This past week has been filled with severe weather. Illinois saw 22 tornadoes on Friday to Tuesday in addition to Wednesday’s thunderstorms. Unfortunately, this weather brought with it property damage and, tragically, lost lives. As a result, on Saturday the Governor issued a disaster proclamation following the storms in an effort to provide some relief for communities.

A disaster proclamation enables the state to provide immediate assistance to the communities outlined in the proclamation, in this case including Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion, and Sangamon counties. Additionally, the Governor has also directed the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to coordinate a statewide response.

On average, April is one of the more frequent months for tornadoes in Illinois. Friday’s experience, however, is significantly outside the norm. Typically, Illinois sees eight to nine tornadoes throughout the entire month of April.