F1 Tornado — Coles, Illinois

2003-09-26 · near Mattoon, Coles, Illinois

Event narrative

A tornado touched down 4 miles north northeast of Mattoon near a printing plant. It then traveled east damaging several buildings at the plant. Almost 500,000 square feet of the roof was damaged or destroyed. Contents in the buildings including electronic equipment and over 5 million pounds of paper were damaged. With over 400 employees in the plant at the time of the tornado, only one person suffered minor injuries but didn't need immediate medical attention. After hitting the plant, the tornado damaged some outbuildings at a nearby farm before lifting and dissipating. Damage to the plant was estimated around $10 million.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.5333, -88.3333)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5338041. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.