Washington IL Tornado: Path, Warning, and Rebuilding

The Washington, IL tornado struck on the morning of Sunday, November 17, 2013, when an EF-4 twister with peak winds of 190 mph cut a 46-mile path across central Illinois and plowed directly through the Tazewell County city of Washington. Three people were killed, 125 were injured, and more than 1,100 homes were damaged or destroyed, with over 600 flattened completely. Damage in Washington alone topped $800 million, making it the costliest single-community impact of a wider outbreak that day and the strongest November tornado on record in Illinois.¹²

The Path Through Washington

The tornado touched down at 10:59 a.m. about 2.4 miles southeast of East Peoria. It tracked northeast through the southeast edge of East Peoria and then into Washington, where it reached its maximum EF-4 intensity. From there it continued through rural Woodford County between Metamora and Roanoke, clipped far southern La Salle County near Dana, and lifted at 11:47 a.m. about two miles east of Long Point in Livingston County. The total path ran 46.2 miles and roughly half a mile wide.³

The hardest-hit area in the city was the Devonshire subdivision, a neighborhood of well-built homes where at least 50 houses were leveled in a tight cluster.⁴ Damage extended along Gillman Avenue, Floosmoor Avenue, Coventry Drive, and Prince George Court among other streets.³ Early estimates put the count at 250 to 500 buildings damaged or destroyed in Washington.⁵ Later surveys brought the figure to more than 1,100 homes impacted and over 600 destroyed outright.⁶

Warning and Why the Death Toll Stayed Low

Residents had meaningful advance notice. The National Weather Service issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” tornado watch for most of Illinois at 8:40 a.m. that morning. At 10:50 a.m., a tornado warning named Washington specifically and said the storm would arrive “around 11:05 am.” The tornado entered the city at 11:06 a.m., giving residents about 16 minutes of warning tied to their own town by name.⁷³

NWS analysts credited several factors for the relatively low death toll in a disaster that destroyed hundreds of homes: the threat had been publicly flagged days in advance, the tornado struck on a Sunday morning when many residents were at church or otherwise out of the house, and the subdivisions in its path had basements and storm shelters.²

Who Was Killed and Injured

Three people were killed along the tornado’s path through Tazewell and Woodford Counties. One victim was identified as 51-year-old Steve Neubauer, whose body was found on School Street near his Washington home; a friend said Neubauer had gone back inside to retrieve his cats rather than take shelter in the basement, and the house collapsed around him.⁸ Of the 125 people injured, 121 were in or near Washington and four were in Woodford County.³

Federal and State Disaster Aid

On November 26, 2013, President Obama issued a major disaster declaration for Illinois, numbered FEMA-4157-DR. The declaration authorized Individual Assistance in 15 counties, including Tazewell and Woodford, opening up grants for temporary housing and home repairs along with low-cost loans for uninsured losses.⁹¹⁰ More than $21 million in federal aid was ultimately approved for individuals and businesses.

FEMA, however, denied Governor Pat Quinn’s separate request for Public Assistance, which would have reimbursed local governments for infrastructure repairs and response costs in nine counties. The state and the Illinois congressional delegation pushed back, with Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk and Representative Aaron Schock pressing FEMA leadership and noting that Tazewell County alone had over 1,100 destroyed or heavily damaged homes and more than $20 million in certified public damages.¹¹ According to city administrator Tim Gleason, Washington ultimately did not meet the federal threshold for public assistance. The state of Illinois stepped in with a grant of nearly $15 million to support the city’s recovery.¹²

Rebuilding Washington

Reconstruction turned out to be slow, and winter was the first obstacle. Cold moved in almost immediately after the storm, and a stretch of polar vortex conditions from January through early March 2014 brought full-scale rebuilding nearly to a halt. Work picked back up in mid-March as the snow melted.¹³

By the one-year mark in November 2014, about 75% of destroyed homes had begun reconstruction and 160 families had moved back into the city. The remaining lots were held up primarily by what city officials described as a disconnect between homeowners and insurance companies over repair methods and coverage, along with a shortage of contractors facing far more work than they could absorb at once.⁶

Gleason’s administration tried to keep quality from slipping. The city brought in as many as 36 volunteer building inspectors from across the state to double-check contractor work, which Gleason said was needed to keep families from becoming “a victim all over again” through shoddy craftsmanship. The city held regular town hall meetings for displaced residents and began citing homeowners for code violations like overgrown grass and open foundations to keep returning neighborhoods safe. Gleason projected rebuilding would reach 85 to 90 percent completion by the end of 2015.⁶¹³

The Panthers and “Washington Strong”

Sixteen hours before the tornado, the Washington Community High School Panthers had won a Class 5A quarterfinal game 41-7, earning a trip to the state semifinals for the first time in 28 years. Ten players lost their homes in the storm the next morning.¹³

Six days later, the Panthers played Sacred Heart-Griffin of Springfield in the semifinal. They lost 44-14 and finished the season 12-1, but the decision to play became a rallying point. Coach Darrell Crouch told his players before the game, “Win or lose this game today I am proud of what you men did for your community on Sunday,” and later said the national coverage confused the team because they didn’t see it as unusual: “This should not be a story, this is how we are raised.”¹⁴¹³ The phrase “Washington Strong” spread. The Chicago Bears wore “Washington Strong” shirts after their game against the St. Louis Rams, and the Panthers’ story was carried by ESPN and The Weather Channel. Sacred Heart-Griffin went on to win the 5A state title using Baden footballs that Crouch had provided them.

Where Things Stand

On the tenth anniversary in November 2023, the National Weather Service published an interactive StoryMap documenting the event with radar imagery, damage photographs, and a detailed timeline. Washington Mayor Gary Manier reflected publicly on the volunteers and media who had arrived from across the country in the days afterward, with many volunteers staying for weeks.¹¹⁵ The tornado remains the strongest November tornado on record in Illinois and one of the most destructive single-community tornado events in state history, with over $800 million in damage concentrated inside a city of roughly 16,000 people.²

1
National Weather Service. 10th Anniversary of the Washington EF4 Tornado
2
National Weather Service. November 17, 2013 Tornado Outbreak Revisited
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National Weather Service. November 17, 2013 Washington Tornado
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Daily Herald. Midwest Storm Damage
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NPR Illinois. Washington Mayor: As Many As 500 Homes Damaged or Destroyed
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WILL Illinois. Washington IL Rebuilds One Year After Tornado
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National Weather Service. November 17, 2013 Tornado Outbreak
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ABC7 Chicago. Illinois Tornado Victims
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Obama White House Archives. President Obama Signs Illinois Disaster Declaration
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Federal Register. Illinois Major Disaster and Related Determinations
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Office of Senator Durbin. Durbin, Kirk, Schock Press for Public Assistance Funding
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WJBC. City Leaders Reflect 10 Years After Tornado in Washington
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University of Colorado Natural Hazards Center. High School Football as a Catalyst for Disaster Recovery
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ICC Harbinger. United as One
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WMBD Radio. Mayor Manier Reflects on 10th Anniversary of the Washington Tornado