DANVILLE — Thursday’s severe thunderstorms took out trees, roofs and power lines.
Residents looked out for each other after the storms left trees strewn across roadways and part of gymnasium roof at Mark Denman Elementary went flying and so much more. Many are still without power.
Bev and Joe Potter live off Perrysville Road and they had photos showing a large tree that came down on their property, narrowly missing their home.
“About 7:45 p.m. last night, the storm blew through,” Bev Potter said. “The wind picked up very fast for a few minutes, and we heard this noise that we thought was possibly siding coming off. I looked out the side window in the living room and could see that the tree had come down, missing the house, but lying on our propane tank.”
Bev says there is, fortunately, no leak in the propane tank or any danger. And they have had representatives from the gas company out to ensure they are okay.
“We have the gas company out here hooking up a temporary tank for us, and we are waiting for a call back from tree services,” Potter said. “We are grateful that our house is okay, no injuries, and we only lost power for a couple of hours last night.”
Potter added her daughter-in-law, Megan Potter is helping navigate the process.
Jacob Peregoy, a community member, says the storm came in like, “the sound of rushing wind, [my girlfriend and I] were outside, and we went into shelter,” Pergoy says his house is fine, but the house next door, which he thinks is vacant, has downed trees.
Becky Shabazz said the whole ordeal was “very scary.”
“We [were] hit pretty hard,” Shabazz said. “It got quiet, then it sounded like a big pile-up — loud boom — very scary, my whole house shook.”
Shabazz added she has small children in her house, as well as a disabled daughter.
Everywhere you look, it seems community members are looking after each other following the events.
Joshua Gary says his friend is using his driveway for the time being.
“She lives right where those trees are blocking the road,” Gary said, describing a short video he took.
And trees were blocking many areas of Vermilion County Thursday evening.
At least four trees were covering Marlowe Road just west of Danville, as shown in a photo submitted by Oakwood teacher and coach Jesse Johnson.
On Fairchild Street. near Colfax, a viewer shared a photo of visible trees across the roadway, as well as photos showing trees across power lines on Fairchild and Garfield streets.
Others shared photos of trees on top of houses, roofs, cars, and more near Hungry Hollow, Vance Lane, Western Avenue, Voorhees, and Griffin Streets.
The Hoopeston Ag Nutrient Plant also appears to have suffered some damage, along with Kickapoo State Park. At this time, Kickapoo Adventures is not running any tubing trips.
“We are open for business and the park is open,” Kickapoo recreation officials say. “The maintenance department for the park are hard at work cleaning up the park. Our staff stepped up and made significant progress to get us to the point we are now.”
Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. shared on social media, like many other officials, statements and advice for the community early Friday morning.
“City crews are actively responding to storm damage following severe weather that impacted Danville overnight,” Williams said. He also advised residents to report any downed limbs or trees blocking roadways by calling 217-431-2288.
“Due to the widespread nature of the damage, residents are urged to be patient as City teams work through each neighborhood,” Williams said. “Crews are systematically clearing streets to ensure safe travel throughout the community. The City is also coordinating closely with Ameren Illinois to address downed power lines. Residents must assume all downed lines are live and dangerous and should avoid these areas.”
And many are still without power in Vermilion County. Tucker Kennedy with Ameren Illinois, said crews are working quickly to restore power. However, he said this will be a multi-day event.
“Prepare for a multi-day event, but we are telling our customers directly when we do have specific restoration times to communicate to them,” Kennedy said. “We have given our customers the heads-up that it’s not going to be a quick fix, it is going to take some time, but we’re on the case, and we do want them to be able to prepare at least for a multi-day event.”
As far as what to do with the excess brush, Danville Public Works will be hosting a free curbside brush collection next week, Monday through Thursday. Brush piles cannot be longer than 4 feet in length and must be “safely and reasonably” handled by staff.
You can also take your debris cleanup piles to the City’s Yard Waste Facility for no charge next week.