Images: Washington, IL tornado, November 17, 2013
One year ago today, November 17th, 2013, an EF-4 tornado ripped through Washington, IL killing three people and damaging over 1,000 homes. Here's a look back at photos from that day and week.
A mattress is wrapped around a stripped tree in Washington, Ill., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013. Intense thunderstorms and tornadoes swept across the Midwest, causing extensive damage in several central Illinois communities while sending people to their basements for shelter.
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This aerial view on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, shows a home that was damaged by a tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington on Sunday. It was one of the worst-hit areas after intense storms and tornadoes swept through Illinois. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Washington had a preliminary rating of EF-4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.
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This aerial view on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, shows homes that were destroyed by a tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington on Sunday. It was one of the worst-hit areas after intense storms and tornadoes swept through Illinois. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Washington had a preliminary rating of EF-4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.
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This Monday, Nov. 18, 2013 aerial file photo shows people walking down a street where homes once stood that were destroyed by a tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington. Mayor Gary Manier said the city has issued more than 600 building permits for the more than 1,000 badly damaged or destroyed homes. But construction was slowed by the harsh winter and for many is just beginning.
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This aerial view on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, shows homes that were destroyed by a tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington on Sunday. It was one of the worst-hit areas after intense storms and tornadoes swept through Illinois. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Washington had a preliminary rating of EF-4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.
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Rescuers pull an injured resident from a demolished house after a tornado destroyed parts of Washington, Ill., Sunday, nov. 17, 2013.
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This aerial view on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, shows the path of a tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington on Sunday. It was one of the worst-hit areas after intense storms and tornadoes swept through Illinois. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Washington had a preliminary rating of EF-4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.
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Residents search through a neighborhood in Washington, Ill., after a tornado and strong thunderstorms swept through the north part of the town destroying several homes on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013.
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Ben DuBois tries to salvage what he can from his home the day after a tornado destroyed his house Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, in Washington Ill. The tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington on Sunday was one of the worst-hit areas after intense storms and tornadoes swept through Illinois. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Washington had a preliminary rating of EF-4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.
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This aerial view on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, shows untouched homes and homes destroyed by a tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington on Sunday. It was one of the worst-hit areas after intense storms and tornadoes swept through Illinois. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Washington had a preliminary rating of EF-4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.
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A resident of Washington, Ill., surveys the damage to her home and neighbors after a tornado and severe thunderstorms swept through a portion of the town on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2013.
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A man stands near a pickup that belonged to farmer Curt Zehr after a tornado blew through Zehr's farm on Sunday, Nov. 17. 2013. The farm destroyed Zehr's home just outside Washington, Ill., and caused extensive damage in the town. Zehr's wife and son were at home at the time but were not injured. Dozens of Zehr's friends and neighbors helped look through the rubble.
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Paul Tubbs of Washington, Ill., looks over the remains of his home on Devon Lane in Washington after a tornado tore through the north part of Washington on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013.
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A Deputy Sergeant with the Tazewell County Sheriff's Department walks gingerly through debris in the Devonshire Subdivision in Washington, Illinois following a tornado that severely damaged many homes in the town east of Peoria on Sunday, Nov. 17,2013.
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This aerial view on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, shows three people walking down a street where homes were destroyed by a tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington on Sunday. It was one of the worst-hit areas after intense storms and tornadoes swept through Illinois. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Washington had a preliminary rating of EF-4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.
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Residents embrace after they discovered their home was destroyed when a tornado and thunderstorms tore through a portion of Washington, Ill., on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013.
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U.S. Army National Guard Master Sergeant Katie Williams of Altamont, center, walks to a destroyed home of Barb and John Evans in the Devonshire Subdivision in Washington, Illinois as relatives rescue belongings after a tornado destroyed several homes on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013.
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A young boy takes a break from helping comb the rubble of Curt Zehr's home just outside Washington, Ill., on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013. Zehr's wife and adult son took shelter in their basement as a tornado destroyed their farm house they were not injured. The tornado cut a path of destruction through Washington.
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A neighborhood in the Devonshire subdivision of Washington, Ill., is left in ruins after a tornado tore through the northern part of the town on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013.
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Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., right, listens to Doug Dotson's account of Sunday's tornado that destroyed the home of his parents in the background, Friday Nov. 22, 2013, in Washington, Ill. Durbin walked through the devastated area then visited volunteers working at Crossroads Church.
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Cars that lined the parking lot at Our Savior Lutheran are all turned in the direction the wind was moving during the tornado. The clean up effort is on going in the affected areas of Washington.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
A car sits in the basement where Ruth Ann Hook was headed to escape the tornado. The clean up effort is on going in the affected areas of Washington.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
When John Hook of Fort Worth Texas heard about the F4 tornado in Washington, he packed up and headed toward Illinois to help his mom, a Washington resident that lost everything. Ruth Ann Hook, who was at home during the storm was making her way to the basement when she "felt as if someone grabbed her from behind and just pulled." said John Hook. Ruth Ann was found clear across the house upstairs in a corner. Hook and his wife had traveled close to 1,056 mile an 18 hours to help with the clean up and to take care of his mother. "She is coming home with me" said John.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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