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Thursday, April 9 marks the five-year anniversary of a tornado which devastated the unincorporated town of Fairdale in north DeKalb County. Daily Chronicle photographer Mark Busch visited unincorporated Fairdale Wednesday to recreate photos taken by photographer Danielle Guerra in 2015.
According to the National Weather Service, the EF-4 tornado on April 9, 2015 had maximum winds of 200 mph. The tornado began near Franklin Grove and traveled through the northwest side of Rochelle, across I-39, through Fairdale and ended south of Belvidere. It's the strongest tornado on record for both Ogle and DeKalb counties.
The tornado injured 22 people and cost the lives of two Fairdale residents: Geraldine Schultz, 67, and Jacklyn K. Klosa, 69. In the town with a population size of 150, 17 houses were leveled off of their foundations and almost all of the buildings in Fairdale sustained damage.
Read More: Fairdale five years later: residents share how town has rebuilt after devastating tornado in 2015