Tornado cleanup begins in Fairdale, Rochelle
FAIRDALE, Ill. (WLS) -- Cleanup has begun in Fairdale and Rochelle after an EF-4 tornado ripped a deadly path through the towns.
FAIRDALE
Residents returned to assess the damage to their homes and town Saturday. ComEd crews have also been in the area to assess the damage.
Saturday night police let camera crews get a closer look at the devastation and what's left after Thursday night's tornado.
When the first responders arrived, they didn't know where the streets were or where the houses once stood.
Geri Hopper's home was one of those leveled. She got banged around shielding her elderly mother in the basement and she has a broken orbital bone to prove it.
"For one fleeting moment I thought I could die here. Just for a moment. There was no fear," Hopper said. "I don't know how we survived."
Hopper found her purse and IDs Saturday. She and other residents were allowed back in to recover what they could.
Susan Meyer's home still has some structure, but it won't survive. She did.
"I need to salvage what I can, do what I can do and get the job done," she said.
Brown and Main streets in Fairdale is where the bodies of Jackie Klosa, 69, and Geraldine Schultz, 67, were found. They were next door neighbors. Klosa had hidden in her bathtub. Schultz had posed just two weeks ago for this picture with her grandson.
Eleven people were injured and at least 70 buildings in Fairdale, a town that is just 12 square blocks, were destroyed when the EF-4 tornado touched down Thursday night.
Just down the road, dozens of volunteers are collecting food, clothing and money from people all over. It's nonstop.
"It's heartwarming," said Waterman fire volunteer Aaron Martin. "It brings tears of joy to you. Grown men cry."
The storm survivors have watched all this in thankful wonder.
"Why does it take disaster for people to treat each other well? Why?" Hopper asked.
Search crews completed their work Friday, and everyone else in town has been accounted for. Residents now are re-entering their community, trying to salvage any photos, personal mementos and any other pieces of their lives they can find.
Volunteers from neighboring communities are being assembled to make their way out Fairdale to help with the cleanup and property recovery efforts. TWE, a warehousing company, has set up to be a donation collection site for anyone who wants to donate goods to the families of Fairdale and surrounding communities. They will transport supplies brought to their Elk Grove Village location to relief effort coordinators in Fairdale.
"They do have specific needs," says Jennifer Bunger of TWE. "They're looking for work gloves, flash lights, cleaning supplies laundry supplies, first aid kits. We can take full truckloads or little trucks, we're set up to take anything over there."
VIDEO: 150-year-old Rochelle farm ravaged by tornado
People in Rochelle are also cleaning up the damage inflicted Thursday night. Volunteers have been stopping by since the storm hit, offering any assistance they can.
The Red Cross has set up a command post at the Rochelle Township High School where they have collected goods such as cleaning supplies, food and water for displaced victims to come pick up if needed. The organization stresses that they are not accepting donations of goods at this time and encourage those wishing to help to donate monetarily instead.
Operation Blessing International, which is based out of Virginia, is working with the Ogle County government to organize volunteers to help with the cleanup effort. They are accepting volunteers in Rochelle on Saturday at their mobile command center at Jones and 8th and 9 a.m. Volunteers will be matched with homeowners in need.
All volunteers must be 18 years old, and must wear sturdy boots, long-sleeved shirts and jeans or other work pants. If volunteers have work gloves and/or wheelbarrows they should bring them. Several waves of volunteers will be sent out to Rochelle and Fairdale throughout the day.
VIDEO: Chopper 7HD tracks the tornado's path
KIRKLAND DEBRIS FOUND 35 MILES AWAY
In yet another view of just how powerful the tornadoes were that ripped through Illinois Thursday, a woman found debris from Kirkland about 35 miles northeast in Harvard.
Beau Hoffman found paychecks, a make-up bag and insulation in her yard.
She says she thought it might have been her own stuff at first until she noticed the address on some cancelled checks had Kirkland written on them.
STATE RESPONSE
Saturday afternoon, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner will be on the University of Illinois campus to take part in a service project to help the tornado victims. He has declared Ogle and DeKalb counties disaster areas, and toured the devastation Friday to thank first responders.
Governor Rauner says the state will do everything it can to help with cleanup, including sending state workers and equipment to the affected areas.
ComEd crews have restored nearly all power after Thursday's storms. More than 61,000 customers between Ogle and Winnebago counties were left in the dark. As of Saturday morning, 99 percent of them have power. More than 300 ComEd crews worked to restore service.
Financial help is needed most in the wake of the tornadoes. Rochelle officials say the town has been flooded with donations of food, water, blankets and clothing and are encouraging people to make monetary donations at rochellefoundation.org.
The Red Cross is also working to provide immediate relief and are asking for financial donations. They are also asking volunteers to stay out of the area for now. Donations can be made at RedCross.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.
Local relief funds in Washington, Ill., which itself was devastated by an EF-4 tornado in 2013, and Elgin have also been set up. Click here for a full list of places and ways to help the tornado victims.
