August 28, 1990. I remember it very well–this tornado happened behind such a wall of rain, it could not and was never able to be photographed directly by any of the survivors. My prayers are for the families and friends who were lost or injured in the major then F5 Plainfield, Illinois tornado.

A moment of silence for the remembrance of everyone who remembered that terrible tragedy…

On the day this happened, I was due to go to work doing a tile installation for a client who worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation. He went out on that emergency. I knew it was a real bad storm because even though I was over 25 miles from the touchdown, all the emergency sirens sounded and I heard from my client and he called when he was on the way there, and told me he was going to trust my company and left a key to get in. My company finished the job, because he was gone for almost a whole week assisting FEMA with operations and life sustaining operations. Bless that man, and all the volunteers, workers, emergency personnel that assisted in making sure as many injured persons were getting the care to help them live again. Thank God we made it through that horrible day! The unfortunate tally of this violent tornado is 29 deaths and 353 injuries. Never forget!!!

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Damage Images, Courtesy of weather.gov:

Images courtesy of weather.gov

Aerial Damage Images, Courtesy of weather.gov:

Images courtesy of weather.gov

Maps of the Plainfield tornado’s track, based on a damage survey performed by Dr. Ted Fujita:

Map of the Plainfield tornado’s track.

Close-up of track over the Wheatland Plains subdivision.

Close-up of track over Plainfield.

Close-up of track over the Joliet/Crest Hill area.

Map showing parts of present-day Wheatland with roads impacted by the tornado that were present in 1990 (red) and newer roads that were built afterwards (green), showing just how much more of an impact this tornado would have had if it occurred today.

Maps showing parts of present-day Plainfield with roads impacted by the tornado that were present in 1990 (red) and newer roads that were built afterwards (green), showing just how much more of an impact this tornado would have had if it occurred today.

The original storm survey work by the late Dr. Theodore Fujita of the University of Chicago. (Frame #1)

The original storm survey work by the late Dr. Theodore Fujita of the University of Chicago. (Frame #2)

The original storm survey work by the late Dr. Theodore Fujita of the University of Chicago. (Frame #3)

Images courtesy of weather.gov

The late Dr. Theodore Fujita of the University of Chicago single handedly changed the trajectory of the whole way that damage, force, winds and other factors were measured. The Fujita scale was also updated since this major tornado hit Plainfield and replaced with the Enhanced Fujita Scale, or the EF Scale. The scale became operational as of February 1, 2007, and is now used to assign a tornado a ‘rating’ based on estimated wind speeds and related damage in the case of any spotted and/or officially acknowledged tornado.

Tom Skilling Courtesy of YouTube: