Severe weather rocked parts of Illinois on Wednesday, causing extensive damage, power outages, and a train derailment.
“A train derailed near 80th Street and 150th Avenue just outside Monmouth,” KWQC reports.
“Drone footage from Western Illinois Land Development shows a major train derailment just outside Monmouth after severe storms. Multiple train cars were knocked off the tracks and into nearby farm fields,” the outlet wrote.
Watch below:
Drone footage from Western Illinois Land Development shows a major train derailment just outside Monmouth after severe storms. Multiple train cars were knocked off the tracks and into nearby farm fields. https://t.co/68t4XOpKc2 pic.twitter.com/7YAWFWLVpS
— KWQC TV6 News (@kwqcnews) June 18, 2026
KWQC has more:
Alec Marty, a Monmouth resident, said he experienced straight-line winds during the storm.
“Then out of nowhere we got some straight-line winds. I thought there was a tornado maybe, so I told them to go down to the basement and got my wife and we went downstairs and prepped for what could have been something bad, but turned out to actually be not so terrible,” Marty said.
Marty said he learned about the derailment from a friend.
“Actually, I got a text from my buddy. He told me about it and so I actually went out and looked and I didn’t believe it at first, but when I got out there and actually saw what had happened, I was pretty shocked that both mains got taken out on the railroad out there. So complete shutdown for the BNSF at this time, it looks like,” he said.
Crews were on scene working to clear the wreckage, fix the tracks and restore service.
The derailment forced Amtrak to cancel the Southwest Chief Train 3 route from Chicago to Los Angeles.
“BNSF can confirm at approximately 8:30 a.m. central time June 17, 18 cars blew over and derailed from the BNSF main line in Monmouth, Illinois during an active weather event in the area. No hazardous materials were involved nor were there any reported injuries to the crew. Crews cleared the cars, repaired the main line, and trains were back in operation on both tracks by 7 am June 18,” a BNSF spokesperson said, according to WQAD.
Meanwhile, ABC News shared footage captured by an Illinois man during the moment a tornado destroyed his home.
Watch below:
An Illinois man captured the moments a tornado ripped through and destroyed his home in Effingham on Wednesday night. The resident of the home, Trevor Kreke, appears to be in disbelief, thanking God as he sat in the remains of his home. https://t.co/IeF2TNHeBo pic.twitter.com/B58g2zKcp2
— ABC News (@ABC) June 18, 2026
WQAD shared further:
At its peak, over 6,000 Ameren Illinois customers were without power in Warren County. That has gone down to roughly 5,100 as of 4:15 p.m. Over 5,000 customers reported power outages in Henderson, Knox and Mercer Counties as well. Outage updates can be found on Ameren’s site here. MidAmerican had also reported hundreds of customers without power in the metro, but those have been restored for the most part.
An Ameren spokesperson said the largest concentration of outages was in the Monmouth and Oquawka area. The company confirmed that strong winds downed several power lines. News 8 received the photo below from Steve Sandstrom that shows power lines leaning over. The photo was taken south of Monmouth around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office said Illinois Route 135 is closed from near 220 Avenue to the edge of Little York due to power poles lying in the road. Power lines were also down on 180th Avenue from 80th Street to US 34 and 60th Street. The northbound and southbound off-ramps from US 67 to US 34/180th Avenue were closed but have since reopened, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office and Ameren are reminding the public to stay away from downed power lines and report them to 911. Do not get within 40 to 50 feet of a downed line and do not drive over downed lines. People are asked to slow down for electricity crews and be mindful of their equipment.