On the evening of December 10, 2021, a tornado hit the DLI4 delivery facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. This facility is an Amazon warehouse that manages the delivery of goods for the Greater St. Louis region. Most of the workers present that night were temporary contractors hired to help handle the increased amount of goods being moved because of the Christmas holiday. Only seven of the 45 people at the warehouse were full-time employees.
When a tornado warning was received, confusion about where the storm shelter was led 10 employees to take shelter in a bathroom on the southern side of the building. The tornado struck the same southern side, crushing the west-facing wall onto the bathroom. This caused six people to die and one person to be seriously injured. Emergency workers from the St. Louis area responded to the event.
After the collapse, Amazon was criticized for how it handled the situation. Jeff Bezos, the leader of Amazon, was criticized for attending a Blue Origin launch instead of going to Edwardsville to address the disaster. Amazon was also criticized for not properly communicating about the severe weather and for not handling the situation well. The companies that built DLI4 were accused of not following building codes when constructing the warehouse.
When DLI4 was rebuilt and reopened in 2024, the facility and other buildings in the commercial area where it was located did not have storm shelters. The new structure of DLI4 was not designed to withstand the strong winds caused by the original tornado.
Background
Amazon announced its plan to open two new distribution centers in Edwardsville, Illinois, on June 2, 2016. Each building would be 700,000 square feet, or about 16 acres. One center would handle larger items, and the other would handle smaller items. This was expected to create 1,000 full-time jobs in the area. Edwardsville’s mayor, Hal Patton, called these jobs a "much-needed employment opportunity" for the region. The centers were located in the Lakeview Commerce Center, a commercial development site near Illinois Route 111 and the I-270/I-255 interchange. By 2020, this area also housed facilities for companies like J.F. Electric, Spectrum Brands, and World Wide Technology. The Amazon centers opened in August 2017. The larger-item building was named STL4, and the smaller-item building was named STL6. In August 2017, one year after opening, the first public tour of STL4 was given to news media, community members, and politicians Dick Durbin and John Shimkus. At that time, both centers combined had over 2,000 employees, more than double the number predicted the year before.
In 2018, Contegra Construction built the shell of the DLI4 building, which would later become an Amazon delivery warehouse. DLI4 was completed in September 2020 and covered 594,000 square feet, or about 13.6 acres. Of this space, 15,000 square feet was used for offices. The building was designed by the architectural firm Richard L. Bowen & Associates.
In December 2021, before the Christmas holiday, Amazon’s DLI4 site had about 190 workers across all shifts, according to a company spokesperson. Most of these workers were contracted delivery drivers. The company increased the number of these drivers due to higher holiday demand. Amazon had been reducing its reliance on outside carriers since 2018, which meant fewer full-time delivery workers. At the time of a tornado, only seven full-time employees were at DLI4.
Weather forecasters in St. Louis, Missouri, were monitoring a possible severe weather event in parts of Missouri and southern Illinois. On December 9, they predicted that temperatures would rise to over 70°F (21°C) in some areas, with low-level clouds possibly clearing earlier in the day. A low-pressure system moving from the Rocky Mountains was expected to bring storms through the St. Louis area between 8 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday. Forecasters warned that tornadoes could form, and the storms would move quickly.
Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma expected severe weather on the evening of December 10. They issued an "enhanced risk" warning, the third-highest level, for much of the middle Mississippi River valley, including St. Louis. This warning included risks for damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes. Storms were expected to form after sunset and develop into a line of thunderstorms, which might reduce the chance of tornadoes except for those forming earlier in the evening. However, forecast models were unsure about where the storms would first form.
By December 10 at 5:08 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the St. Louis area remained under an enhanced risk, and a "moderate risk," the second-highest level, was added further south. Forecasters were confident that strong tornadoes could form across parts of the middle Mississippi and lower Ohio River valleys.
At 5:20 p.m., a tornado watch was issued for much of Missouri and parts of Illinois, including Madison County. This watch was effective until 11 p.m. that night. Seven minutes later, forecasters discussed conditions in detail, noting that storms had started forming near Springfield, Missouri. As weather conditions worsened, forecasters identified an area in eastern Missouri where mature storms could produce tornadoes. By 7:02 p.m., a line of storms was moving across central Missouri, including one with the coldest cloud tops, which was heading toward St. Louis. This storm was expected to bring a high risk of tornadoes and other severe weather.
