Man reunited with dog after losing wife, home in tornado
As more than 1,000 volunteers helped the residents of two northern Illinois communities hit by tornadoes last week clear away debris, there was one bit of good news: a family was reunited with their missing dog.
Clem Schultz, whose wife, Geraldine Schultz, was one of the two people killed, was reunited with their dog, Missy, on Saturday after a ComEd worker spotted the animal in a field.
A Facebook page called "Fairdale and Rochelle Illinois Pet Recovery" was created in the hopes of reuniting families with their pets that may have run off when the tornadoes hit.
After the tornado hit, Clem Schultz told the Chicago Tribune that he dug himself out of the rubble but was told his wife had been killed.
"I felt for a pulse and there was no pulse," Schultz told the Tribune. "The propane was hissing and they wanted to get me out of there before something blew up. I had to leave her behind but I knew there wasn't anything I could do for her."
Schultz's grandson Tyler Rowan told CBS affiliate WIFR that he arrived at the house just after the tornado had struck.
"Everyone knew my grandma," Rowan told WIFR. "We're all just taking it in our own ways. Anything that we can find of hers we're just trying to split up evenly, so that we have memories of her. Pictures, blankets that she made for us, and she loved to knit for us and make us stuff."
Schultz's neighbor and close friend, 69-year-old Jacklyn Klosa, was also killed in the tornado.
Sue Meyer told the AP that Schultz was known as "Geri" to friends and was kind-hearted and gentle. She would drive Klosa to clinics for medical treatment.
So many volunteers descended on Fairdale and Rochelle on Saturday, including some from out of state, that organizers had to rush to make more of the applications volunteers were required to complete.
"The incident itself is overwhelming," said Ogle County Sheriff Brian Van Vickle, whose house in Rochelle was among those destroyed during Thursday's storms, which spawned eight tornadoes in northern and central Illinois.
Among the volunteers were some who brought dogs to comfort those whose lives were upended by the twisters, including the powerful EF4 tornado that Fairdale, where two people were killed and 22 others were injured.
Ashley Yoder, who traveled from Cincinnati to help, said she hoped that by clearing away debris, she'd make things easier on the residents of the affected communities.
"Let's face it, these people lost everything, and now they have to clean up," Yoder said.
Most of the damage from Thursday's storms was in Rochelle and Fairdale, where a total of about 120 buildings were damaged or destroyed.