EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — It's been two and a half years since an EF-3 tornado hit an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois killing six people.
People on the Illinois Warehouse Safety Standards Task Force said they've been making a lot of progress in hopes of making big changes, but for one family what won't change is the fear that builds every time severe weather hits.
“Every time you hear the siren, or you hear that it's coming. I go back to that night,” Carla Cope said.
Cope said she had her son Clay when she was 29 years old on a Friday in December. He was taken from this world at the same age on a different Friday in December when an EF-3 tornado ripped through the Edwardsville Amazon warehouse where he worked.
“When we got the OSHA report back from two and a half years ago, they met all the minimum requirements. So for six people who lost their lives, minimum requirements are not enough,” Cope said.
She's now part of the state task force with Representative Katie Stuart, (D)-District 112. They've been working to change building requirements and protocols one meeting at a time ever since the tragedy.
“We're hoping that maybe that can have an impact, that it can change the way they're building these buildings, on top of, trying to put in the protections and the requirements to make them safe,” Cope said.
In addition to recommendations for new buildings, the task force is also exploring how those currently standing can meet the same safety requirements.
Stuart said that the warehouse, even though it's been rebuilt, has been practically empty ever since.
“It's not a massive expense, to get it up to what might be a new code that we put in place. So there would be ways to retrofit, existing ones, and put the safe locations in there,” Rep. Stuart said.
Stuart said she is very thankful for the Cope family and their efforts for change.
“It amazes me that they can come to every meeting, and that they can speak and they speak so dearly about their son and their brother. They really have been involved and invested. They just really want to do everything they can so that another family doesn't have to go through this tragedy,” Stuart said.
Cope said she wants everyone to be more aware during tornado watches and go over safety plans at work and at home as these storms only grow more severe year after year.
“I know as a kid, we didn't take it seriously. I mean, a lot of times, if there was a tornado coming, we ran outside to see it. I mean, we never really expected it to hit anything or hurt anyone. But I think they need to be feared more now than they ever were,” Cope said.
An Amazon spokesperson provided the following statement, which reads:
“We have long maintained that we intend to re-open the Edwardsville delivery station as business needs dictate. We have comprehensive emergency preparedness protocols and safety measures in place and continuously review them for opportunities to improve. This includes site-specific emergency action plans that identify exit routes and severe weather assembly areas, regular weather monitoring that helps us make decisions quickly to keep our teams safe, emergency response training throughout the year, and ongoing assessments of our emergency preparedness based on guidance from organizations like OSHA.”
The spokesperson said the company has also hired a meteorologist.
The task force hopes to present recommendations to the state legislature by the beginning of next year, at the latest.