Associated Press
Published: April 13,2015
Two
days after a massive EF4 tornado devastated the town of Fairdale,
Illinois, residents were allowed back into their homes to survey the
damage and salvage any treasured belongings that weren't taken by the
storm.
The residents of the small farming town were bused in by
the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at 7 a.m. Saturday, less than 48
hours after the half-mile-wide twister wrecked homes, tossed cars into
the air and killed two people. When they returned and the sad reality of
the damage's scope set in, some residents simply couldn't believe they
survived the storm.
"I thought my parents were dead," said
32-year-old Adam Davis, who hopped into his truck Thursday and raced
along with the tornado in the hopes of getting to his parents' house and
rescuing them before the twister struck. He found them standing in
their doorway frozen in disbelief and grabbed them just in time.
(MORE: How the Fairdale Tornado Compares To the Moore and El Reno Tornadoes of 2013)
On
Saturday, he was helping collect what could be salvaged from his
childhood home, now full of debris, its roof ripped off and its windows
broken.
"It's not necessarily the mementos yet; it's the essentials for now. One step at a time," he said.
Eight
tornadoes roared across northern and central Illinois during Thursday's
storms, the National Weather Service confirmed Saturday. The strongest
hit Fairdale, where two people were killed. That tornado also injured 22
people.
The weather service gave it a preliminary EF4 rating -
its second strongest - with winds of between 180 and 200 mph. It was a
half-mile wide and remained on the ground for at least 28.7 miles, a
record long path for that part of Illinois.
Al Zammuto, a
60-year-old machinist, was preparing to inspect what was left of the
roof on a former schoolhouse that he had been transforming into his home
over the past year. He will have to start over.
"I don't know how much of the roof came off," he said. "I'm going to climb a ladder later today and see."
(MORE: 12 Rescued From Collapsed Restaurant After Tornado Strikes)
Zammuto
was staying with his sister down the road, and many of the displaced
appeared to have been taken in by friends and relatives. No one stayed
overnight at a shelter set up at the fire station in nearby Kirkland,
said deputy fire chief Mike Stott.
In all, some 70 buildings were
destroyed or damaged in Fairdale, authorities said. Another 50 buildings
were hit in nearby Rochelle.
All buildings have been searched,
but not all residents have been accounted for, so cadaver dogs are being
used in parts of DeKalb County, the Illinois State Police said late
Friday.
The tornado blew numerous vehicles from nearby
interstates, and troopers helped rescue a trapped driver in an
overturned semi-trailer.
One of the tornadoes also struck the Summerfield Zoo in the city of Belvidere, killing an emu and a black swan.
As the cleanup began, tales of survival continued to emerge.
(MORE: Storm Destroys Zoo, 2 Animals Killed)
Kelly
Newman, 46, lost her Rochelle home. For her, the storm began with a
moment of playful wonder at the size of the hail. She ran outside to
collect some of the pieces to put it in the freezer to show her
children.
"Then I noticed to the southwest there was a huge black
funnel thing, but it didn't look like a tornado because it was just way
too wide," she said.
But the telltale train-like roar sent them
and their 19-year-old daughter running for the basement. The house
cracked and collapsed around them, raining down debris and a dusting of
what she described as "muddy soot."
The family survived, and
several police officers helped free her husband, who had been trapped
nearly upside down between two collapsed walls.
"We're alive, we were spared. Our lives were saved," she said.
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