A basement is supposed to be the best shelter in a tornado. Butfor eight people in Downstate Utica, the cellar of the Milestone Tapwas not good enough.
"It should have been the safe place. But it wasn't," said UticaMayor Fred Esmond, who watched Wednesday as Utica residents -- aidedby workers from Chicago and the suburbs -- tried to put their town,and their lives, back together after the worst twister strike inIllinois in a decade.
Miraculously, nine did survive in the basement of the century-oldMilestone, which collapsed after its roof was ripped off by a tornadoand its sandstone walls gave way.
The National Weather Service rated Tuesday night's tornado an F-3, meaning wind speeds were between 158 and 206 mph.
The Milestone was a cowboy-themed place where kids could munchburgers while their parents sipped beer and jawed over small- towndoings. It was also considered a haven from storms by some residentsof a nearby trailer park, who rushed there after hearing tornadosirens Tuesday night.
"If you weren't in just the right spot, you pretty much didn'thave a chance," said Esmond, whose town of 1,000 is about 90 milessouthwest of Chicago near the popular Starved Rock State Park.
Richard Little was in the right spot and got that chance.
The 37-year-old truck driver was in the bar Tuesday night, and heran to the basement with the other patrons as the sirens went off. Hecredits a freezer and fallen wood for saving him from being crushed.
"I was awake for the whole thing. It sounded like a cross betweena freight train and a jet engine, like a high-pitched scream," saidLittle, who was hospitalized with an arm injury. "It sounded like theplace exploded, like a bomb had gone off."
Greg Simms, 20, who lives near the Milestone, raced to the tavernshortly after it was destroyed by the tornado.
"Underneath the building you could hear people knocking andyelling that they were in there. I saw one person come out, about 14[years old.]. He stuck his hands up, the fireman pulled him out andhe walked away to the ambulance," Simms said.
Four people were listed in good condition Wednesday night atIllinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru.
Those killed ranged in age from 18 to 81. The last body wasremoved from the rubble Wednesday.
Josh Cain, 25, an ironworker who helped clear the debris from theMilestone, said one dead body was found on the first-floor of thethree-story building and the others were huddled in the center of thebasement.
"It looked like they were sitting down and everything fell onthem," Cain said. "The center beam gave out, and the post wentthrough the floor and it caved right in the middle. If they had justgotten 10 feet over against the wall, they'd be fine."
Utica suffered the worst of a series of tornadoes that churnedfrom Nebraska to Indiana and caused millions of dollars in damage inJoliet.
The tornado kicked Utica's downtown around like a kid in a tempertantrum.
A little red wagon was wrapped around a tree stripped of all butits thickest branches. Pants, shirts and socks were strewn about, andat the local elementary school, a basketball net and its thick steelstanchion was yanked from the ground and hurled 20 feet. Pickups werecrushed by falling trees and cars were surrounded by the shards ofblown-out windshields.
The trunk of one vehicle was peeled back like a half-open tuna canand a metal grain tower, dented in its center, slumped wearilyforward. One house, with its back wall missing, revealed a kitchen,compete with ceramic jars still sitting undisturbed on their shelves.
Utica resident John Devore had just seconds to rush his family tothe basement of their home and then look outside.
"It was like my brain wasn't comprehending what my eyes wereseeing. I said, 'Well, it looks like the car's OK,' and then, a splitsecond later, 'Wait a minute, I'm not supposed to be able to see mycar. Where the hell's my garage?' "
Most of the tornado touchdowns were in LaSalle County. Other townshit included LaSalle, Peru and Oglesby. Granville, in Putnam County,saw 30 homes suffer major damage and another 30 with minor damages.
Gov. Blagojevich declared the area a disaster area, making iteligible for state assistance. He called the damage "a reminder ofhow uncertain [life] is."
The tornado that hit Utica was the deadliest in Illinois since1990, when 29 people were killed in Plainfield, said a spokesman forthe National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Contributing: AP, Art Golab
THE TOLL IN UTICA
Eight people were killed Tuesday in tornadoes spawned from violentspring storms. All the victims were seeking shelter at the MilestoneTap in Utica, but the destruction was felt from Nebraska to Indianawith more than 50 tornadoes, hail and strong winds reported:
u JOLIET: One home destroyed, store roof collapsed
u GRANVILLE: About 60 homes damaged
u JAMESTOWN, IND.: Tractor-trailers blown off the road
u KOKOMO, IND.: Roof torn off skating rink
Sources: National Weather Service, National Severe StormsLaboratory, staff reports
tornado blitz Locations of tornado strikes in Tuesday's storms:
TIME (P.M.) LOCATION (COUNTY)
2:00 Tuscola (Douglas)
2:10 Pesotum (Champaign)
2:32 Philo (Champaign)
5:14 Camp Grove (Marshall)
5:21 Henry (Marshall)
5:40 Victoria (Knox)
5:47 Granville (Putnam)
5:58 LaSalle (LaSalle)
6:03 Oglesby (LaSalle)
6:09 Peru (LaSalle)
6:12 LaSalle (LaSalle)
6:20 Ottawa (LaSalle)
6:48 North Utica (LaSalle)
6:48 Ottawa (LaSalle)
6:52 Seneca (Grundy)
6:52 Marseilles (LaSalle)
7:00 Paxton (Ford)
7:00 Sheridan (LaSalle)
7:05 Paxton (Ford)
7:05 Utica (LaSalle)
7:24 Gilman (Iroquois)
7:25 Sheridan (LaSalle)
7:26 Fairmont (Vermilion)
7:27 Channahon (Will)
7:32 Minooka (Will)
7:38 Kankakee (Kankakee)
7:40 Piper City (Ford)
7:45 Joliet (Will)
8:06 Ottawa (LaSalle)
Illinois' deadliest tornadoes
DATE LOCATION DEATHS
March 1925 Southern Illinois 613
May 1896 East St. Louis 118
May 1917 Mattoon, Charleston 101
March 1948 Bunker Hill 33 DATE LOCATION DEATHS
April 1967 Oak Lawn 33
August 1990 Plainfield 29
April 1967 Belvidere 24
March 1896 St. Clair County 24
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