Stories from the storm: Readers share their experiences from 2009 derecho
Look back at reader submissions of their experiences during the day of the historic Southern Illinois super derecho and the days after.
(25) updates to this series since Updated
The day of the derecho was scary at best. With down trees, no power and damage to the house, it was clear we were being challenged by Mother Nature.
My dad picked me up after school ended at EIU and headed down to Southern Illinois to see family. The next day, the storm hit hard just before…
Left Mount Vernon in the morning heading to Disney World with my husband, daughter, and my divorced parents.
We remember the super derecho! My husband had rotator cuff surgery the day before and we were at Southern Illinois Orthopedics for his therapy.
I was at the end of my sophomore year at SIUC, and everyone was packing up and moving out of the dorms for the summer. When the storm hit, I w…
I am 87+ years old, and the 2009 derecho was the worst storm I've experienced in my lifetime.
I'll never forget it. My day as GM at Denny's started normal ... had a good breakfast and lunch.
The morning of May 8, 2009, I drove to work as usual. A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for the area. I had a handheld radio scanner o…
I worked at as a customer service supervisor at Kroger at that time. I had only been clocked in a few moments when I received a call from upst…
I was only 4 years old at the time, but I remember a lot about this storm.
I was a student in my senior year at SIUC. I worked as a carrier for The Southern and was unable to complete most of my Carbondale route for s…
At dawn on Friday, May 8, 2009, my husband, Dave, and I drove together from our Pomona area home to our SIUC jobs. Dave had become Superintend…
On May 7, 2009, I was visiting Carbondale for the home inspection on our soon to be new home. I stayed the night in the Holiday Inn and there …
I was only 8 years old when this storm hit, but I will never forget the impact it had.
Being a foreigner can be a little hard sometimes, but is something that a traveler agrees to face for the experiences of being immersed in ano…
My wife and I live in Pomona on 27 acres of wooded and hilly property. Prior to the super derecho our woods were rated by a state forester as …
I was working in Best Buy when the storm hit.
It was exactly one week before my high school graduation from Carbondale Community High School. I remember sitting in class late that afternoo…
I was looking at the tree which has just crushed my 14-by-70 mobile home when my phone rang. It was Laura Ramos, asking me how my house was. W…
Note: This reader-submitted account of the May 8, 2009 super derecho was submitted for a May 2010 feature of The Southern, which commemorated …
Note: This reader-submitted account of the May 8, 2009 super derecho was submitted for a May 2010 feature of The Southern, which commemorated …
Family finds itself blocked on roadway
Educator heard rivets pop, felt roof peel
Note: This reader-submitted account of the May 8, 2009 super derecho was submitted for a May 2010 feature of The Southern, which commemorated …
Note: This reader-submitted account of the May 8, 2009 super derecho was submitted for a May 2010 feature of The Southern, which commemorated …
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Carbondale damage
The roof from the Metropolitan apartment complex ripped off during the super derecho on May 8, 2009, and downed these power lines along South …
Until about noon on May 9, 2009, Southern Illinoisans knew storms — or so we thought.
CARBONDALE — On the evening of Thursday, May 7, 2009, as a growing group of cumulus clouds produced light rain and small thunderstorms over ea…
MURPHYSBORO — Ten years later and the sound of wind still bothers Allen Arbeiter.
When weather forecasters predict stormy weather, Ameren Illinois begins to plan for possible emergencies and moves personnel and equipment clo…
On May 8, 2009, Southern Illinois was hit by a super derecho. Here is a look back at the historic storm and its aftermath.
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