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For John and Darlene Imhoff, harvest
this year was very different than it has been in their 18
years of their marriage.
The Imhoffs lost much of their farm to
a category F4 tornado that swept through their farm on July
13, 2004. They lost a barn, implement storage building, and
all the metal bins and a grain dryer from their grain
complex.
“We had to take all our grain to town
this year,” said Darlene Imhoff. “This isn’t something
we’ve done a lot of before, we’ve used mostly on-farm
storage, so the level of help we needed had to increase.”
The Imhoffs typically store up to ¾ of
their grain at harvest on their farm. With the damage to
their grain system, this year they hauled all their crop
into town. “We’re still rebuilding the grain storage
system,” said John Imhoff. “We could have gotten by with
one less man and truck by keeping it on farm, but this is
something we had to do.”
In years past, the grain dryer that
was demolished in the tornado would have allowed the Imhoffs
to harvest at all times of the day and night. “I think it’s
more work before and after harvest to store grain on farm,”
said John. “It’s an extra job to do, but one we’ve thought
made sense.”
The Imhoffs were also plagued with
debris in the field this harvest. John had two extra people
walking with the combine in most of his fields watching for
debris and picking it up. “There was mostly 2 inch by 4
inch boards in the field that were hard to see in the
stalks,” said John. “There are definitely things still in
the field. We’ll be picking up debris for the next couple
years.”
Parson’s Manufacturing Plant, about
1/4 mile east of the Imhoff’s farm, was completely destroyed
by the tornado. Debris from the metal plant scattered for
miles around in fields, and although neighbors and
volunteers worked for weeks to pick up the remnants of the
plant scattered in fields around, harvest was still delayed
considerably because of the continuing removal.
Coming Home
Darlene was on her way home from town when she heard on the
radio that a tornado had been spotted two miles north of
Metamora traveling east of Illinois Route 116. “We are 4
miles east of 116,” said Darlene. She called her children
and husband and told them to get in the basement
immediately.
A category F4 tornado is extremely
rare, according to state climatologist Jim Angel.
Historically, an F4 occurs during 2 percent of Illinois’
tornadoes in a season.
Angel noted that F4 tornados are rated
for the damage they cause. Because Parson’s Manufacturing
was leveled, this tornado qualified under the definition of
an F4 tornado, as one that caused “devastating damage of a
well-constructed building.” The National Weather Service
estimated this tornado’s speed at 260-270 miles per hour.
The Damage of an F4
Tornadoes in Illinois typically occur
between March and June, but according to Angel, this year’s
cooler temperatures contrasted with warm moist air later in
the season carried this year’s tornado season into the
summer. Recent tornadoes in southern Illinois this fall
brought the unofficial number of tornadoes reported in
Illinois for 2004 to 67, much lower than last year’s record
number of 120. “Although April–June is the typical tornado
season in Illinois, tornadoes actually occur in all months
of the year,” says Angel.
The Eureka/Roanoke tornado July 13 was
in Angel’s words, “remarkable”.
“The tornado was more powerful, yet
there were no severe injuries or deaths,” said Angel. “The
Utica tornado earlier this spring was a smaller tornado
(F3), yet several were killed. Usually an F4 tornado will
guarantee deaths or serious injuries.”
Angel credits Parson’s foresight in
installing tornado shelters in the building. He noted that
the National Weather Service has featured their catastrophe
in many materials this summer, crediting the company for
saving lives by installing these shelters.
The arrival of Help
“People just kept coming,” said
Darlene, recalling the hours after the tornado strike.
Emergency response organizations, police and firemen arrived
on the scene right away, and imposed strict restrictions on
access to the damaged area.
“I had to explain to them that it was
our place to be able to go to and from town,” she said.
“We’re incredibly grateful that no one
was hurt,” said Darlene. “God was definitely looking over
us. We’re so grateful to all the people who helped us, and
very appreciative of all the work they put into preparation
for a disaster, because everything worked incredibly well.”
The Imhoffs noted that in the days
that followed the tornado there was staff providing a myriad
of services. Crews were restoring power, securing buildings
and rubble. “It’s just amazing when you think of all the
man hours it took,” she said.
The damage
The family lives about 2 miles north
of where the tornado struck their farm, at an old family
homestead of John’s, where most of the equipment and
machinery were stored. The 100-year old house still
stands on the property, but was badly damaged. The barn,
estimated to be in similar age, was completely destroyed.
“We had no livestock, and the barn was
very old and in need of repair,” said Darlene. “But it was
a barn with lots of character.
The house, though still standing,
sustained some damage. Windows were blown out, there was
damage to the roof and siding, and the chimney was
destroyed. Repairs will begin soon.
Equipment storage on the farm is also
at a premium. One Quonset shed was destroyed, and all
equipment has been moved into another on the property. In
1986, a large implement shed on another farm was destroyed
by a different tornado. “We were limited from that storm,
now we’re limited more,” said Darlene. She indicated that
they were storing items for others in those sheds, but now
will have to move them out.
Fortunately, equipment inside the
sheds was not completely destroyed. The Imhoff’s combine
was usable for harvest, as was their semi truck. “We had
fine scratches on our combine,” said John. “The shed that
held our equipment remained standing, but a barn and Quonset
shed right next to that shed were completely destroyed. We
were very fortunate.”
Moving on
The Imhoffs also recall the crews
working on the grain bins the day of the tornado. A new
grain dryer was being installed on the Imhoff farm on July
13, and crews were just finishing so that it would be
operational within a week.
The crews saw the tornado coming while on top of the dryer
and hurried to find a camera and shoot photos of it.
However as the tornado approached, the crews scrambled to
seek shelter underneath the concrete grain bins.
”They were hanging on for their life underneath this
tunnel,” said Darlene. “I’m grateful they were ultimately
safe.” |
