Southern Illinois residents work to clean up mess after Friday's storm

KSDK -- Many residents across southern Illinois are spending their Saturday cleaning up after Friday's severe thunderstorms. Widespread damage was reported as winds gusted above 100mph in Carbondale and above 80mph in many other locations.

Power crews are working to restore power, but it may take a few days to get the lights back on for everyone since many poles were snapped and wires are down.

An observer at the Carbondale airport observed a peak wind speed of 106mph from rooftop wind instruments. The automated system failed after reporting an 81mph wind gust.

Some injuries were reported in southern Illinois, but an official count has not been released. There were no known fatalities in southern Illinois although three deaths were reported in southwest Missouri, one death in Kansas and another in Kentucky.

Storm survey teams from the National Weather Service offices serving Missouri and Illinois will fan out across the region today to assess the storm damage.