IL

Storm restoration across Jackson County

Jackson County sits in the heart of southern Illinois's severe weather corridor, where Gulf moisture clashes with cold continental air to produce tornadoes, large hail, straight-line winds, and derechos from April through June. The county carries one of the heaviest tornado legacies in American history: on March 18, 1925, the Tri-State Tornado - rated equivalent to F5 - struck Gorham (killing 37 residents), then Murphysboro (234 dead, 623 injured, the largest single-community tornado death toll in U.S. history), then De Soto (41 dead, including 33 schoolchildren). Beyond tornadoes, fast-moving derecho squall lines regularly produce widespread straight-line wind damage and golf-ball-size hail across the county, and the Big Muddy River - which drains much of the county - is prone to major flooding, with record crests historically exceeding 34 feet. Winter storms present a second major risk: southern Illinois sits within the nation's primary ice-storm zone, and Jackson County has recorded single-day snowfall events exceeding 13 inches; the December 2004 Ohio Valley ice storm caused $900 million in regional losses.