[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17232-17233]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TORNADOES IN ILLINOIS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, search and rescue operations are underway 
in several Illinois v communities today after deadly tornadoes tore 
through my home State yesterday.
  Eight people died as a result of the storms--six in Illinois--and 
dozens are seriously injured.
  My heart goes out to the people who have lost so much and today are 
beginning to sort through the rubble.
  Take a look at what the people in Washington, IL, near Peoria, woke 
up to this morning.
  This photo shows what is left of the neighborhood on Devonshire Road.
  It is difficult to know which property is which because the homes 
have been reduced to splinters.
  The tornado cut a path from one end of Washington to the other, 
knocking down power lines, rupturing gas lines, and ripping off roofs.
  This is another picture of the devastation in Washington, IL. It 
looks as though this whole neighborhood has been destroyed.
  Mayor Gary Manier says between 2,000 and 3,000 homes were damaged by 
tornadoes in his city, alone. He credits the advance warning system for 
saving many lives. Mayor Manier estimates people in Washington had 
about 4-to-5 minutes to take cover.
  Washington is a city of about 15,000 people. It is about 150 miles 
southeast of Chicago.
  At least 400 homes were destroyed there--wiped off their foundations.
  Standalone homes, multifamily homes, and apartment buildings were 
damaged. Rescue teams are searching the debris to make sure all the 
victims of the storm are accounted for.
  Several stories have been reported of debris from Washington ending 
up near Streator, IL, which is more than 50 miles away. People in 
Streator found part of a plastic recycling bin with the Washington city 
emblem on it and a UPS package addressed to one of Washington's hardest 
hit neighborhoods. A person in Lockport, IL; which is two hours away, 
found a savings bond with a Washington, IL, address.
  Many other Illinois communities were struck by the twisters. This 
photo shows some of the aftermath in Brookport, IL, which is in Massac 
County, in the southern part of the State.
  Several people in Brookport said some homes moved as much as 20-feet 
off their foundations. Seventy homes were destroyed and many more are 
damaged.
  Three of the six people who died in Illinois lived in Massac County.
  The Village of Gifford, IL, a small community of 500 people, suffered 
severe damage. About 160 homes were destroyed there. People there say 
it looks as though half of the town has been wiped away.
  In Washington County, two siblings, Joseph Hoy, who was 80 years old, 
and Frances Hoy, who was 78, died in the storms. They lived in the 
Village of New Minden.
  Coal City, Nashville, East Peoria, Pekin--many Illinois communities 
were struck by the tornadoes.
  In the face of all this devastation, people all over the State are 
beginning the painful task of assessing the damage.
  In fact, we are starting to hear stories of bravery during the 
tornadoes.
  In Washington, a 6-year-old boy is being credited for saving the 
lives of his mother and older brother.
  Six-year-old Brevin Hunter was playing a video game when he heard the 
wail of the siren yesterday. He urged his mom to go down to the 
basement.

[[Page 17233]]

  His mother, Lisa Hunter, had heard the siren, too, but said the skies 
looked deceptively calm, so she thought it was a drill.
  Brevin wouldn't let up. He told his mother that he learned in school 
that when you hear the siren, you have to go somewhere safe.
  Brevin, his mother, and Brevin's older brother, Brody, grabbed a 
futon and went to the basement just minutes before the tornado slammed 
into their duplex in Washington Estates.
  Lisa Hunter credits her little boy for saving their lives.
  Lorelei Cox, a teacher in the City of Washington, credits a former 
student for saving her life and her husband's.
  Cox's house was directly in the path of the storm. She and her 
husband, Dave, took shelter when they heard the sirens, but they were 
buried by debris when the twister hit. They survived but could not get 
out.
  Cox says she and her husband were dug out from under the rubble by 
one of her former students.
  Governor Pat Quinn has declared seven Illinois counties State 
disaster areas.
  Champaign, Grundy, LaSalle, Massac, Tazewell, Washington, and 
Woodford Counties are receiving the trucks, communications equipment, 
and heavy equipment needed to remove debris. More than 60 National 
Guardsmen are helping with recovery.
  Earlier today I spoke with Jonathon Monken, the head of the Illinois 
Emergency Management Agency. He assured me that FEMA representatives 
are in the State, assessing the damage, and working with State and 
local officials to help people.
  The State has dispatched technical rescue teams to a number of 
locations across the State, and is providing emergency generators, 
light towers, and communications systems.
  The extent of the damage is breathtaking. I commend the mayors and 
first responders who are on the front lines, bringing order to the 
chaos, and Governor Quinn and his team, who are getting immediate help 
to the communities hardest hit.
  And I am confident that the State will need Federal assistance to 
help with the cleanup and recovery. I stand ready to help ensure there 
is Federal assistance to augment the arduous but critical recovery work 
that the municipalities and the State already have begun.
  Tornadoes aren't new to Illinois. They are pretty common in our part 
of the world, but this is an unusual situation we face. In the last 27 
years, there have been approximately 194 tornadoes in our State 
recorded in the month of November; 101 of them were recorded 
yesterday--again, 194 in 27 years, and 101 yesterday. Is the weather 
changing in America? I think the people in Illinois would say it is 
changing for the worse when it comes to the incidences of tornadoes out 
of season in our State of Illinois.
  There are two things I can predict about this disaster, without fail. 
One year from now, we will go back to these scenes and we will see the 
most amazing work having been done by so many families and so many 
neighbors to pitch in and rebuild. They never quit and never give up. 
They will be back. They will be back with their homes and playgrounds 
and churches and schools and shops. They will be back.
  The second thing I can predict without fail--and it is not unique to 
Illinois, but I am so proud of it--is that neighborly quality where 
people pitch in to help one another in ways large and small, from 
showing up last night in Washington, IL, at one of the shelters with 35 
hot pizzas; somebody just brought them in and said give them to whoever 
wants them. It is the little gestures such as that, and many others, 
large and small, which I am so proud to report that are just part of 
who we are. Again, not unique to Illinois, not unique to the Midwest, 
maybe not even unique to America, but time and again in times of crisis 
it comes out and shows itself over and over again.

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