. Less than an hour later the lives of thousands were changed forever.<\/p>\n

Just after 11 a.m., a record EF-4 tornado touched down in the town just east of Peoria damaging or destroying as many as 1,000 homes and businesses. One life was lost and 122 more sustained injuries.<\/p>\n

Washington was left in rubble.<\/p>\n

People crawled out of their basements to see their home completely destroyed. In a matter of minutes, the most severe November tornado since 1885 in the state had left entire neighborhoods ruined.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw the funnel cloud my first reaction was to pray,\u201d said Anthony Khoury, whose video<\/a> of the tornado has thousands of views on YouTube. \u201cI can\u2019t think of a time in my life I was more scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khoury\u2019s house was not destroyed in the twister, but just a couple of streets over everything was obliterated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was surreal after the tornado came through,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was utter chaos for a few minutes then it was gone. All that was left was piles of debris and completely destroyed houses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ll never forget is the sound. It was like a jet was flying right on top of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

It did not take long for emergency personnel to respond. They were on the scene in minutes after the destruction. The search for the injured and missing persons began immediately. Soon after that the recovery effort began.<\/p>\n

A member of Team Rubicon, an organization made up of veterans of all ages to assist in disaster relief internationally, asked not to be identified. However, he said the group of about 30 men and woman made its way to Washington just days after the tornado and will not leave until the clean up is finished. Other relief organizations including the Red Cross, Salvation Army and others are on the ground to assist with the efforts.<\/p>\n

According to the Washington Tornado Recovery Facebook page, only an estimated 20 percent of the debris has been cleared in the month since the tornado.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a long time [to recover],\u201d Khoury said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not from a lack of effort. There is people out everyday, no matter the weather, to get things cleared. The rebuilding process started right away and it will continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s no good time for this to happen \u2026 it\u2019s even worse with winter upon us, but that isn\u2019t stopping anybody. Washington will recover from this \u2026 there is no doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

A Washington native reflects on the tornado disaster<\/h3>\n