Man shares his experience after Effingham County tornado

ALTAMONT, Ill. (WAND) - The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado hit rural Effingham County on Wednesday, about three miles southeast of Altamont.

Doug Neller's home was one of the most damaged from the tornado. He's lived in the same house, near the intersection on County Road 500 and East 700th Ave for more than two decades.

He was inside with his son, Robert, when the tornado hit near his home.

"First it is getting very dark outside and all of a sudden, a lot of rain," said Neller. "And I just sort of like heard a thump, but I didn't think anything of it. I thought, 'well, its a shed or something like that'. And then Robert went out and he said 'Well, the front porch is gone, all the spindles and everything.'"

Neller said he didn't expect any damage because the storm blew through so quickly. But his front porch and a large portion of his roof all ended up in his backyard. He had nearly a dozen pine trees that were split in half and spread around his property because of the wind.

He met with his insurance this morning and was told to have a crew come cover his roof to avoid any future damage. He said his biggest concern is avoiding any future damage to the house.

"He said if they can't stop the rain, we'd have to rebuild half the house and I don't want to do that," said Neller. "I didn't realize how much damage we got to the roof during it."

Several of Neller's neighbors also received significant storm damage. The neighbors across the street had a tree fall in their front yard and said their chicken coop blew several yards and flipped over. Another neighbor's shed blew into the middle of the street during the peak of the storm.

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