That evening, multiple strong tornadoes hit the St. Louis National Weather Service area. Three tornadoes were caused by a single storm system. The first, an EF3 tornado, touched down in Defiance, Missouri, at 7:35 p.m. and caused major damage. It lifted at 8:01 p.m. west of Bridgeton, Missouri, killing one person and injuring two. At 8:06 p.m., a tornado warning was issued for Edwardsville and surrounding areas after forecasters tracked a possible tornado near Bridgeton.
As conditions worsened in Edwardsville, a Boxify Logistics contractor reported that some delivery drivers were told to park in a safe area or return home, while others were instructed to go back to DLI4. A delivery worker recalled speaking to dispatcher Kevin Dickey, who later died in the tornado, who told them to check weather conditions and "get home safe."
At 8:06 p.m. and again at 8:16 p.m., the Edwardsville Amazon facilities received warnings about severe weather through a web application. When the warning reached DLI4’s manager, they and an assistant walked through the warehouse to inform workers about the storm and directed them to gather in the northern bathroom, the site’s designated shelter. An investigation later found that a megaphone, used to coordinate information, was locked in a cage and not accessible. Confusion also arose about whether the northern or southern bathroom was the correct shelter. OSHA reported that 10 employees took shelter in the southern bathroom.
The tornado that struck DLI4 was part of the same storm system that produced the EF3 tornado in Defiance, Missouri. It touched down west of the I-270/I-255 interchange at 8:27 p.m.
Collapse
After the event, experts found that the tornado hit DLI4 at 8:29 p.m. with wind speeds of about 150 miles per hour (240 km/h). The tornado struck the western side of DLI4, causing the western wall of the warehouse to collapse onto the bathroom. The inward collapse of the west-facing walls was the first of several structural failures as the tornado moved through the warehouse, including other walls and a large part of the roof. The eastern wall collapsed into a parking lot. In total, about 150 yards (140 m) of DLI4 collapsed. After this, the tornado moved through DLI4's rear parking lot, scattering cars east of the warehouse. In addition, multiple high-tension transmission towers and overhead power lines were destroyed.
Experts from the St. Louis National Weather Office gave the tornado an EF3 rating based on the damage to a warehouse building, described as "total destruction of a large section of a building or an entire building." DLI4 was struck at the tornado's peak intensity. In Edwardsville, most damage was limited to trees, power infrastructure, and roofs, with one mobile home destroyed. Damage in Edwardsville was rated up to EF1. The tornado lifted at 8:32 p.m., remaining on the ground for only 6 minutes. Later, the supercell produced another EF2 tornado that hit Bingham and Ramsey State Park.
Two of the people who died and the only person who was injured were delivery contractors. One worked for AB&C D.A.D Inc. in Belleville, Illinois. One worked for Boxify Logistics in St. Louis, Missouri. One worked for CBRE Group, a real-estate firm, who had been assigned to the Edwardsville facility. The only death not linked to a delivery contractor occurred in the building's southern bathroom.
Emergency management was first informed about the situation at DLI4 around 8:35 p.m. Emergency personnel arrived at the scene within 6 minutes. At 8:41 p.m., six minutes after the first call, operators received a 911 call from inside the southern bathroom, where two women were trapped with a third, deceased woman, likely Etheria Hebb, who was unresponsive and "bent in half" by rubble. Early reports from the warehouse indicated about 85 people were inside the building and an unknown number of delivery drivers. With over 50 people on-site, Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford requested help from nearby communities, including Glen Carbon, Pontoon Beach, Mitchell, Long Lake, Troy, Maryville, Granite City, and Highland in Illinois. Specialized rescue units from Madison and St. Clair Counties and the cities of Marion, Springfield in Illinois, and St. Louis in Missouri were also activated. Teams from Marion and Springfield were later deactivated due to long response times. At about 9:17 p.m., emergency personnel in St. Louis County, Missouri, received requests to assist with the commercial building collapse. At this time, KSDK estimated 30 to 40 emergency vehicles were at the warehouse helping with the "major emergency response." Within the first 24 hours, Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford reported that 52 rescue agencies responded with a total of 195 vehicles and 375 personnel.
Water and gas were leaking at DLI4, and downed electrical lines created hazards for emergency staff when they first arrived. Despite this, multiple people were rescued from under rubble and brought to safety by emergency management and Amazon employees after the building collapsed. An employee in the northern bathroom said they spent "at least two-and-a-half hours" sheltering before leaving.
