With the aid of Mary Wisniewski WASHINGTON, Illinois (Reuters) – When an impressive tornado bore down on the small metropolis of Washington, Illinois, on Sunday, Ryan Bowers took his wife’s advice and sheltered in the basement with their 2-half of yr-previous daughter and their pet canines. Winds of as much as 200 miles per hour leveled their house, together with a large swath of town of 15,000 individuals east of Peoria, but the Bowers survived, as did lots of their neighbors. The tornado, a part of a fast-moving storm that hammered much of the Midwest, killed eight folks in Illinois and Michigan, but many survived due to fast reactions like Bowers’ and since their houses had basements to flee to. “I’ve to consider that ninety percent of those people who survived have been almost certainly in their basement, taking quilt, or at church,” stated Washington Mayor Gary Manier, who referred to that he was once among the many many city residents who took refuge in church basements when they heard twister warning sirens.