Tornadoes in Illinois, April 30, 1997

Two storms merged over Northern Fulton County and within a few minutes a tornado developed a quarter of a mile southwest of Fairview (Fulton County). In Fairview, 6 homes sustained extensive damage and 2 had only minor damage. Two people in Fairview sustained minor cuts and bruises, though no one needed to be taken to the hospital. At this time the tornado was F0 in intensity. After leaving Fairview, it travelled to the northeast. When the tornado reached Middle Grove (Fulton County) it was F1 in intensity and damaged 25 homes. The tornado picked up a 27 foot camper trailer and dropped it upside down 50 feet away on the north side of Route 116. Two mobile homes were destroyed, as well as, a garage and six homes sustained extensive damage. Also, numerous trees had their tops taken off and numerous power poles were blown down along Route 116 and just east of Middle Grove. No one in Middle Grove was injured despite half of the homes in the town sustaining some kind of damage. From there the tornado hopped and skipped along a northeast path. It touched down 1.5 miles southwest of Yates City (Knox County), destroying a grain bin and damaging several other buildings, then it touched down 1 mile east of Yates City and 3 miles west northwest of Brimfield (Peoria County), knocking down several power poles in both locations. Four miles northwest of Brimfield, the tornado touched down again, ripping the top floor of a split level home off and destroyed a nearby shed and garage. Two people inside the home escaped uninjured. Then before lifting for the final time, the tornado touched down 2 miles east of Wyoming (Stark County), damaging 3 homes, destroying a machine shed, and blew the roofs off of several barns and grain silos. The damage estimate for Fulton County is around $450,000 and for Peoria County is around $25,000. No estimates were available for Knox or Stark Counties.