EF4 tornado demolishes 30 homes

By Vinde Wells

Editor

Clean-up efforts continue after an EF4 tornado packing 200 mph winds damaged 179 structures and demolished 30 homes in eastern Ogle County last week.

The tornado, which first touched down in Lee County west of Ashton, destroyed an estimated 30 homes county-wide April 9, most of them in a subdivision northwest of Flagg Center.

The twister then cut a northeasterly path through Ogle County to the small DeKalb County village of Fairdale where two women were killed and most homes devastated.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has determined the wedge-shaped tornado was a half-mile wide at times and was on the ground an estimated 39 miles before weakening as it entered Boone and McHenry Counties.

The storm also spawned at least four more funnels as it churned its way through northern Illinois, according to the NWS.

Next-door neighbors, Geraldine M. Schultz, 67, and Jacqueline Klosa, 69, both died in their homes in Fairdale, a town of about 150 people, when the tornado swept through at 7:15 p.m.

According to an NWS statement issued shortly after the storm, “Based on early findings, the tornado that tracked from near Rochelle to near Belvidere and impacted the community of Fairdale appears to have been a single long track tornado.”

Aerial surveys were done the following morning to assess damage and determine the storm’s exact track.

Ill. Gov. Bruce Rauner paid a visit to the most areas where the most damage occurred on Friday and declared Ogle and DeKalb Counties to be disaster areas.

Jennifer Thompson, Ogle County Emergency Management Agency Public Information Officer, said Tuesday that a dollar amount for the damage has yet to be determined.

Surveys have shown that 179 structures sustained damage from the storm, 30 of those completely destroyed, she said.

The Emergency Operations Center in downtown Rochelle was activated in the aftermath of the storm, she said, and would likely remain open for the remainder of this week.

The Red Cross set up a center for victims of the tornado shortly after the storm at Rochelle Township High School, and that also remains in operation.

Thompson said that the out-pouring of donations of food, household goods, and clothing has been so great that officials are no longer accepting anything but monetary contributions.

“We’ve filled several warehouses already,” she said.

Anyone wanting to donate is asked to make a financial contribution to the Rochelle Area Community Foundation at rochellefoundation.org.

Volunteer help is still needed for the clean-up effort, she said.

“We’re taking volunteers to help with clean-up with a push for this Saturday,” Thompson said.

In addition, a multi-agency resource center was set to open Wednesday at the Beacon on the

Green in Rochelle, to help storm victims replace lost documents.

Representatives from the Ogle County Clerk & Recorder’s Office, driver’s license facility, insurance companies, and utility companies with be among those on hand.

The storm, which may well be one for the record books, was well-predicted.

For several days in advance, weather forecasters had been calling for severe storms on Thursday afternoon and evening.

The NWS issued its first alert, a tornado watch for most of northern Illinois, around 2 p.m. on April 9. That watch was in effect until 11 p.m.

Storm sirens began going off in Rochelle about a half an hour before the first funnel was sighted west of Ashton.

The tornado destroyed homes in small subdivisions just east of Skare Road, less than a mile from Flagg Center.

Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle credited the advance warning with saving lives and serious injuries in Ogle County.

“There was significant warning time before it hit,” VanVickle said just hours after the tornado passed through the county.

VanVickle’s home was among those swept off their foundations in a subdivision near Flagg Center.

A weary VanVickle told a crowd of reporters Friday morning that “a handful” of residents suffered only minor injuries in the tornado that tore through the unincorporated area west of Rochelle.

After having worked around the clock, VanVickle said daylight observations indicated around 30 homes were “completely destroyed or uninhabitable.”

“It’s devastation,” VanVickle said at a 9 a.m. press conference outside the church at Flagg Center, just a mile or so up the road from where his house used to be. “My house is gone.”

VanVickle said his family was not at home when the storm struck shortly after 6:30 p.m. Thursday. His family dog escaped from the rubble.

His sister-in-law’s home across the street on East Kuehl Court was also destroyed.

After passing through that area, the tornado continued on its path of devastation, destroying farm buildings and rural homes along the way.

Diners and employees, as well as a couple of passing motorists, with just seconds to spare, took refuge in a storm cellar at Grubsteakers, a restaurant at the intersection of Ill. 64 and 251.

The twister smashed the restaurant and several homes east of it before moving on toward Fairdale.

In Ogle County, help was on its way by 7 p.m. from all over county and the surrounding area.

Ogle County’s MABAS 18 Technical Rescue Team (TRT) searched damaged buildings to free anyone trapped inside, while Ogle County Highway Department personnel and various township road commissioners worked to clear blocked roads.

VanVickle praised to efforts of emergency crews who came from across the area to help.

“Last night we had an outstanding response from every entity in northern Illinois — fire and police. They were all here,” he said.

The county’s temporary 911 center also successfully met the challenge, VanVickle said.

Telecommunicators had moved the previous week from the call center at the sheriff’s office in Oregon to the back-up center at the Rochelle Police Department while offices were relocated to the county’s brand new Public Safety Complex.

The move to the new building was completed Monday.

Hundreds of volunteers also poured into the area over the weekend to lend their time and expertise to help victims sift through wreckage and clean up debris.