By Alex Degman/Illinois Radio Network
COAL CITY – The mayor of Coal City in said a suspected tornado swept into town, first striking the high school before moving to the southeast over homes and damaging a fire station.
Mayor Terry Halliday said crews are surveying damage after the storm that hit at 10 p.m. Monday.
Halliday said shelters are available for anyone who needs them. The American Red Cross said about 30 people spent the night in its Coal City shelter and a handful of people stayed at a shelter in Sublette.
“There were some survivors pulled from the basement in some of those residences,” said Todd Friddle, Deputy Chief of the Wilmington Fire Protection District. “At this time we have no reports of fatalities, there were approximately five individuals transported to local hospitals.”
Friddle believed everyone is accounted for, but that a secondary search will be conducted.
Meanwhile, Gov. Bruce Rauner has activated an 80-member search and rescue team to help local first responders look for people possibly trapped in a Lee County campground.
Illinois Task Force 1 will assist at Woodhaven Lakes campground. The team is specially trained in urban search and rescue, has equipment to help in difficult recovery efforts and has trained search dogs.
The governor also issued a state disaster proclamation for Lee and Grundy counties. Rauner activated the State Emergency Operations Center on Monday evening after a line of storms moved through northern Indiana, bringing as many as seven suspected tornadoes.
