A DEADLY DAY IN PLAINFIELD
By Martha Venetucci
WPMA NEWSLETTER, 2003

It takes years to develop a strong community, but it takes even longer to recover it from a deadly storm. On August 28, 1990, a tornado ripped through Plainfield, Illinois at 3:15 p.m. The next thirty minutes changed lived of thousands of people. Their surroundings would never be the same and there would be 29 people that would never come home.

This tornado is recorded as one of the top weather phenomena. It was a phenomenon because of how it literally came out of nowhere. There was only supposed to be sever thunderstorm and there was no warning to the residents until the tornado touched ground. This tornado occurred because of instability. LI’s were around-10 to-14 and capes were over 8,000 J/KG, which caused the atmosphere to be extremely unstable. It was the strongest tornado in more than 20 years hitting the Richter scale as a F-5. The path of the tornado was up to a mile wide and 16.5 miles long. The wind speeds were greater than 260mph. 

Luckily there were no schools being let out at the times, but this did not stop the tornado from destroying three schools. One being the high school and thankfully they had already been let out. There were only three people were killed at the school. Two died out side, four in houses, five in schools, eight in vehicles, and seven in an apartment complex. A range from a one month old to a 68 year old had died in this tragic storm. A total of 470 single-family homes were destroyed and 106 apartment units. 350 people were injured and sent to eight different nearby hospitals. 

In an addition to the deaths, businesses destroyed, and homes; there were thousands of acres of farm land that the tornado stirred right through. Days after farmers walked their fields picking up trash from car bumpers to televisions to shampoo bottles. To this day farmers still find trash in their fields that could have only been brought over by a horrific monster. Trees that once stood in the middle of their land are now broken down and still lay split in half from the F-5 tornado. The tornado also flattened crops. This made it much harder and much longer to harvest what they could salvage.

Among the stories and memories of the horrendous tornado, the damage that remains almost 13 years later gives anyone the idea on how deadly this storm really was. Some parts of Plainfield have still not recovered after such a long period of time. It can only shock you. It could never bring you to the truth and discover how intense this storm was and how the town was forced to re-establish itself. Plainfield will never be itself again, but will dwell on trying to recover after so many years. 

The next time you find something odd in the middle of a farmer’s field or notice a row of a split trees, remember August 28, 1990

Martha Venetucci is a graduate of Neuqua Valley High School and a 2003 scholarship winner.