Residents Return To Fairdale Two Days After Tornado Ripped Through Town
(CBS) -- Residents of the town of Fairdale were escorted back to their homes Saturday, two days after an EF-4 tornado ripped through the town, killing two people.
The the fire department in the nearby town of Kirkland took residents back to Fairdale to take a look at the damage.
Fairdale was evacuated after Thursday's tornado, mainly because of a lack of electricity. Work crews CBS 2's Jeremy Ross that power is not expected to be back up and running to the impacted households through at least Monday.
The aftermath of the tornado is overwhelming for Doug Truran, and he's not alone.
"You want to cry man … every morning I wake up just brings tears to my eyes," he said. "It really does. It's hard."
The tornado damaged close to 70 homes in Fairdale, a town of about 200 people, less than 20 miles southeast of Rockford.
Two people were killed in the tornado, Geraldine Schultz, 67, and Jacklyn Klosa, 69 and more than a dozen others were injured.
Fairdale was evacuated after Thursday's tornadoes, mainly because of a lack of electricity. Close to 70 homes were damaged by the tornado,
People living in Rochelle returned to their homes Friday to begin the long road of rebuilding their homes. At least 30 homes in Rochelle were destroyed and 50 others sustained significant damage.
The National Weather Service says the EF-4 tornado packed 200 mile-per-hour winds and was a half-mile wide.
Governor Bruce Rauner declared Ogle and DeKalb counties disaster areas.
Both the Salvation Army and the Red Cross are providing relief to the areas hit by the tornado.
To donate to the Salvation Army, visit www.salarmychicago.org/donate, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY, or text the word SACHICAGO to 80888 to make a $10 donation.
To give to the Red Cross, visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.