#TaylorvilleStrong

One year ago today, a massive EF-3 tornado swept through my hometown of Taylorville, IL damaging 700 buildings and destroying 30. The outpouring of support that we’ve gotten from not only each other, but from the surrounding cities and counties means a lot to not only me but to the entire populous of the city. I will never ever forget that day. I was watching supercell storms transverse the Illinois River valley in the few hours before the Taylorville tornado. I wasn’t really paying attention to the small storm that started to form just east of St. Louis at around 3 pm. None of us could possibly know what was going to come. The following morning, my dad and I did a quick survey of damage. I was extremely shocked at what I saw. The devastation was shocking but the fact that this happened in Taylorville was even more shocking. The damage I saw will be ingrained in my memory forever. It’s hard to believe it’s been 1 year, and it’s great to see just how far we’ve come. But Taylorville is still coming back. So, here’s to Taylorville continuing to come back as well as it can.