Central Illinois Community Offering Building Permits

Rebuilding work is about to get underway in Washington after a tornado ripped through the central Illinois community last month.

The (Peoria) Journal Star reports residents could begin applying for building permits on Monday.

The Nov. 17 tornado damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes in the city of 16,000 people. The storm was part of a series of 24 twisters that hit the state. The storms are blamed for killing seven people.

On Monday, residents met with city officials to get information about rebuilding efforts.

Jon Oliphant is Washington’s director of planning and development. He says the community has a single, part-time building inspector and asked residents to be patient with what would be a lengthy building permit process.