Ten months after tornado, some Naperville residents are still working on their home repairs
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) -- As we prepare for active and possibly severe weather on Wednesday, some in the western suburbs are still cleaning up for tornadoes 10 months ago.
As CBS 2's Chris Tye reported Tuesday evening, some of those people hit by the tornado in Naperville, Woodridge, and other surrounding suburbs are still out of their homes.
Signs of last the tornadoes that walloped those suburbs late on the night of Sunday, June 20, 2021 is still visible all these months later - sofas on curbs, houses still wrapped up. The job of finishing up the repair work is still a ways off.
We wanted to know — why is it taking so long?
"That's a good question," said Mei Shen.
To answer it we came to the 1900 block of Nutmeg Lane in Naperville – where for much of the last 10 months, progress — like good concrete — has been gummed up.
Shen walked us through her new windows, ceilings, and garage.
Her home is not yet hospitable, but as an orange government sticker out front points out — it is considered habitable after the storms last June.
As they snapped trees, the winds that night blew out Shen's bathroom window as she was exiting the shower - trapping her in her bedroom.
"The window broke. I was hit by some pieces of glass," Shen said. "You don't have time to get scared."
Since that hectic night, things have slowed. There are three reasons why.
"First of all, I think the, the insurance took for a while," Shen said.
For some, that insurance means roofs just now going in.
"The second is about the supply chain," Shen said.
Now freed up, everything from lumber to roof tiles is finally arriving for installation. But that is leading to one final hiccup.
"Then when we got the materials, the contractors had a hard time finding the workers," Shen said.
The people, pieces, and parts are finally in place - as the perfect storm of stagnation moves itself away from Nutmeg Lane. More than a dozen homes on one block of the short residential street remained uninhabitable 10 months later.
Naperville City Hall said 200 homes were damaged last June, and 125 building permits were pulled to try to repair the homes. One house was unsalvageable.
