(Pictured: Tornado near Albion on June 2nd, 1990)
Southern Illinois and Southwestern Indiana are remembering one of the region’s deadliest severe weather events, which occurred 36 years ago this week.
According to the National Weather Service in Paducah, three violent F-4 tornadoes struck portions of Wayne, Hamilton, Edwards and Wabash counties in Illinois, along with Gibson and Pike counties in Indiana, on June 2, 1990.
The powerful tornadoes claimed seven lives and injured 74 others as they carved destructive paths through the region.
The tornadoes were part of a much larger severe weather outbreak that produced 65 tornadoes across several states. Indiana was especially hard hit, accounting for 37 of the tornadoes reported during the outbreak.
In the aftermath, American Red Cross damage surveys documented widespread destruction, with hundreds of homes and mobile homes either damaged or completely destroyed.
The June 2, 1990 outbreak remains one of the most significant tornado events in the history of Southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana, serving as a reminder of the region’s vulnerability to severe weather and the importance of tornado preparedness.