The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings for Marion and surrounding counties Saturday night, but fortunately, no major damage was reported. The storms lost some intensity after they moved out of the Metro-East but still provided some strong wind gusts and brief heavy rains.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Department reported a tree fell across Oak Grove Road west of Jezek Road in rural Alma. Deputies also investigated public reports of what appeared to be circular movement in the clouds along US 50 between Salem and Iuka and the Alma area but never found any damage.
The Centralia Fire Department was called to a home in the 800 block of North Beech to a possible structure fire, but nothing was found. It was thought smoke still lingering in the air from a drill earlier in the day may have caused the odor.
Two people were injured in an Interstate 57 crash just south of Mt. Vernon during the heavy rains. A northbound semi sideswiped a Jeep forcing it into the median and then into the southbound lanes where it was struck by another semi. Both occupants of the Jeep got out on their own and were taken to Crossroads Hospital in Mt. Vernon for treatment. State Police have not yet released reports on the crash which occurred around 9:30 Saturday night.
The storms dumped 28-hundredths of an inch of rain at the Salem Water Plant and 29-hundredths at the Centralia Water Treatment Plant. One gate of Raccoon Lake was partially opened on Sunday morning to get rid of excess water in the lake.
