One of the strongest weather events in the region's history occurred nine years ago Tuesday.
On May 8th, 2009, a storm system classified as a Derecho brought widespread damaging winds from 70 to 90 mph to a corridor through southern Illinois and southeast Missouri.
Extensive tree and power line damage occurred in the Murphysboro, Carbondale, and Marion areas of southern Illinois and Perry and Bollinger Counties of southeast Missouri.
Numerous structures were damaged in the Marion, Carbondale, and Murphysboro areas. One fatality occurred in Jackson County when a tree fell on a home, causing an elderly man to fall to his death.
There have been windstorms similar to this in the past. On July 22nd, 1980, a similar windstorm moved through the region with damaging winds over 100 mph. This derecho was actually the storm system that sparked the study on these types of windstorms and where the term "derecho" originated.