Tornado causes extensive damage to Oswego Township horse farm

Although a July 15 tornado caused significant damage to his horse farm on Roth Road in Oswego Township, owner Bruce Grider realizes it could have been worse.

For one thing, he is glad no horses were injured in the storm. Grider and his wife, Linda, own Valley View Farm, where the couple raises Standardbred racehorses and also take care of retired horses.

Currently, there are 40 horses at Valley View Farm.

“During a storm, the first thing I think of are the horses and the animals outside,” he said. “Some are mine, but most of them belong to other people and I want to make sure that they’re always safe. That’s why we do what we love out here.”

The couple has raised numerous world champion horses. They have lived on the farm since 1986.

A July 15 wind storm produced widespread wind damage and numerous tornadoes. The National Weather Service has confirmed two tornadoes passed through the area – a EF-1 tornado with estimated peak winds at 100 mph that went from Yorkville to south Naperville along with a EF-0 tornado with estimated peak winds of 85 mph that went from Sugar Grove to North Aurora.

The Kendall County Emergency Management Agency is urging residents and small businesses affected by the storm to fill out an online form at https://bit.ly/KendallDamageAssessment. The form will help to determine state and/or federal disaster assistance for direct relief for individuals, homeowners and small businesses.

“Some are mine, but most of them belong to other people and I want to make sure that they’re always safe. That’s why we do what we love out here.”

—  Bruce Grider, owner Valley View Farm

After hearing a tornado siren go off, the couple immediately headed to the basement of their house. They felt the basement would provide them with good shelter.

“The original part of our house was built in 1898 and the basement is literally built out of stone,” he said.

Outside, the storm was causing havoc.

“We could hear things hitting the house,” Grider said. “And then we heard this huge thud, which was the 50-foot evergreen tree that actually hit the roof over our deck. And then it bounced off and hit the ground.”

One of the walls on the hay barn also was severely damaged and the storm knocked over a good share of fencing around the farm. They plan to work on repairing the rest of the fencing in the next few days.

The storm caused the most amount of damage to the farm that the couple has ever seen.

But he is happy their house didn’t sustain even more damage.

“We’re lucky it didn’t take the house down,” Grider said.

This isn’t the first time Grider has had to take shelter during a storm. In August 1990, Grider laid face down in a culvert in front of his property after seeing a tornado coming his way.

“I could see it at a distance coming,” he said. “There was rain and wind and all that and then it was gone really quick.”

The 1990 Plainfield tornado killed 29 people and is the only F-5 tornado to strike in the Chicago area. Fortunately, the farm wasn’t damaged in that storm.

“We’ve had other wind storms come through here that had knocked down just some branches,” Grider said. “But this by far was the worst damage that we’ve ever experienced.”