Voluntary evacuation notice issued for Marseilles

A week after Marseilles issued a voluntary evacuation notice; the city has issued another one.

Heavy rain over the past few days has forced Marseilles to issue a voluntary evacuation notice for the second time in a week. As it stands now, the Illinois River in Marseilles is at 19 feet, and is expected to rise over a foot and a half in the next 24 hours.

Compounding the problem is additional rainfall forecasted for Marseilles over the next two days.

If you do evacuate, you’re asked to call 795-2001 and leave a message with your name and address. If you stick around, the Marseilles Police Department says you should stay alert, informed and ready if and when evacuating becomes mandatory.

State stepping up to help in recovery at Woodhaven Lakes

Lee and Grundy Counties have been proclaimed disaster areas by Governor Bruce Rauner.

Rauner has activated the Illinois Task Force which is an 80-member search and rescue team that will help crews at Woodhaven Lakes in Sublette. The team includes trained search dogs.

By declaring Lee and Grundy County disaster areas, it opens up state resources like manpower and equipment to use in the storm recovery.

Assistant fire chief for Sublette says damage is worst he’s ever experienced

The damage is worse than expected according to Sublette’s assistant fire chief.

Kevin Schultz says the best way to describe the area is “decimated”. Schultz says firefighters are sifting through over 300 properties or lots at Woodhaven Lakes.

He says there are trailers upside down and in trees. Schultz says it’s the “worst thing I’ve ever seen”.

Storm ravaged Woodhaven Lakes closed off to the public

“Closed until further notice” is the message coming out of Woodhaven Lakes in Sublette.

That decision has been made by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Sublette Fire Department. No one except emergency responders are allowed into the recreational spot that was hit by a tornado right around 8 o’clock Monday night. At least one person was hospitalized and others at the campground were treated for minor injuries.

Officials with Woodhaven Lakes say they’re not ready right now to accept and coordinate any volunteer efforts.

Illinois Valley firefighters head to Grundy County to help with storm recovery

Emergency responders from Peru, Utica, Ottawa, La Salle, Oglesby and Marseilles made their way to Coal City to help.

A call for mutual aid was put out to these Illinois Valley fire departments to help relieve Coal City and Braidwood first responders who worked overnight to sift through the tornado damage. A confirmed tornado went through Coal City just before 10 o’clock last night.

While there were reports by police of people trapped, there have been no reports of any deaths in and around Coal City and Braidwood.

Weather service reports at least six tornado touch downs Monday evening

The National Weather Service is confirming tornado touch downs in or near Sublette, Mendota, Ottawa, Coal City, Braidwood and Herscher.

The tornadoes hit the Illinois Valley between 8 and 10 last night. Damage included multiple trees being knocked down along with power lines. Flooded roads and basements were also a result of overnight storms with some spots getting two to three inches of rain in under an hour.

Surprisingly there were very few hail reports from last night’s storms.

Woodhaven Lakes in Sublette takes direct hit from violent storm

At least one person was hospitalized after Woodhaven Lakes in Sublette was hit by what appears to have been a tornado.

Officials from the recreational spot in Lee County say one person with a head injury was taken a hospital while several others were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Emergency crews had to rescue people from at least four trailers at Woodhaven who were trapped due to fallen trees and debris. The heaviest damage is on the south part of the resort property.

Ambulances from across the Illinois Valley including Oglesby, Utica and Peru were called to Woodhaven Lakes Monday evening after a mutual aid call was put out across northern Illinois.

Only emergency responders are being let into the property.

Thousands are without power after Monday night’s storms

Thousands in and around Amboy and Sublette are waking up accessing the damage and are doing it without power.

According to ComEd, over 2,300 outages are reported in their Sublette and Amboy coverage area. There are over 300 outages this morning in and around Mendota.

Ameren meanwhile is checking into over 30 outages in La Salle County while Corn Belt Energy isn’t reporting any outages this morning.