1990 Tornado

[The Ginger Kid]

I was just curious if any of you were connected to this tornado that happened 15 years ago. Some good friends of our family lost their home and the church we went to as kids was destroyed. Terrible day, to say the least.

 

15th Anniversary

[Iwritecode]

I don't think a tornado has touched down in the Rockford area in my lifetime. I've heard it's because we're in a bit of a valley compared to the surrounding area.

 

We've had a lot of T-storms that just miss us and hit the towns to the north or south as well.

[Steff]

We didn't know anyone at the time, but since moving out there we've met a ton of people that rebuilt after it. They have shown us some amazing pictures from the destruction.

[The Ginger Kid]

We didn't know anyone at the time, but since moving out there we've met a ton of people that rebuilt after it. They have shown us some amazing pictures from the destruction.

 

I'll bet it's scary. Have they had any tornados since you moved out there? I read somewhere that Plainfield is in this strange sort of anomoly zone where it's become a tornado alley.

[EvilJester99]

I remember going to HS that day and having it being cancelled due to our HS being a housing center for those involved in the tornado. So me and some friends went and checked out the damage...it was down right amazing how badly this tornado ripped through everything. It would have been hell to have actually have went through it. It was a prime example of the devastation mother nature has....

[Steff]

I'll bet it's scary. Have they had any tornados since you moved out there? I read somewhere that Plainfield is in this strange sort of anomoly zone where it's become a tornado alley.

 

 

Yea.. there was a minor one just this past June that touched down right in the middle of the road on 126 just south of route 59. It mess up trees and power lines there, luckily no one was hurt. At our house, just over 5 miles from that intersection, we had hail the size of baseballs which literally punched holes in the side of our house, busted through our solar pool cover, among other things.. and wind gusts so fast that it ripped the cover off our hot tub and tossed it across our back yard, between the neighbors houses, and rested it across the street in another neighbor's front yard. The thing weighs over 70 lbs.

 

As a matter of fact when we got home from work last night the contractors were just starting the siding repair.

 

We're about 4 miles from PHS where that one initially touched down and I don't think there's ever been one exactly where we are.. but we're close enough I'm sure.

[The Ginger Kid]

Yea.. there was a minor one just this past June that touched down right in the middle of the road on 126 just south of route 59. It mess up trees and power lines there, luckily no one was hurt. At our house, just over 5 miles from that intersection, we had hail the size of baseballs which literally punched holes in the side of our house, busted through our solar pool cover, among other things.. and wind gusts so fast that it ripped  the cover off our hot tub and tossed it across our back yard, between the neighbors houses, and rested it across the street in another neighbor's front yard. The thing weighs over 70 lbs.

 

As a matter of fact when we got home from work last night the contractors were just starting the siding repair.

 

We're about 4 miles from PHS where that one initially touched down and I don't think there's ever been one exactly where we are.. but we're close enough I'm sure.

 

I saw hail like that once in Texas. Unbelievable.

[Steff]

I saw hail like that once in Texas. Unbelievable.

 

 

 

After the storm we went outside.. it was piled up at the garage door and on the deck nearly a foot. Looked just like snow. And it was sunny and 70+ degrees out right after it all happened.

[Soxy]

My grandparents lived out there (on Caton Farm), so they were pretty close. I was going into third grade, school was delayed that year because there was some damage to our elementary school roof. I remember running home from a friend's house as (seriously) golf ball size hail came down and then sitting on my Nana's refrigorator in the basement watching a sapling tree being whipped around in the wind. To this day I'm always a little nervous when I hear the thunder.

 

I can't be sure, but I don't even remember the sirens going off until the storm had started. I felt like it struck with, literally, no warning.

 

A couple of my mom's friends' homes were destroyed, and my grandparents/cousin's church. I remember driving the 10 minutes to downtown Plainfield afterwards (to check on my grandparents and misc other relatives) it was absolutely unreal. Everytime I drive down there now I am ALWAYS reminded of the tornado. Such a different looking town, totally incredible.

[Steff]

My grandparents lived out there (on Caton Farm), so they were pretty close. I was going into third grade, school was delayed that year because there was some damage to our elementary school roof. I remember running home from a friend's house as (seriously) golf ball size hail came down and then sitting on my Nana's refrigorator in the basement watching a sapling tree being whipped around in the wind. To this day I'm always a little nervous when I hear the thunder.

 

I can't be sure, but I don't even remember the sirens going off until the storm had started. I felt like it struck with, literally, no warning.

 

A couple of my mom's friends' homes were destroyed, and my grandparents/cousin's church. I remember driving the 10 minutes to downtown Plainfield afterwards (to check on my grandparents and misc other relatives) it was absolutely unreal. Everytime I drive down there now I am ALWAYS reminded of the tornado. Such a different looking town, totally incredible.

 

 

The sirens didn't go off. It came out of nowhere, literally.

 

We live just about at the corner of Caton Farm and County Line Road now. Hopefully just enough off the "alley".

[EvilJester99]

Plainfield and Crest Hill were both destroyed by that tornado...it was such destruction it left you feeling helpless when you saw it. People in Plainfield are still freaked out to this day about that tornado. Which is understandable. My ex has family there and they always told me stories of what it was like going through it...amazing is all I can say about it.

[Soxy]

The sirens didn't go off. It came out of nowhere, literally.

