What word should be eliminated The schools were closed in light of the fact that a tornado had struck?

Here's why:

* Redundancy: The phrase "in light of the fact that" is unnecessarily wordy. "In light of" already implies a fact or a reason.

* Clarity: Removing "fact" makes the sentence more concise and direct: "The schools were closed in light of a tornado that had struck."

The revised sentence is more impactful and easy to understand.