Record Year of Illinois Tornadoes: Hear One Farmer's 2023 Story

Don Meyer's tornado recovery offers lessons in resilience and optimism after disaster. 

Illinois has had 178 tornadoes this year, twice as many as any other state according to the National Weather Service. With the long-term Illinois average sitting at 54, this unprecedented increase has left many farmers hurting. 



Meyer's Story

On March 31st, 2023, just weeks before planting, Don Meyer of Amboy, Illinois faced the same loss many Illinois farmers are experiencing today. A tornado damaged nearly all of his storage structures and equipment, leaving him uncertain whether he would get a crop in the ground that spring. 

From their basement where they were weathering out the storm, Meyer said, “We could tell it was rough out there. But I never thought there was that much damage.” 

That was until lightning struck, and they caught a glimpse of their wrecked barn through the small basement window. At that point, Meyer said he knew the damage was substantial.

“The initial problem was that seeding was only a couple of weeks away...and there's a really narrow window to get things seeded,” Meyer said. “I didn't sleep the night it hit because I was worried about how I was going to get things seeded without the equipment.” 

Recovery Begins 

He started to clean things up the very next day. While there was significant damage to Meyer’s storage and irrigation, he took rebuilding one step at a time. 

“We don't start irrigating until later in the year, so there was time to get those fixed...the initial crisis was getting the equipment up and running again.”

Even with the stress that seeding created, Meyer found the silver lining. He recalls being grateful that the timing of the tornado made picking debris out of his empty fields relatively easy. 

“One thing about tornadoes is they make a horrible mess. There was steel scattered across the field,” Meyer said. “There were no crops growing, so it was bare ground, and easy to pick up...I don't know if there's a good time in the year for a tornado, but at least it didn't make a mess out of our fields.” 

Of course, the process of rebuilding was still tedious, and Meyer sends thanks to his strong farm community that helped along the way. 

“Without even asking, we had a small army of people here. Probably one of the most uplifting things about it all. The community's help was incredible. It was still a lot of work, but it went pretty fast," he said. 

After a lot of hard work and community help, Meyer was able to plant on time. 

Finding Opportunity in Adversity

When Meyer started farming in the 1990s, “things looked pretty dismal,” but his constant optimism has kept him going and growing for over 30 years. 

He detailed that having only minimal damage to his family's house helped him maintain that perspective throughout all the repairs. This optimism gave him the opportunity to rebuild. 

“I feel for anybody that has their house damaged. Your house is your sanctuary...it could've been so much worse," Meyer said. 

Rather than simply replacing what was lost, Meyer used the recovery effort to reinforce and improve parts of the farm that had been vulnerable to storm damage. This included fully enclosing an old livestock barn that had previously only been partially protected.

“I think that I've been blessed to have the same optimism that my dad had,” Meyer said. 

This optimism is what brought him back to the farm in the 1990s, and how he encouraged his son to come back himself. 

Today, he feels stronger than ever and is looking forward to passing his operation down to his son.

Looking Ahead

While the process wasn't easy, Meyer is a reminder that a farmer's resilience can weather the storm. 

When asked what advice he would give a farmer facing tornado damage, Meyer said, “Well, it does get better...It's somewhat of a traumatic event, it changes your world upside down...but you do get back to normal at some point."