1970 Lexington, Illinois' Tornado
(June 2006)
36 Years Ago This June
This article was in the Lexington Unit Journal Thursday, June 25, 1970.
Tornado damage report
LEXINGTON -- On Tuesday, June 16, a tornado swept across the city of Lexington, starting at the southwest corner and ending on the northeast corner of the town.
Damage reports will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars when the final report is made.
The tornado first set down at Timber Ridge, which is southwest of the city, causing superficial damage to a few homes and topping many trees. It then crossed the highway and destroyed an overhead sign at the Oasis Drive In and also their outside tables and chairs.
Willie Anderson Trucking was next on the list with the complete destruction of the building and many tractors and trailers damaged. Following was Dr. Ling’s Veterinarian Clinic where the confinement pens and kennels were completely demolished and extensive structural damage to the north end of the clinic building.
Bruce Anderson Trucking was located just north of the clinic and all that remained of it was the debris. The complete building was destroyed along with damage to cars, trailers and tractors.
Damage next occurred at the F.S. building where siding and part of the roofing were removed. Next to this building the tornado moved a house off its foundation and caused severe structural damage to it.
Across a lot a new wing had been added to a home and this was completely removed and strewn through the neighborhood. Across the street a house lost two thirds of the roof.
Moving along the railroad tracks the tornado destroyed the roof of the Peine elevator. Two storage tanks belonging to Myers Inc. were turned over and part of the roof and the front windows at Fasking’s Standard Service were knocked out.
On the other side of the railroad tracks two mobile homes were destroyed leaving wreckage strewn for blocks.
Kemp’s feed mill and the old elevator received extensive damage to the roof and top portions.
At this point, it was reported that two small tornados could be seen hanging out of the top of the main tornado. One was on the north side of the funnel and the other appeared on the south side.
All through the tornado’s path it topped and twisted off TV antennas and trees.
The southwest corner of the Baptist church was removed and damage occurred to the garage at the parsonage when the garage was turned over and rolled.
According to the Lexington Civil Defense Director Levin Hyneman superficial damage was apparent between the church and the Lexington School, in the form of damage to roofs, windows, and trees.
The situation at the schools will not be known definitely, according to Hyneman, for a period of 10 days to two weeks, or until the engineers determine the amount of structural damage.
Damage to the new high school was reported to consist of removal of the roof, partial window breakage and a great deal of water damage.
NOTICE
Notice to all Lexington residents -- The final tornado damage cleanup will be Monday, June 29th. All tree branches and such that are too big for the garbage, will be picked up at this time.
Much more damage was reported at the old Grade School and old High School buildings. The roofs of the old building were lifted off the supports and set back down causing some damage to the structural supports. This damage will be instrumental in determining whether to condemn the building or not, according to Hyneman.
Approximately 90 per cent of the windows in the old buildings were blown out and considerable water damage to the inside was reported.
Damage from this point, until the tornado was out of the city, was reported to be mainly superficial with roofing, windows, trees and antennas damaged.
Sightings at this time confirm the dissipation of the tornado at approximately ¾ of a mile northeast of the city.
Many trailer loads of trash from the storm have been picked up in fields in this area during the last few days. Anyone finding items from the storm damaged area, especially ledgers and paperwork and objects of value should check with either Miles Ward or Levin Hyneman as to the disposition of the items.
Mr. Hyneman had the highest of praise for all the workers who came in the area after the storm. He especially praised the Lexington Fire Department and the Fire Chief Miles Ward.
He also attributed the fast action on the part of the Lexington Police department, in blocking off the city from spectators and notifying outside law enforcement of the situation, to greatly speeding up the emergency procedures in the city.
A total of 23 fire departments responded through the mutual aid system. Civil defense units throughout McLean County were on the scene and Hyneman reported that everyone involved knew exactly what to do and that excellent co-operation was accomplished.
Many area people brought in trucks to aid in the cleanup and by nightfall a great deal of the debris had already been hauled away.
Hyneman emphasized the importance of opening windows and doors on the downwind side of the house to equalize pressure during a tornado, thus eliminating much of the window damage.
He also felt that the city was extremely fortunate that more damage was not experienced. He attributed this to the fact that the tornado lifted at least 30 to 50 feet off the ground after destroying the Anderson’s buildings on the southwest edge of the city.
Hyneman estimated the time at approximately 15 minutes required for the tornado to pass through the city. This was considered an extremely slow moving tornado.
It was further reported that at about 20 minutes after the tornado hit Lexington another large tornado was sited southeast of the city and a smaller one to the west of the city.
The siren could not be sounded for these tornados as there was no power to the city. When under these conditions, Hyneman urged that everyone be extremely cautious when out after a storm of this type, as there is no way of warning the people of another approaching danger. He also asked that everyone try to listen to transistor radios for bulletins after a storm.
In summarizing his thoughts on the tornado and the cleanup afterwards, Hyneman said “In this day and age it certainly renews your faith in people. The young and the old all pitched in to work together. These are the nicest people in the country, right here in our area.”
All pictures used in this article were from the June 18, 1970 Lexington Unit Journal.