Another strong summer thunderstorm moved through Edgar County last night and a possible tornado damaged two farmsteads in Shiloh Township.

 "You can see where it came across the field,” said Brad Young of Paris. “The trees are down at the dredge ditch and then it hit here.”

 Young was referring to the damage at the home of his father-in-law Perle Knight in Shiloh Township. The Knights had an early morning medical appointment in Champaign and Young was waiting at the farm for an insurance adjuster.

 “Basically, it leveled one old barn,” Young said of the damage. “It uprooted a tree which left a six-foot hole.” Young added several other trees are down. Other damage cited includes a corner and door destroyed on a machine shed, a patio door on the home was damaged and metal from gutters and siding is scattered about the property.

“There’s a lot of debris in the corn field,” said Young, noting the largest  debris field covers an area between one-quarter and one-half mile long.

A spokesman at the National Weather Service in Lincoln said the agency has not yet confirmed a tornado actually touched down in Edgar County although conditions were ideal for a twister. The NWS issued a tornado warning at approximate 10:30 p.m. for Edgar County because radar detected rotation in the clouds.

 The spokesperson said the weather service will work with the Edgar County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency and other authorities to confirm if the damage was caused by a tornado.

Pam Julian, who lives near the Knight Farm, has no doubt a tornado roared through their homestead sometime between 10:30 and 10:45 p.m. “I had just watched the TV weather and saw the hook they talk about and about five minutes later it hit,” said Julian. “It was very loud, just rumbling loud.”

She and her husband. Kevin, sheltered in a central hallway and covered themselves with a mattress. She said the event probably lasted a couple of minutes although it seemed longer at the time.

“We just kept hearing glass shattering,” she said. Julian said eight windows in their house were broken.

“The frightening thing is my daughter’s bed is just covered with glass,” said Julian. “Three of the four windows in her bedroom were broken.”

Her daughter was not home at the time and neither the Julians or the Knights were injured during the storm.

The Julian home, however, faced another danger. She said the wind moved their propane tank and escaping propane entered the house through the broken windows. In addition, power lines fell on both sides of the house.

Kevin Julian closed the valve on the propane tank before they went to Chrisman to spend the night with a friend.

“Everything’s gone in our backyard,” said Julian. “Everything’s twisted.”

Julian said 15 pine trees snapped and other trees were uprooted. A shed and fencing were destroyed and additional structure damage occurred to the house, garage and outbuildings. The family’s pet dogs and goats were not injured.

The City of Chrisman also sustained wind damage with several limbs and trees brought down by the storm. City employee Sam Jenness said the city work crew was called out at approximately 10:30 p.m. to deal with damage. He said at least three streets were blocked by downed limbs or trees.

Jenness is also a volunteer firefighter and noted it was a busy night for the fire department. “The fire department went in all directions (responding to calls),” Jenness said.