Did a tornado hit Brown Co.?
Posted: 04.11.2011 at 1:44 PM
Work already underway to repair the roof that experienced storm damage.  / KHQA's Melissa Shriver
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UPDATED 5:30P.M.

A rural Mt. Sterling couple feels lucky to be alive after a close brush with Sunday night's storm.

Strong winds blew off part of the roof on the home of Luke and Janet Welty.

It was 9:20 on Sunday night. Janet Welty was in her kitchen when the storm hit like a ton of bricks.

Welty said, "I was at the sink and I heard what literally sounded like 15 freight trains blowing through. I knew what it was. I turned to my husband to tell him we needed to get to the basement. I got three steps away from the sink and it was here and gone. Rain was just pouring in."

When the sun came up, the Welty's found their roof....blown off hundreds of feet away in this nearby field.

Just 12 hours later, crews are already replacing the Welty's roof. But looking at the damage and the obvious power of this storm, Janet says she can't help but count her blessings. She was just minutes away from heading upstairs to bed when the roof came off.

Welty said, "You can replace material things but you can't replace human life. We both weren't hurt...not a scratch so God was looking out for us."

The National Weather service didn't see any rotation with last night's storm to indicate a tornado.

Brown County officials believe the damage was caused by strong straight line winds.

 

--ORIGINAL STORY --

Storms hit Brown County, Ill. hard last night. There were reports of damage in the ares. But the question remains, was it straightline winds or was it a tornado.

One of the houses hit was about 5 mi. north of Mt. Sterling.

Luke and Janet Welty were in bed when the winds picked up at 9:20 p.m.

Janet says it sounded like 15 freight trains coming at their house. She woke Luke up and headed for the basement.

Janet says the storm only blew her roof off.  She feels lucky that's all that happened.

Crews were out Monday patching up the damage. Coming up Monday night at 6, you'll hear Janet's story.