HARRISBURG, IL (WSIL) --Â It's been 13 years since the deadly EF-4 tornado that struck Harrisburg, causing 8 deaths and 108 injuries.
The day was February 29, 2012.
According to the National Weather Service, the EF-4 deadly tornado had peak winds of 180 mph, an average path width of 275 yards, traveling about 26 miles from the Carrier Mills, Illinois, area and dissipated east of Ridgway, Illinois.
More than 200 homes and two dozen businesses were destroyed or heavily damaged.
With this same storm system on this date, an EF-3 also hit Stoddard County. This tornado started near Asherville and ended in the Bell City area, destroying more than 50 structures in its path. One death was reported with this tornado. The peak wind was 140 mph, traveling 21 miles with an average path width of 550 yards.
This also marks another anniversary for a large tornado in our area eight years later.
A large EF-4 tornado ripped through Perryville, Missouri and parts of Randolph, Jackson, and Franklin counties in Southern Illinois. This happened on February 28, 2017.
The storm was responsible for one death, a man driving on I-55 as the tornado crossed the interstate.
It was on the ground for more than an hour and tracking 50 miles. The tornado destroyed several homes near Oraville and passed over Route 127 just south of Vergennes, leaving the roof of a home on the highway.
While the EF-4 was the strongest tornado of the day, in all, seven tornadoes touched down in Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri, and Western Kentucky.
A separate EF-3 tornado started near Carmi and tracked 44.6 miles into Southern Indiana, killing a man near Crossville as well.
