"John Dwyer coordinates emergency management in Champaign County, Illinois. He’s seeing a lot more weather extremes, from tornadoes to a major dust storm, even as federal money to keep people safe seems poised to drop."
"In the middle of May, a rare, severe dust storm swept across the dry farmland of Central Illinois and headed in the direction of Chicago. Driver visibility on roads dropped to zero, and wind speeds rose to over 60 miles per hour.
“I got a report from a weather spotter who said, ‘Hey, I can’t move on this highway on the west side of the county. And I called the [National] Weather Service, and said, ‘We can’t see.’ Then the warning came out,” said John Dwyer, coordinator for the Champaign County Emergency Management Agency and president of the Illinois Emergency Services Management Association. “I’m surprised we didn’t have more damage than we did; it could have been a lot worse.”
The Midwest has experienced its share of extreme weather events lately, and Illinois is no exception. In 2023, another massive dust storm in the state left seven people dead. Last year, Illinois experienced a historic number of tornadoes, breaking the previous record set in 2006, according to the National Weather Service."
Alexia Underwood reports for Inside Climate News June 25, 2025.
Advertisement 
