Sycamore resident recounts being ‘in direct path’ of reported tornado touchdown

SYCAMORE - Scott Wetzel said Monday he and his wife, Megan, and seven of their nine children watched from their home as a tornado formed up a hill and came barreling towards them, swirling debris in its path.

Seconds later, the family had run down to the basement of its home in the 2200 block of Airport Road in unincorporated Sycamore. A reported tornado blew through shortly after.

“It’s pretty depressing. Everything we worked for eight years, building stuff, planting trees. They’re all torn up,” Wetzel said about 6:50 p.m. Monday night, minutes after an unconfirmed tornado roared through Airport Road and Illinois Route 64, leaving a wake of devastation in its path. DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies had the road blocked off Monday night as downed wires and debris scattered around in the storm’s wake.

“We watched it form,” Wetzel said. “It’s wild. We saw some stuff coming at us from the barns down the west of us, and we saw all this debris. We saw the sheet metal come off the roofs. Everything was going upward.”

Multiple tornado touchdowns reportedly were spotted near Clare, Malta, Sycamore and Fairdale in DeKalb County, the National Weather Service confirmed on Monday, though the confirmed number isn’t yet known. Sycamore received a lot of the tornado damage, according to local law enforcement, and portions of Airport Road are closed as a result.

“I’m pretty sure we were in the direct path,” Wetzel said of the reported tornado on Airport Road.

His father owns the farmhouse down the way, at 22709 Airport Road.

“His damage is way worse than mine,” Wetzel said.

His father wasn’t home at the time.

“And the neighbors got it bad,” Wetzel said. “They were building a house for themselves. They didn’t even launch it yet and it’s gone.”

While his home suffered less damage, Wetzel said his property bore the brunt of the wind and storm damage from the unconfirmed twister.

“My damage is property, barns, fences and trees,” Wetzel said. “Everything’s gone. My home did all right. The chimney got torn off the roof and there’s some holes in the house, but I mean, it’s a shelter. They’re going to have to turn the power off because the lines are down, but I think I still have power.”

[ VIDEO: Tornado damage pummels much of DeKalb County Monday ]

Wetzel said his family has lived in its Airport Road home for about eight years, and although the nine children are mostly grown up, they convinced their parents to relocate to the area to build a hobby farm.

“We had a bunch of kids, and then came out here,” he said. “The kids wanted to have animals, so we built barns and fences and started to raise animals. We were going to do a therapy farm with animals, and some things changed in life so we just decided to have a hobby farm.”

Luckily, Wetzel said, the animals fared better than much of the property. All were OK and accounted for, he said, even 15-year-old chocolate Labrador, Payton.

He said the family was watching the funnel cloud form from outside when it “started getting dangerous.”

“We ran in the basement,” Wetzel said. “I don’t remember it being loud but I just remember everybody trying to find a spot to go in. I told them to go in the corner. They were trying to hold the dogs down.”

Wetzel said he suspects the days ahead will need to be centered around cleanup.

“The fire and police departments are here. Everybody’s taking care of the big stuff,” he said, adding he’s never experienced a tornado before. ”I know that they come close, but I’d never seen one.”