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Examining April 9 storm NIU presents how, why of Fairdale tornado
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Social media to fuel giving? Campaign aims to raise $200K in 24 hours By BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com
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Walker Ashley, Northern Illinois University associate professor of meteorology, discusses severe thunderstorm ingredients, storm formation and tornadoes during a tornado symposium Thursday at the Montgomery Hall Auditorium. The university’s staff and a member of the National Weather Service discussed severe weather and the events of the April 9 tornado that hit Fairdale and killed two residents of the town. By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com DeKALB – If the April 9 tornado happened about 15 miles southeast, it could have been disastrous for DeKalb and Northern Illinois University. About 20,000 people would have been affected, and it would have caused serious damage to the area, according to Stephen Strader, a doctoral student in meteorology at NIU. “The two that I think would have been most scary is both NIU and DeKalb police stations would have been impacted,” he said Thursday. Representatives from the meteorology department at NIU and the National Weather Service in Chicago spoke to a crowded room during a symposium titled “Gone with the Wind: Providing Perspective on the April 9th Tornado.” It looked at how the April 9 tornado that destroyed Fairdale and killed two women happened, what could have happened, and safety precautions for the next disastrous
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A path of wreckage through Fairdale in DeKalb County is seen April 10. storm. “This is the most significant tornado event I’ve worked since 2003, when I first became a forecaster in the Springfield office,” said Geno Izzi, an NWS meteorologist. NIU meteorology professor Walker Ashley gave an overview of
the tornado using food recipe comparisons and photos of food in his slide show presentation. He said moisture, instability, shear and lift are the perfect ingredients for a devastating tornado. He showed a diagram of all four of them overlapping directly over the region.
“It’s the shear that’s so critical for creating what we call organized thunderstorms, and the storm that we got in Fairdale,” Ashley said. He said that while the tornado is widely known as EF 4, that scale is based on damage – a tornado that hits open soil would generally be ranked EF 0. “We knew several days out this would have potential,” Ashley said. “We’re always looking at how these ingredients are shifting into models. Then the day of, we’re looking at observations.” NIU meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste gave some uplifting news – “the survival rates from these tornadoes are very high,” he said. He outlined a plan that should be implemented before the next severe tornado event: Identify a shelter, make sure you can be properly warned, and get ready to go when you have to go, or before you have to if possible. Sebenste said outdoor tornado sirens are pretty useless to people
DeKALB – More than 40 local nonprofits are hoping that giving money goes viral Tuesday. The organizations have been promoting Give Local DeKalb County, an online donation drive designed to support local agencies, using social media. The one-day online giving challenge asks people to make donations to local nonprofits in hopes of supporting those agencies and increasing philanthropy in the community. Last year, the inaugural Give Local DeKalb County campaign raised nearly $120,000 for 38 local groups in 24-hours, said Anita Zurbrugg, program director of the DeKalb County Community Foundation. This year, organizers have set a goal of raising $200,000. “People really get into the spirit of it and have a lot of fun,” Zurbrugg said. The DeKalb County Nonprofit Partnership is facilitating Give Local DeKalb County as part of Give Local America, a national day of local giving. The DeKalb County Community Foundation and several local donors have put up $23,000 in proportional matching funds to amplify local donations May 5. Donations can be made at www.givelocaldekalbcounty. org at anytime Tuesday. The minimum donation is $25, but last year, some donors went far above that. One person contributed more than $10,000, but most of the donations were in the $25 to $50 range, Zurbrugg said. Nonprofits such as Adventure Works of DeKalb County use the event to raise unrestricted funds that help pay for everything from rent to electrical bills. Adventure Works, which helps
See EXAMINATION, page A6 See GIVING, page A6
Police findings turned over to prosecutor Scant details in Baltimore man’s death in custody disappoint protesters By DAVID DISHNEAU and CURT ANDERSON The Associated Press BALTIMORE – The refusal of authorities to provide more than a few sketchy details about the Freddie Gray investigation may be legally appropriate, but many people in Baltimore were finding it hard to be patient Thursday when police revealed next to nothing about the criminal investigation they turned over to the state’s attorney’s office.
Nearly two weeks after Gray’s death, the public still doesn’t know much more than it did on Day 1. The central question – what caused his fatal spinal cord injury – remains a mystery. “The transparency is just not there,” the Rev. Cortly “C.D.” Witherspoon said after Police Commissioner Anthony Batts refused to answer any questions Thursday. Batts said his department’s report was delivered a day ahead of time to State’s Attor-
ney Marilyn Mosby, and that from now on, any questions should go to her. Mosby also declined to talk, issuing a statement Thursday asking “for the public to remain patient and peaceful and to trust the process of the justice system.” A coalition of news media organizations, including The Associated Press, sent a letter Thursday evening to the Baltimore Police Department seeking the immediate release of the report as information that
would serve the public interest. With rumors flying about how Gray’s spine was “80 percent severed,” as his family’s lawyer Billy Murphy put it, police did release a new piece of information Thursday, but it served mostly to raise more questions about how truthful the six suspended officers have been with investigators. Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis said investigators
See BALTIMORE, page A6
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Protesters link arms Thursday while marching toward City Hall in Baltimore to demonstrate the police-custody death of Freddie Gray. Baltimore police said they have turned over their criminal investigation to a prosecutor who will decide whether charges are warranted in the Gray’s death.
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