Task force recommends tornado shelters in warehouse following deadly 2021 storm

[January 04, 2025]  By Ben Szalinski

SPRINGFIELD — A task force created in the wake of a deadly Metro East tornado has issued recommendations for better protecting warehouse workers.

Six people were killed when an EF3 tornado with 150 mph winds struck an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville on Dec. 10, 2021. The incident raised questions about the safety of warehouses in severe weather, including if warehouses are designed to withstand extreme winds and if warehouse operators are properly prepared for severe weather.

Illinois lawmakers established the Warehouse Safety Standards Task Force in January 2023 to study warehouse safety in response to the Edwardsville tornado, and it issued its final report last month.

Among its recommendations was that building codes be amended to require tornado shelters in warehouses. The International Building Code became Illinois’ statewide building code on Jan. 1 after being approved by the legislature in 2023. The task force recommended shelters be added to that code.

The IBC doesn’t have specific requirements for severe weather because threats vary around the world, Tim Schmitz from the International Code Council told the task force. However, communities can adopt their own codes specifically to meet the needs of natural disasters in their area.

Providing the right shelter from tornadoes can save lives, Greg Bryant from the Masonry Structural Coalition told the task force. He pointed to a 2004 F4 tornado in Woodford County that destroyed a manufacturing plant, but all 140 people in the building made it out alive after taking refuge 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.

More: Edwardsville chief on Amazon warehouse: ‘It was definitely one of our worst days’

The 2021 tornado hit around 8:30 p.m. as the facility was bustling ahead of the holidays. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado touched down near I-270 and Illinois Route 255 southwest of the warehouse and traveled through the south half of the building. The tornado first impacted the west-facing wall, causing it to collapse. That caused other structural failures, including the roof to collapse. The tornado was on the ground for just five minutes, but debris from Amazon was found miles away from the warehouse after the tornado lifted.

An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation into Amazon did not find any violations, according to the task force report. OSHA recommended the company review its severe weather procedures, ensure employees are provided training and participate in drills, have site-specific information about severe weather plans, and ensure audible warning devices are accessible. The warehouse was rebuilt and reopened in September 2024.

A survey photo shows the damage to an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville following an EF3 tornado on Dec. 10, 2021. (Photo provided by the National Weather Service)

The task force also recommended requiring site-specific emergency plans based on OSHA’s guidelines for employers to prepare for tornadoes. The plans would be shared with local first responders and would include floor plans and details about what is stored in the warehouse.

Illinois saw a record of 142 tornadoes in 2024, according to the National Weather Service. The state has averaged 60 tornadoes each year over the last 10 years. But the number of tornadoes in the state could be increasing as technology to detect them improves, according to data compiled by The New York Times. Most Illinois counties saw an increase in tornadoes in the 20 years from 2002 to 2022compared to the previous 20 years.

Most tornadoes are not as powerful as the Edwardsville tornado, Marc Levitan from the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Project told the task force, but warehouses are more vulnerable because they’re 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 constructed either with a shelter inside or with a more wind resistant exterior structure. The National Weather Service in Chicago reported all but one of northeast Illinois’ 63 tornadoes 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 his recommendation that the General Assembly provide regular funding to the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. MABAS is a series of intergovernmental agreements between Illinois fire departments to bring additional or specialized support to major incidents. MABAS calls range from dispatching additional units to a structure fire to long-term disaster response missions, including outside Illinois. The system received a $200,000 grant from the Office of the State Fire Marshall in fiscal year 2024.

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