 

We live just about at the corner of Caton Farm and County Line Road now. Hopefully just enough off the "alley".

Yep, I know exactly where that is. My grandparents were fine--and allegedly standing on their porch watching the whole thing. But, some friends lost their house. The most interesting story was one family had their entire house destroyed accept one wall and a china cabinet that was intact along with everything else in the cabinet. It was weird.

 

My mom also has some bricks from PHS--she graduated from there.

[Kyyle23]

I have family in Springfield, and we would drive through Plainfield on the way to Route 51 south. We went through Plainfield the week after the tornado hit. It looked like a ghost town. I vividly remember a church that had a unique structure on the top, a large sort of hook on top. After the tornado hit, it looked like someone removed the "hook", picked it up and set it down about 50 feet away. Mother Nature can really make us look small when she tries.

[Steff]

I have family in Springfield, and we would drive through Plainfield on the way to Route 51 south. We went through Plainfield the week after the tornado hit.  It looked like a ghost town.  I vividly remember a church that had a unique structure on the top, a large sort of hook on top. After the tornado hit, it looked like someone removed the "hook", picked it up and set it down about 50 feet away. Mother Nature can really make us look small when she tries.

 

 

 

That church is now a resturant called Bacci.

[Steff]

Yep, I know exactly where that is. My grandparents were fine--and allegedly standing on their porch watching the whole thing. But, some friends lost their house. The most interesting story was one family had their entire house destroyed accept one wall and a china cabinet that was intact along with everything else in the cabinet. It was weird.

 

My mom also has some bricks from PHS--she graduated from there.

 

 

Wow.. amazing. We've had 3 massive hail storms and every time I have run to the basement skeered out of my mind. The wind out there is fierce also. One of these days I'm sure we're going to come home and find the pool ripped out of the ground. When we first moved in, before there were houses on the other side of the lake, every day we would come home after a spring storm and all our patio furniture would have slid across the deck and be in the pool.

 

The last storm we had while we were in Boston the win blew my Sox flag away... perhaps God was telling me something..

[Soxy]

That church is now a resturant called Bacci.

Mmmmmmmm.

 

And there was another church destroyed, the one my grandma goes to. Further down on 59. St. Mary's or Mary Immaculate Something.

 

I tell you, though, that was the uglies church ever before it was destroyed. It looked like a dead elephant. I think that St. Mary's might be the one Kyyle is talking about.

[Steff]

Mmmmmmmm.

 

And there was another church destroyed, the one my grandma goes to. Further down on 59. St. Mary's or Mary Immaculate Something.

 

I tell you, though, that was the uglies church ever before it was destroyed. It looked like a dead elephant. I think that St. Mary's might be the one Kyyle is talking about.

 

 

 

You might be right. I know most of them had been turned because of structural issues that the church could not afford to be repaired and were sold to private people.

 

I think St Mary's is down 59 closer to the route 30 turn. And yes, it's ugly.

[Soxy]

You might be right. I know most of them had been turned because of structural issues that the church could not afford to be repaired and were sold to private people.

 

I think St Mary's is down 59 closer to the route 30 turn. And yes, it's ugly. 

Yeah, that's the one I'm thinking of. And it's waaaaaaaaay better now, actually. The tornado was the best thing that ever happened to that building (not the congregation of course, but the building itself). But the new inside is gorgeous, and the school is really nice too, the gym is gorgeous. The priests are bad, but it's pretty enough you can tune them out and look around.

[Kyyle23]

All i know, is it was shaped like a twinkie, with the strangest looking hook on top. It always stood out to me, and when it was nailed by the tornado I was amazed at what happened to it.

[The Ginger Kid]

All i know, is it was shaped like a twinkie, with the strangest looking hook on top. It always stood out to me, and when it was nailed by the tornado I was amazed at what happened to it.

 

Yep, that was St. Mary's, the church we used to go to, at Rt. 59 and Renwick Road, I believe. I lived down 59 in Shorewood, off Black Road.

 

And that church was pretty weird looking.

 

There's really nothing more frightening than a tornado. Even earthquakes, which hit without warning, come and go quickly (although they still freak me out). It seems the terror of a tornado starts when the sky turns that weird yellow/green color and you just know something bad's about to happen.

[Steff]

Yea.. it's just south of 30 and north of Renwick.

 

 

If the sky had turned the 29 people that died might have had a chance. From what people have told us it was raining and the sheets of rain literally blocked the view of the tornado. The thing was nearly a mile wide.. imagine that. 90+ friggin degrees at the end of August. That s*** just isn't supposed to happen.

[The Ginger Kid]

Yea.. it's just south of 30 and north of Renwick.

If the sky had turned the 29 people that died might have had a chance. From what people have told us it was raining and the sheets of rain literally blocked the view of the tornado. The thing was nearly a mile wide.. imagine that. 90+ friggin degrees at the end of August. That s*** just isn't supposed to happen. 

 

That is amazing. A mile wide?! That's old testament right there.

[Heads22]

If we're talking about massive twisters, back in 1968, May 15 was hell back in Oelwein. A twin twister hit the town, one F-1 and the other F-5. Only one person died, but looking at old pictures I have never seen a town destroyed like that. Winds over 300 MPH. 500 yards wide. 15 mile path.

 

Damn.