Havana Wind Storm 08.04.09

Some people's yards were so full of branches it would be impossible to walk in them.

This is across from what used to be the old Morgan's Supermarket.

Trees were pealed like fresh fruit.

Notice the antenna atop the Havana Fire & Police department. It is not working! Also, notice the water at this intersection.

Another angle. Same court yard.

Another angle. Same court yard.

This is the west side of the Mason Count Count House yard. You can see the clock on the right side. The time is 7:47 AM.

Looking south this tree had to be 80ft tall and 3ft in diameter. I am not sure if this was lightening or pure wind! By 8:00 pm the same day, the tree was gone.

Another view.

The city stop sign and street sign are no more.

This playground equipment was new last fall at Central Grade School. Looks like they will get new equipment again this year.

"Dead End"

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You can see the refelection of the lihght in the wet pavement.

This is the same light from another direction.

This photo belongs to a neighbor of mine, one block to the north.

This is a look-out at Riverview Park with a collapsed tree on it. You can see a small sail boat moored next to the banks of the Illinois River. I did not see any damage on the boat.

Riverview Park, Havana, IL

The tree on the left was uprooted by the wind. The next photograph is a close-up of the its roots.

This tree is about 200 feet from the Illinois River in the Riverview Park.

It has always amazed me how hard it is to pull even a small tree out of the ground.

Another example.

After the storm. There are 3 very amazing observations about this photograph. 1) The light pole was made of solid concrete and is now in a million pieces. 2) The wind was strong enough to destroy concrete like it was a pretzel. 3) The light is still burning. The globe is NOT broken. The lights in the background are testimony.

Just last year, the manufactures took photos of children playing on the newly purchased playground equipment for their publication. Looks like the school will need to buy it again.

The stop sign is gone and you can see a portion of the street sign.

I photographed this through the windshield of my car. Some guy was looking at the action with a Donald Duck umbrella.

Across the street is the old Dollar General Store on Main Street.

I came back, well after sunrise and tried to capture all the concrete.

Havana, Illinois had a 90 mph wind storm, August 4, 2009 at 7:30 AM. This is a photo of city lights erected on a grassy boulevard, going down Main St., in the 1950’s These light poles are made of solid concrete and have stood storms for almost 60 years. I want to show you what 90 mph wind can do to concrete.

The tree almost made it to High Street.

Roots

From the other side.

This used to be 4 feet off the gound, not 4 inches.

Gabby, surveying the school damage.

Here they are, A.J. and Gabby!

I had two of my grandchildren stand in front of the roots of this tree for size comparison.

Close up.

Rockwell Park, Havana, IL, just east of the swimming pool.

Sideview of the same tree in Rockwell Park.