Crews have been working to get Cameron, Illinois back on its feet after a tornado ripped through destroying trees, power lines, property, and homes.
The tornado came through Thursday evening, July 16, 2015. Since then, clean-up crews have been removing debris from roadways and utility companies were trying to get gas and electricity back to their customers.
Through Friday, the public was not being allowed into the town, but American Red Cross spokeswoman Trish Burnett said the town was getting ready “to get people back into town.”
According to the Warren County Sheriff’s Facebook page, residents were allowed back in at 10 a.m. Residents were urged to go only to their own home for cleanup and to keep kids out of the town.
“Due to ongoing operation and movement of large vehicle it is desirable children not be brought into Cameron today,” the post said.
A damage assessment was supposed to begin Saturday, Burnett said.
“They don’t want us to start with that until the streets are cleared and it’s safe for people to get around, but it’s major damage,” she explained. “There’s a lot of homes that really sustained some major damage and won’t be accessible again.”
Burnett said with the high heat this weekend, those working on cleanup need to take breaks and stay hydrated, which makes the cleanup go a little more slowly.
“It’s really pretty miserable and that is just compounded problems so we want people to really be careful about that,” she said.
Volunteers from the Red Cross were coming from all over the region to help out. For those who want to help out, Burnett said the organization is taking monetary donations for the tornado victims, but they are not asking for items.
“[A] lot of people are being very generous and trying to bring things to the community and they just can’t cope with that right now,” Burnett said. “That’s just part of the process, just figuring out what their needs are and try to fill specific needs.”
Governor Bruce Rauner activated a State Emergency Operations Center in Springfield in case equipment or manpower is needed for anything following the tornado event.
“I activated the State Emergency Operations Center to ensure we’re ready to act quickly if any local responders need our assistance.” Rauner said.
Rauner noted that the Illinois State Police are at the scene as well as staff from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
That emergency center will remain active “as long as necessary.”
