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‘No more storms – we’ve had enough,’ Mendota police chief says

Mendota pounded (again) by straight-line winds

By Tom Collins
A house is ripped off it's foundation on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 in the Mendota Estates Mobile Home Park. The park sustained substantial damage from both rounds of storms that passed through the area between Friday and Tuesday.

A garage is ripped off its foundation Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in the Mendota Estates Mobile Home Park. The park sustained substantial damage from both rounds of storms that passed through the area between Friday and Tuesday. (Scott Anderson)

The lights are back on. Another cleanup – the second in five days – is underway. The people in Mendota are proving resilient.

But Mendota Police Chief Greg Kellen said residents are ready for some sunshine and clear weather.

Nobody got hurt. Everything can be fixed and replaced.

—  Mendota Police Chief Greg Kellen

“No more storms – we’ve had enough,” Kellen said Wednesday afternoon, hours after the city was battered by another fast-moving storm. “But nobody got hurt. Everything can be fixed and replaced.”

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A house is ripped off it's foundation on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 in the Mendota Estates Mobile Home Park. The park sustained substantial damage from both rounds of storms that passed through the area between Friday and Tuesday.

A garage is ripped off its foundation on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in the Mendota Estates Mobile Home Park. The park had damage from both rounds of storms that passed through the area between Friday and Tuesday. (Scott Anderson)

The National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday’s weather event was a straight-line wind event – several straight-line winds, actually – shortly after 6 a.m., resulting in a garage collapse at the edge of a mobile home park and trees down in a cemetery.

“We are very confident it was not a tornado,” said Kevin Doom, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville. “There’s just no indication there was.”

Nevertheless, the force of the twin events Friday and Wednesday created quite a mess. While Kellen praised the swift response from ComEd line workers – “ComEd is in Superman mode” – multiple outages were set off both days as the winds toppled trees and utility poles.

Friday damage was more extensive, insofar as the Illinois Valley as a whole wilted under a one-two punch of storms late Friday afternoon and early Friday evening. No injuries have been reported in La Salle and Bureau counties.