Looking Back: Sesser took the brunt of a severe storm that went through the county one year ago today

by Steve Dunford

SESSER, IL –  I had my memories pop up on Facebook in the last few minutes  I was reminded that one year ago today, that Franklin County had a severe thunderstorm roll through that afternoon.

The brunt of the damage was in the Sesser Area.  I had several pictures of wind damage.  The picture is of d downed  tree in Jim and Carleen Roberts yard on the north side of the city.  It also shows pieces of their smashed produce stand .  Hopefully, I will be writing a story about their endeavors some time next week.

The posts from that afternoon came from my high school sports blog, Franklin County Hoops and Gridiron.  Since it is a dedicated group, I began to share emergency information on that site.

I was in frequent contact with Sesser Mayor Jason Ashmore that afternoon.  Not only Sesser, but most of the west side of the county experienced damage.  Valier was hit pretty hard as well.

Ameren-Illinois reported over 4,000 customers throughout power.  There was a brief power outage in West Frankfort, as 70 mph winds were clocked just to the west of town.

Benton, Thompsonville, as well as the rest of the east side of the county experienced little damage, as the cell began to weaken.

With a very small chance of severe weather today, pray we do not have a repeat.