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'Like a warzone': Taylorville cleaning up following Saturday tornado

The sheriff urged gawkers to stay away so first responders have more room to do their jobs.

TAYLORVILLE, Ill. — Residents in Taylorville, Illinois have been spending their Sunday cleaning up what was left behind by a tornado Saturday.

Severe weather stormed through central Illinois Saturday, bringing hail, strong winds, rain and 22 reports of tornadoes in the area. The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday that multiple tornados touched down in central and southwest Illinois on Saturday.

Taylorville was one of the hardest hit towns.

“It’s like a warzone out there. It’s still a mess out there with traffic,” said Christian County Sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp.

He said there’s already a problem with gawkers trying to check out storm damage, and they’re making it more difficult for the first responders on the roads to do their jobs.

“We have a great community here and everybody wants to help out, but if you don’t have to be out there, please don’t go in the area where we have all the damage,” Sheriff Kettelkamp stressed.

The city’s extensive debris-removal plan already is underway, Taylorville Fire Chief and Christian County Emergency Manager Mike Crews said. The city is collecting wood debris first and burning it, while following Environmental Protection Agency rules and regulations. At this time, local officials are not looking for volunteers to help with cleanup efforts.

Crews also warned residents to take it easy while cleaning up their yards and homes.

One person suffered a heart attack Sunday while removing debris. Fire crews were able to successfully resuscitate the victim and saved the person's life.

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A Taylorville Memorial Hospital spokesman said 21 people were injured during the storm Saturday. They range in age from 9 to 97 years old. Most of them were discharged within hours. However, at least one person was still in the ICU Sunday afternoon.

Overall, no deaths have been linked to the Saturday’s severe weather.

Several of the local schools and facilities buildings were damaged in Saturday’s storm. Taylorville Community School District #3 canceled class for Monday, which will allow officials to further assess potential damage to the buildings.

PHOTOS: Tornadoes, hail move through Illinois

Some homes are a total loss while others have significant damage.

Bob Wells' home was damaged in the storm. He was hoping history would repeat itself.

“I kept telling my family I said, 'We don’t have to worry about this house, it hasn’t been hit before so it probably won’t ever get hit,'" Wells said. "That’s not true anymore.”

Power outages continued into Sunday afternoon. Ameren Illinois reported about 1,400 outages in the Taylorville area. Crews expect to restore power to nearly all of the customers throughout the day.

WEATHER: Get the latest 5 On Your Side forecast

Governor Bruce Rauner will tour the storm damage in Taylorville and meet with first responders Sunday afternoon. He'll be joined by Congressman Rodney Davis, Illinois Emergency Management Agency Acting-Director William Robertson and local leaders from Taylorville and Christian County.

Gov. Rauner activated the State Emergency Operations Center in response to the storms.

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