Warning system advances make Will County safer

Plainfield already had been leveled by the time the man in charge of emergencies heard about the tornado.

Parts of Crest Hill and Joliet had been struck by the powerful storm as well.

"We got no warnings," said Don Gould Sr., at the time the director of the Will County Emergency Management Agency. "Nothing."

The Aug. 28, 1990 tornado that killed 29 people was the strongest type and tore a 16.2 mile path through the county, Gould said.

The longtime director, whose two stints as chief of the agency combined for 23 years, believes the county and communities are better guarded against a similar event in the future.

"We are 100 percent more advanced," he said. "They didn't have Doppler radar at that time. The siren systems didn't exist as they do today. Will County is probably 90 percent covered by sirens. The only parts that aren't are probably rural farmlands."

In addition, Gould said, when severe weather warnings are issued, the county now deploys a corps of volunteer spotters who are all assigned to watch for tornadoes at various points throughout the county.

"The tracking system is much better as well," he said. "Meteorologists can identify clouds that could turn into a tornado now."

Gould said tornadoes and downbursts occur frequently in Will County. No one has ever been able to concretely explain why the area is prone to nature's fury, he said.

Beside the power of the killer tornado 20 years ago, Gould said it didn't act like normal tornadoes either.

"Most tornadoes come out of the southwest and head northeast, but this came from the northwest and headed southeast," he said. "The tornado was inside that dark greenish cloud. No one ever saw it. But it was huge. And it was moving. Some say there could have been three funnels inside."

In the days afterward, Gould recalls designating three separate areas for debris collection.

"They were mountains," he said.

The county received permission from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to burn the garbage piles created by the tornado's wake. The piles were so gigantic that they burned and smoldered for two weeks, Gould said.

He also said $95,000 was spent in the aftermath just on tire repairs for emergency and cleanup vehicles that had suffered damage from all the scattered debris.

Gould said the most important safety advancement over the past 20 years though has been people's understanding of severe weather.

"No one takes the warnings lightly," he said. "It's a complete cooperation by all."