Even 10 years later, images are still vivid of Streator tornado

I still have dreams that put me back to June 5, 2010.

That night, a tornado hit Streator, causing damage in an almost straight west-to-east line from Engle Lane Theatre to Southside Diamond.

I was at my brother’s house on Livingston Street across from Bodznick Park with my wife, Julie, who also worked at The Times, when the sirens blared. The wind barely picked up, and several minutes went by when we believed we were in the clear.

That’s when I received a text message from then-associate editor Tammie Sloup saying: “A tornado hit Streator.”

Almost simultaneously, I started to hear a chorus of fire engines and ambulances.

Julie and I followed the sound only a couple blocks south on Powell Street to Charles Street, where downed power lines created a barrier nearby. Several emergency vehicles had started to set up a triage at Southside. Officers were not letting us too far beyond Charles Street.

Storm lights shone on two houses that were ravaged. Neighbors were outside, accounting for loved ones. It was hard to make out the damage beyond – it was pitch dark, except for flashing emergency lights.

Trying to assess how widespread the damage was, we headed west on Lundy Street, parked there, then walked south on Vermillion Street. As we walked closer to Oakland Park, we were met by just a few flashing lights this time and residents coming out of their houses to ask if everyone was OK.

Again, I have flashbacks to the dark setting and the flashes of emergency lights putting spotlights on some of the downed poles and wires.

All the while, we were sending text messages back to Tammie, and she was posting updates of what I was seeing on The Times Facebook page, which at the time was still pretty new. We wanted to let the community know who was OK. How was St. Mary’s Hospital? How was Oakland Park School?

After hearing Engle Lane was hit, we drove out there, but there was no way to get beyond the wooded area just south of Kimes School because a large utility pole was covering the street.

We had made visits to the former St. Mary’s Hospital to assess the injuries – and to the former St. Stephen Parish Hall, which no longer exists, where a temporary shelter was set up.

The next morning brought with it its own set of imagery.

Now getting a chance to walk down Hall Street and James Street in the daylight, it appeared Mother Nature was an unsupervised 3-year-old that threw a tantrum – power lines, tree branches, telephone poles, house siding, insulation, it was everywhere.

But time passed.

The next few weeks, the community pulled together for cleanup. I remember even covering inmates from Pontiac Correctional Center pitching in with the effort.

Then months passed, and the rebuilding began.

Patrick and Karen Smith had to demolish the house that was in Patrick’s family for 113 years, and rebuild.

Bill Edwards, on Hall Street, literally had the walls of the house he grew up in fall in front of him, but he saw a silver lining that he and most others were able to build better houses than before.

Diane and Doug Oldenburg’s brick house was one of two that survived on the south side of Hall Street. Diane was excited to see her pond, which was covered in debris in the aftermath, come back to new life.

Engle Lane and Southside each built new facilities.

In some ways, it feels like it’s been more than 10 years ago since the tornado hit Streator, but then again, the images still are so vivid, it feels like yesterday.

And there are the periodic dreams that keep those images fresh – but it’s not a nightmare. I know the ending to this story. Nobody died. Some beloved buildings were lost. Much of it was rebuilt. And the community came together for each other like it always does.