Aftermath
After DLI4 was hit by a tornado, debris from the tornado created a signature that helped forecasters detect it using the WSR-88D weather radar operated by the St. Louis National Weather Office. A new tornado warning was issued at 8:33 p.m. for Madison and Bond counties in Illinois. This warning used special language to describe the danger, stating that "a confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado" was visible on radar over Edwardsville. Debris from DLI4 was found by surveyors across the path of the storm, "tens of miles" from the facility, which stretched through Shelby County, Illinois, 70 miles (110 kilometers) away.
One year after the tornado, KSDK reported that "[a]s much warning as meteorologists could give was given on that day." The St. Louis National Weather Service office had predicted severe conditions up to three days before the tornado and fully staffed the office on the evening of December 10. The killer tornadoes in Defiance and Edwardsville were described as matching that day's weather forecasts.
The day after the collapse, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos attended the Blue Origin NS-19 launch while search-and-rescue operations for DLI4 were ongoing. After posting a celebratory Instagram photo with the NS-19 crew, Bezos released a statement on Twitter about the Edwardsville warehouse collapse. Many users on the site reacted negatively to Bezos, who owns Blue Origin and was in Texas at the time, for prioritizing the launch over addressing the situation in Edwardsville.
On April 1, 2022, the federal House Oversight Committee began an investigation into Amazon regarding workplace safety and its policies for protecting workers during natural disasters. Democratic lawmakers Carolyn Maloney, Cori Bush, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sent a letter to Amazon and its CEO, Jeff Bezos, asking for more information as part of the investigation.
On January 17, 2022, the first of many lawsuits was filed against Amazon, along with Contegra Construction and TriStar Properties, LLC. The lawsuit claimed that Amazon knew about the potential for severe weather but did not take enough steps to protect the lives of those who died in the collapse. The facility’s emergency plans and construction were questioned. On April 19, 2022, two more lawsuits were filed against Amazon, Contegra, TriStar, and three engineering groups. These lawsuits included a wrongful death suit for DeAndre Morrow and a claim for emotional distress by four survivors who suffered injuries in the collapse. The lawsuits highlighted a report from structural engineers and West County EMA & Fire Protection District, which found that some columns in DLI4 were not properly secured with bolts or welds but instead were fastened with caulk. Engineers expressed concern about the structural stability of the facility. One lawsuit was led by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. In November 2022, the case against two of the three firms named in the initial lawsuit was dropped.
On April 26, 2022, WLS-TV in Chicago reported that OSHA had finished its investigation of the DLI4 collapse from the previous December. OSHA suggested three changes for Amazon’s facilities: safety drills, emergency plans specific to each location, and warning devices like megaphones that are easily available. Later in July, WBBM-TV reported that federal prosecutors began looking into safety practices at multiple Amazon warehouses linked to OSHA’s investigation of DLI4. The U.S. Attorney’s office also started an investigation into whether Amazon tried to hide injuries from officials.
Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford shared at a public safety meeting on April 22, 2022, that the owner of DLI4, who was not connected to Amazon, applied to rebuild the warehouse. Edwardsville’s public works department received the request on the same day OSHA released its findings. A city engineer required that the warehouse be rebuilt to meet the 2015 version of the International Building Code, not the 2006 version used for the original building.
By December 10, 2022, one year after the tornado, the outside of DLI4 was nearly completed. After restoring the interior, DLI4 fully reopened on September 4, 2024, exactly 1,000 days after the tornado. The rebuilt warehouse was designed with walls to withstand wind gusts of 114 mph (183 km/h), stronger than the previous 90 mph (140 km/h) specifications. However, St. Louis Public Radio noted that neither the rebuilt DLI4 warehouse nor any other building in the Lakeview Commerce Center had storm shelters at the time of reopening.
In January 2023, the Warehouse Safety Standards Task Force was created by Illinois lawmakers to study warehouse safety standards after OSHA’s investigation into Amazon’s handling of the tornado. The task force heard from organizations that argued warehouses should be built to withstand stronger winds or include shelters, even though most tornadoes are weaker than the Edwardsville tornado. Greg Bryant of the Masonry Structural Coalition mentioned a 2004 tornado in Roanoke, Illinois, that destroyed a manufacturing plant but caused no deaths due to proper sheltering.
The task force recommended requiring specific emergency plans for each location, better tornado preparedness by employers, and regular funding for the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, a network of agreements among fire departments.
After the tornado, the city of Edwardsville updated its city code to require buildings to withstand wind gusts of 114 mph (183 km/h).