WASHINGTON, Ill. – Pat Quinn says he was doing what most people in the state of Illinois do on a fall Sunday afternoon, watching the Chicago Bears.
But the game that the former governor from 2009 to 2015 was watching ten years ago Friday was delayed because of bad weather in the Chicago area.
Quinn would then receive a notification of a much worse situation happening, tornadoes across downstate Illinois.
“In Brookport, in Gifford, and in Washington, and then we knew that there was a real, real crisis developing statewide,” Quinn says.
The Washington tornado was an EF-4 that damaged more than 1,000 homes and also hit surrounding communities that include Pekin and East Peoria.
Quinn says he then started to get down to the scene and assess the areas as fast as possible. He says he arrived in Washington to find hundreds of properties destroyed.
One of the things that Quinn recalls in the immediate aftermath of the tornado was the strong leadership in the community of Washington, particularly Mayor Gary Manier.
He says Manier had a calm presence and made sure no one got left out in the recovery process.
“You had to have men like Gary step forward and really lead the people in a positive way, not overbearing in any way,” Quinn said. “He understood that you needed to have teamwork, partnership. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Quinn recalls how Manier, along with city and county leaders, were instrumental in making sure people affected were taken care of.
Another thing that stood out to Quinn was how many people from outside the community came together to help the people of Washington, noting how he saw a line of cars from outside the area when he first came to Washington to assess the damage.
Quinn returned to Washington the following summer for a bill signing ceremony, for what he said was related to disaster assistance.
One of the things he says he’ll never forget seeing is how the city bounced back in such a short time.
“Things had been rebuilt, it was just amazing how quickly folks came together and rebuilt the damage,” Quinn said. “Basically got rid of the damage and then built new things on it.”
The bill signing ceremony also has significance for Quinn, as it featured leaders from both parties coming together to put aside their differences and help those in need.
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