1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado
A destructive tornado outbreak devastated parts of the U.S. Upper Midwest on April 20, 2004. A total of 31 tornadoes formed in eastern Iowa, extending into northern and central Illinois and Indiana. A tornado that struck Utica, Illinois, was the only one to cause fatalities. The outbreak was largely unexpected, as the SPC had only predicted a "slight risk" of severe weather in the afternoon of the event.[1]
In Stark County, the tornado blew out 5 windows at a house and damaged the roof of a barn. In Marshall County, a barn and a pole barn were destroyed, farm equipment was damaged, and a grain bin was blown into a field. In Bureau County, the tornado struck a farmstead before dissipating, damaging the roof of the farmhouse along with several barns and outbuildings.
Multiple-vortex tornado touched down just outside Utica after the main F3 dissipated. East of town, it caused damage to 2 homes, trees, and outbuildings. Part of the roof of a house was torn off. A garage and grain bin were destroyed, and another garage lost its roof. The tornado then crossed I-80, damaging a building and flipping a semi-tractor trailer. The tornado then destroyed a machine shed and downed several power poles and trees. Two houses in this area were damaged before the tornado dissipated, with one sustaining roof damage, and the other losing most of its second story.
Tornado struck an industrial complex. A wastewater treatment building was destroyed, with walls blown out and structural beams bent. There was damage to overhead doors, and an air handling unit was torn from a roof of another building. Further east, there was damage to walls and roof of an outbuilding. Antennas was blown down at the fire station on Route 6.
Tornado affected mainly residential areas. Extensive tree damage occurred, and structures sustained minor damage. Roofs were blown off of a few homes and garages were destroyed as well.
A house had its roof torn off, and numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. An empty corrugated grain bin was pushed into a tree. The tornado continued northeast to the Cognis chemical plant where the brick wall of a building fell outward. About 200 feet of chain link fence was torn up. Several cinder block buildings were damaged or destroyed in this complex just northeast of where the fence was taken out. A nearby bus garage sustained roof damage. A barn and several sheds were destroyed as well.
Several homes were damaged, a mobile home was destroyed, and large trees were knocked down or damaged. A church lost its roof and some walls. Two irrigation systems were overturned as well.
A few homes in town sustained minor roof damage. Part of the roof of the fire station was peeled off, and a fence was damaged. Trees were downed, and a farm building sustained minor damage as well.
Tornado damaged the front porch of a home, destroyed the garage, damaged a couple of sheds, and blew down several large trees. When the garage collapsed, it damaged a 1975 Corvette, as well as another car and two antique tractors. A nearby abandoned house was damaged as well. Tornado crossed into Champaign County, where it destroyed a barn, as well as several trees and power lines before dissipating.
A machine shed was destroyed, as well as a 100-year-old barn and a hog building. A farmhouse sustained minor shingle and siding damage, and a nearby water tower had its wooden roof torn off.
Caused significant damage to a dozen homes in town. 2 homes had their roofs blown completely off and tossed several hundred feet into a corn field. There were 8 minor injuries, including one man whose semi was blown over along Interstate 74.
The only fatal tornado of the outbreak touched down in Putnam County, Illinois, north of Florid before moving east and striking Granville. Witnesses reported a multiple-vortex tornado just prior to its arrival in Granville. The town was bisected by the half-mile-wide tornado with 12 buildings destroyed, 45 with major damage, and 26 with minor damage (mainly residential). The Granville State National Bank lost its roof, and Hopkins Elementary School lost the roof over the old gymnasium with damage in nearly all the classrooms. Significant damage also occurred to Granville Drugs, the only drug store in town. In Granville, 5 people were injured by the tornado, including an elderly woman who suffered a heart attack during the tornado and was eventually evacuated via Life Flight to a Peoria hospital. Injuries were low due to the 32 minutes of lead time before the tornado struck Granville. Damage in Granville was estimated to be at least $8 million, with the school suffering at least $3.5 million in damage. Damage in town was rated high-end F2.[2]
The tornado entered LaSalle County, Illinois, from Putnam County, approximately 3 miles (5 km) northeast of the town of Standard, producing F0 intensity damage in a wooded area southwest of Peru. As the tornado continued northeast, F2 intensity damage was done to several homes in a subdivision near the intersection of East 250th and 2569th Roads. Several roofs were blown off homes, along with damage to external walls. Significant tree damage was done as well. Path width was estimated at 50 yards (45 m) at this location. The tornado then continued northeast, crossing the Illinois River twice as it moved toward the town of Utica, downing a steel high tension tower on the north bank of the river, immediately west of Illinois Route 251. The tornado moved into the southwest side of Utica where it was at F0 intensity. Homes along Washington Street only had tree and minor roof damage. A church steeple was damaged between Johnson and Washington streets. Roofs and trees were more severely damaged on the south side of Johnson Street. The tornado rapidly increased to F3 intensity on the north side of Johnson Street where one home had its roof taken off, and north walls were blown out. A machinery building was completely destroyed on the south side of the canal and a semi-tractor trailer was blown into the canal. A large grain bin was blown across the canal and flattened. The tornado then moved north of the canal into the heart of town where several homes were severely damaged, garages were destroyed, and brick buildings collapsed. Eight people died and seven were rescued from the basement of the turn of the century sandstone Milestone Tap tavern. The structure collapsed when a vehicle was thrown into it. The tornado was approximately 250 yards wide at this point. On the east edge of the vortex along Mill Street, in downtown, buildings suffered damage to facades, roofs and windows. East of Mill Street there was damage to trees and minor roof damage. In the northeast section of town a mobile home was overturned just east of Mill Street. The vortex crossed the railroad tracks and apparently dissipated on a steep bluff on the northeast side of town. At the top of the hill there were some trees and limbs downed, and some debris from town was deposited.[3]
On June 2, 2004, the Village Clerk's son was stillborn. The clerk, Angela Brown, had worked 16-hour days following the tornado hit until his birth, and she stated her doctors attributed his death in part to stress as a result of this work. In a memorial service on April 19, 2005, the city of Utica recognized him as the ninth victim (though this death is not counted in the official NCDC total).[4]
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