One year after tornado killed 6 at Amazon warehouse, lawsuits remain pending
For six area families, Saturday marked the first anniversary of the day they lost loved ones when an EF-3 tornado struck an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville.
Relatives and colleagues of the six victims have called for new regulations that would require warehouses to have storm shelters to protect people during tornadoes. State lawmakers have not done that. In March the House passed a bill that would create a task force to study the issue, but that bill remains pending in the Senate.
The six workers were killed when the walls and roof of the warehouse collapsed on the evening of Dec. 10, 2021, as winds of up to 150 mph hit the building near the intersection of Interstate 270 and Interstate 255.
Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, of Alton; Kevin D. Dickey, 62, of Carlyle; Etheria S. Hebb, 34, of St. Louis; Austin McEwen, 26, of Edwardsville; DeAndre Morrow, 28, of St. Louis; and Larry E. Virden, 46, of Collinsville, all perished in the tornado.
Alice and Randy McEwen, the parents of McEwen, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Amazon in January.
Their attorney, Jack Casciato, said McEwen’s parents were too upset to be interviewed for this article.
“The family’s really struggling with the holidays and recognizing this was a year ago,” he said.
Deon January, the mother of Morrow, also filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Amazon. Her attorneys could not be reached for comment. Also, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of four delivery drivers who worked for Amazon contractors.
The lawsuits are pending in Madison County court.
“I think those families are rightfully grieving in a way that’s unimaginable to probably you and certainly to me,” said Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel.
“I understand their grief and obviously there is litigation, so there isn’t a lot I can comment on about the litigation itself except to continue to express our deepest condolences to those families and our enduring support of them in any way that we can be supportive.”
Storm shelters
The Edwardsville warehouse that was damaged by the tornado did not have a storm shelter. As part of the rebuilding process that started last summer, a shelter was not added to the building. Current code does not require warehouses to have storm shelters.
Amazon leases the building on Gateway Commerce Drive and has not asked the building owner to install a storm shelter, Nantel said in an interview with the BND in an Amazon warehouse across the street from the one that was hit by the tornado.
Amazon has over 800 facilities in North America, she said, and the company has not sought to have shelters installed in those sites.
“You can imagine with a network that large, it is a significant and massive undertaking and not something that is going to be done quickly or that should be done without a lot of thought and research and evaluation, and I think that’s really where we are right now,” she said.
Casciato, the attorney for Alice and Randy McEwen, criticized Amazon’s decision not to include a storm shelter in the rebuilt Edwardsville building.
“We are disappointed to learn that this facility was rebuilt without FEMA shelters, especially in an area that is prone to tornadoes and especially that Amazon is able to sell tornado preparedness shelters on its website,” he said.
“We hope that this lawsuit does more than just provide compensation to the families but gets companies like Amazon and other companies to recognize where they can be better in certain areas of the country where inclement weather is very common.”
State Rep. Katie Stuart’s district includes the site that was struck by the tornado. The Edwardsville Democrat sponsored House Bill 1563, which would create a warehouse safety task force if approved by the Senate and signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Stuart was asked by the News-Democrat in an email if she would sponsor a bill that would require warehouses to have a storm shelter. The BND also asked Pritzker’s office if he would ask lawmakers to pass legislation requiring shelters in warehouses.
Neither Stuart nor Pritzker replied to these specific inquiries.
However, Stuart released a statement on Friday that said in part, “I believe that every worker deserves a safe and healthy work environment and I am committed to being a champion for workers’ safety and well-being. It is important that corporations such as Amazon implement and enforce safety measures, as well as provide their workers with ongoing training and support, and listen to and address the concerns of our workers.”
Nantel said Amazon has changed some of its workplace safety practices since the Edwardsville tornado.
For example, she said all workers, including Amazon contract drivers who work for other companies, are given a lanyard with small cards that show the map of the facility and list directions on what to do in an emergency. Also, she said managers receive emergency training more frequently, and disaster response drills are conducted more frequently.
Five of the six people who died in Edwardsville were Amazon contract drivers who worked for other companies.
The damaged Edwardsville warehouse has not reopened. Nantel said Amazon does not know when it will be reoccupied.
As far as a memorial to the workers who died in the warehouse, she said the company has discussed the topic, but has not made a decision.
First anniversary of fatal tornado
“I think just to coming back to this one-year anniversary brings up a lot of emotion for everyone in this community, and our intention is to stand with our colleagues and our friends and honor the passing of our six family members last year and do that in a way that supports everyone who was here then and who continues to work with us now,” Nantel said.
Amazon assisted workers after the tornado with transportation and housing, Nantel said.
“We’ve got grief counselors on site in our facilities all this week, just making sure that they’re readily available for any employees,” she said.
Nantel also said Amazon will make a $500,000 donation over the weekend to the Edwardsville Community Foundation to complement the $1 million donation it made to the group last year.
Pamela Farrar, executive director of the foundation, said Friday the group has not yet decided how the $500,000 donation will be used.
The $1 million donation from Amazon last December was part of $1.7 million in donations received locally and from across the county after the tornado.
The foundation released a statement last month listing how the $1.7 million was used:
▪ $498,867 to municipal police and fire departments for digital communication radios.
▪ $187,049 to public bodies in Madison County for emergency equipment and vehicles. Alhambra, Collinsville, Cottage Hills, East Alton, Edwardsville, Edwardsville Township, Godfrey, Granite City, Hamel, Madison County Emergency Management, Marine, New Douglas, Olive, Roxana, SIUE, South Roxana and Worden received aid.
▪ $210,961 for individuals and businesses directly impacted by the storm.
▪ $100,000 to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for lasting scholarships in disaster-preparedness fields.
▪ $500,000 endowment for relief related to future disasters.
This story was originally published December 10, 2022 at 10:38 AM.
