Tornadoes Rip Through Kankakee County
ST. ANNE, Ill. (CBS) -- Clean up crews were hard at work clearing away debris and salvaging whatever property they could in St. Anne. Garret Tordowski lost a lot of of material things to the storm but was feeling lucky, reports CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli.
"We're just glad we're all alive," said Tordowski.
The storm demolished a couple of buildings behind his house but left his home untouched.
"If that tornado had tracked one hundred yards further north it would have went right through our house," said Tordowski.
Bob Hoekstra owned the buildings that have now been reduced to rubble. He was amazed by the precision of the tornadoes path.
"It took trees probably within twenty feet of the lawn furniture and it didn't touch the lawn furniture," said Hoekstra.
After the storm left St. Anne it followed a Northerly path across these fields.
In Pembroke Township firefighters drove the streets sounding the alarm. Deborah Michniak watched it approach .
"All of a sudden we seen the tail come down and my husband said oh my god it's a tornado," said Deborah Michniak.
Seconds later it touched down flipping this semi and crushing this silo. These chickens now roam freely after their coop was blown away. And Zack Wielgus has to jump from his home now that the stairs are gone.
"It could have been a lot worse. But material things can be replaced. Lives, they can't," said Wielgus.
Mother nature actually did a bit of a parking job on this pickup truck. It was moved about five feet by the storm and was only stopped by this piling. It's what the owner says was one of the many strange things that happened in the storm.
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