When I think about the biggest climate disasters, coastal areas that have been devastated by hurricanes come to mind, but did you know that it's Missouri and Illinois that rank above almost all other states when it comes to catastrophic (and costly) weather events?
In April 2015, a tornado ripped through Fairdale, Illinois, taking out homes, businesses, trees, and cars. It also injured many and killed two residents.
If you live in Illinois or Missouri long enough, you will see a tornado eventually. That being said I highly doubt you've seen a twister that seemed to give birth to a rainbow like one did in Illinois this week.
It was an unexpectedly stormy day in Illinois today. There were a half dozen reports of tornadoes that touched down in the Land of Lincoln including a couple videos showing the twisters as they were touching down.
If you're not from Missouri or Illinois, you need to understand that we do things a little differently around here. One prime example happened when some Illinois duck hunters saw a tornado nearby and decided to take selfies with it. Yes, I can prove this happened.
I'll state the obvious by saying it's the least rare thing ever to see a Midwestern tornado. However, it is quite unusual to see one spinning backwards. That's exactly what happened earlier this month.
We see thunderstorms that sometimes produce tornadoes and many that also produce lighting. One recent Midwest thunderstorm decided to overachieve by doing both simultaneously.
There just aren't enough words to describe the death and devastation that we've seen since that swarm of tornadoes tore through Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.