The National Weather Service says an EF-3 tornado with winds around 160 miles per hour caused the severe damage to the Amazon Warehouse facility between Edwardsville and Pontoon Beach Friday night.
Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford provided an update on the workers at the facility at a news conference Saturday afternoon.
“We identified 45 personnel who made it out of the building safely. One had to be airlifted to a regional hospital for treatment and six fatalities,” said Whiteford.
Amazon Chairman Jeff Bezos in a Twitter message said the Amazon team was committed to them and will be by their side during the crisis.
Governor JB Pritzker says recovery help will be available.
“I spoke with President Biden and with FEMA Director Criswell to make sure federal officials are coordinating with our Illinois Emergency Management Agency. The President offered to assist with whatever we may need to recover,” said Pritzker.
The tornado brought down a football-length portion of the walls and roof of the Amazon facility.
The EF3 tornado that hit the path between Pontoon Beach and Edwardsville appears to be on the same line of storms that created an EF1 tornado on a line from one mile south of Sorrento in Bond County to seven miles northeast of Ramsey in Fayette County. Damage along that tornado path was mainly trees and power poles. Top speeds were estimated at 110 miles per hour.
The strong winds did bring down several trees and power lines in Marion County resulting in a small number of power outages. While the National Weather Service reported what appeared to be tornado activity on radar near Shattuc, Patoka, and Kinmundy resulting in a tornado warning being issued late Friday night no touchdowns were confirmed on the ground.
