A survey photo shows damage to an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville following an EF3 tornado on December 10, 2021. (Photo provided by the National Weather Service)
SPRINGFIELD — A task force formed after a deadly tornado in the Metro East has issued recommendations to better protect warehouse workers.
Six people died when an EF3 tornado with winds of 150 miles per hour struck an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville on December 10, 2021. Operators are properly prepared for severe weather.
Illinois lawmakers created the Warehouse Safety Standards Task Force in January 2023 to study warehouse safety in response to the Edwardsville tornado and released its final report last month.
Recommendations included changing building codes to require tornado shelters in warehouses. The International Building Code became Illinois' statewide building code on January 1 after being approved by the Legislature in 2023. The task force recommended that shelters be included in this regulation.
The IBC does not have specific requirements for severe weather because threats vary around the world, said Tim Schmitz of the task force's International Code Council. However, communities can adopt their own codes that are specifically tailored to the needs of natural disasters in their region.
Providing the right protection from tornadoes can save lives, said Greg Bryant of the task force's Masonry Structural Coalition. He pointed to a 2004 F4 tornado in Woodford County that destroyed a manufacturing facility, but all 140 people in the building made it out alive after taking shelter in a designated safe area of the building.
The six people killed in Edwardsville were not in a safe area of the warehouse, Edwardsville police said after the tornado.
The 2021 tornado occurred around 8:30 p.m. as the facility was busy leading up to the holidays. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado touched down near I-270 and Illinois Route 255 southwest of the warehouse and moved through the southern half of the building. The tornado first hit the west-facing wall, causing it to collapse. This led to further structural damage, including the collapse of the roof. The tornado only stayed on the ground for five minutes, but after the tornado lifted off, Amazon debris was found miles from the warehouse.
An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation into Amazon found no violations, according to the task force report. OSHA recommended that the company review its severe weather procedures, ensure employees are trained and participate in drills, have site-specific information about severe weather plans, and ensure that audible warning devices are accessible. The warehouse was renovated and reopened in September 2024.
The task force also recommended requiring site-specific emergency plans based on OSHA guidelines for employers to prepare for tornadoes. The plans would be shared with first responders on site and would include floor plans and details of what will be stored in the warehouse.
According to the National Weather Service, Illinois saw a record 142 tornadoes in 2024. Over the past 10 years, the state has averaged 60 tornadoes per year. But the number of tornadoes in the state could increase as the technology to detect them improves, according to data compiled by The New York Times. Most Illinois counties experienced an increase in tornadoes in the 20 years from 2002 to 2022 compared to the 20 years prior.
Most tornadoes are not as strong as the Edwardsville tornado, said Marc Levitan of the task force's National Windstorm Impact Reduction Project, but warehouses are more vulnerable because they are tall and supported by heavy walls that rely on the roof for stability.
Levitan told the task force it is better to design buildings to withstand the more common, modest tornadoes, and buildings should be built with either shelter inside or a more wind-resistant exterior structure. The National Weather Service in Chicago reported that all but one of the 63 tornadoes in northeastern Illinois in 2024 had winds of 110 mph or less.
First responders also need more assistance responding to tornadoes, retired Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford told the task force.
The task force agreed with its recommendation that the General Assembly regularly fund the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. MABAS is a series of intergovernmental agreements between fire departments in Illinois to provide additional or specialized support during major incidents. MABAS operations range from sending additional units to a structure fire to long-term disaster operations, including outside of Illinois. The system received a $200,000 grant in fiscal year 2024 from the Office of the State Fire Marshall.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets across the state. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
