EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Gov. JB Pritzker has issued a disaster proclamation for several central and southern Illinois counties following the deadly tornadoes last week. Madison County, where six people died when a tornado hit an Amazon facility, is one of the counties.
Gov. Pritzker asked for a moment of silence to pray for the injured and those lost in the tragedy. He has toured the facility.
“Edwardsville, we stand with you as one Illinois,” said Gov. Pritzker during a morning press conference.
Illinois is working directly with the White House and FEMA to ensure access to all federal resources for this community.
The Edwardsville Community Foundation relief fund is accepting gifts. Amazon has made a $1 million donation to the fund to deploy resources and help this community get back on its feet.
Gov. Pritzker said there is already an effort underway to determine if there were any challenges with the structure.
He also said the tornado was something unexpected and that is happening more and more often through Illinois. He says he has spoken to legislators about looking at building codes to see if changes need to be made based on climate change.
The counties included in the disaster declaration include: Bond, Cass, Champaign, Coles, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Greene, Grundy, Iroquois, Jackson, Jersey, Kankakee, Lawrence, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Shelby, Tazewell, and Woodford.
