Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Severe weather tears through the Midwest, leaving at least 3 people dead Thunderstorms and tornadoes have hit several communities over the past few days. The Midwest has seen a significant increase in the number of tornadoes. National Severe weather tears through the Midwest, leaving at least 3 people dead June 23, 20264:38 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Abigail Bottar Severe weather tears through the Midwest, leaving at least 3 people dead Listen · 2:05 2:05 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5866727/nx-s1-9820934" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Thunderstorms and tornadoes have hit several communities over the past few days. The Midwest has seen a significant increase in the number of tornadoes. Sponsor Message
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
People are recovering from storms that hit eastern and southern regions of the country last night. Over the weekend, tornadoes and thunderstorms blasted through the Midwest and left at least three people dead. Here's Illinois Public Media's Abigail Bottar.
(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)
ABIGAIL BOTTAR, BYLINE: It's recovery time in Effingham. Residents are assessing the damage the tornado caused in the southern Illinois city last week. There's miles of debris and flattened buildings. Michael Yager is out looking for anything salvageable from his business, a Corvette parts store and museum. He was at home when the tornado touched down.
MICHAEL YAGER: I couldn't even get out of my neighborhood. There was trees and just all kinds of stuff down. So as soon as I could get out here, you know, my insurance agent was already on the phone with me. He's like, I'ma need you out there. You know, we'll see what's going on. And we get out here, and yeah, it was quite literally gone.
BOTTAR: Over the weekend, there were more storms in the Midwest before they moved further east and south. Officials say at least three people died, two in mobile homes in rural Illinois and another person in Kansas. Illinois state climatologist Trent Ford says severe weather in the state has been surpassing records. On average, there's been about 54 tornadoes a year, but Ford says that number has skyrocketed in recent years.
TRENT FORD: It is almost assuredly over 150 now, given Sunday's events.
BOTTAR: Historically, twisters are found more frequently further west in what's called Tornado Alley. Steve Nesbitt heads the department of climate, meteorology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He says it may be too soon to tell if Tornado Alley is actually moving east and whether climate change has anything to do with it.
STEVE NESBITT: Certainly, we have to be very careful starting to attribute these pattern changes that we're seeing. But it is consistent with a lot of the sort of details that we would expect in a climate change scenario.
BOTTAR: The National Weather Service says tornado season typically runs from May to June. So with the end of the month approaching, the weather might not be as severe for communities that were hard hit by tornado season.
For NPR News, I'm Abigail Bottar in Urbana, Illinois.
(SOUNDBITE OF REALIZER'S "AROUND") Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(81)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();