Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: News

Media Credit: John Moenster Jim Robertson's Toyota and Chevrolet dealership suffered major damage after a EF-1 tornado struck at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening.

Media Credit: John Moenster Friends of the Harmsen family clean up debris in front of their destroyed home in Lakeside Estates.

Slideshow can be found here: http://index.truman.edu/SlideShows/TornadoSlideshow

THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2009
10:24 P.M.

Randy Cowan pulled out of Jim Robertson's Toyota Chevrolet in his pick-up truck and drove toward Home Depot when his vehicle lifted off the street.

High winds almost immediately set the car dealership employee's car back onto the highway, and a slightly shaken Cowan continued to drive southbound, just moments before a tornado struck the building he just left.

An EF-1 tornado traveling from the west tore through the north side of Kirksville at 6 p.m. Wednesday. It shattered windows, broke light and telephone poles in half and ripped the roofs of more than 30 homes in its path. Two deaths were reported in Kirksville, and Sullivan County has confirmed one fatality.

"You know, you hear about Katrina and all its damage, but you never feel it until you actually see it in person or it happens to yourself," said Randy Henness, new car general sales manager at Jim Robertson's dealership.

The destruction to the dealership included 120 new cars and nearly the same amount of used cars, Henness said. The building itself also suffered major structural damage. Pieces of the roof, siding, metal and glass sprayed the lawn and lodged into and twisted around upright and overturned vehicles.

Clean-up crews from Ameren UE tackled the downed power lines Thursday, while friends and family worked to pick up debris and salvage their belongings from destroyed homes. Resident Roger Gillum's home only had pieces of its walls still standing. The home formerly sat next door to the dealership.

"[I] heard on the news that it was coming this way and went out in the backyard and looked west and seen and watched it 'til it got about a quarter mile away and decided to go to the basement," he said. "About a minute and a half later it [the house] was gone."

Gillum said plans to rebuild a house in the same location. He and his wife lived there for 15 years, and they were able to retrieve some personal belongings.

Other residents, including Truman faculty who live in Lakeside Estates, located across Highway 63 from the dealership, also will have to reconstruct. Mark Gambaiana, vice president for University advancement, moved into Lakeside Estates in 2004. The home shared he shared with his wife suffered roof and siding damage and some damage to the interior.

"You look 75 yards away, and our next-door neighbor's house has just been completely destroyed," he said. "The peculiarities of these things are just incredible. We found wood, pieces of two-by-four's, lodged in our lawn two feet in the ground that I could not budge."

Gambaiana lives across the street from Truman's track and field and cross country coach John Cochrane. He also neighbors Heidi Templeton, director of public relations, and Rob Tigner, associate professor of psychology, whose homes suffered major damage.

Interim President Darrell Krueger sent out an e-mail to faculty and staff Thursday afternoon noting that one additional administrator, registrar Melissa Rodman's home also suffered damage because of the storm.

Ameren UE reported more than 3,000 of their customers lost power after lines were knocked down in winds between 80 and 110 mph, according to a National Weather Service estimate. Ameren UE hopes to restore power to all customers by Friday, according to today's press release. Members of the Kirksville Police Department directed congested traffic Thursday as repair workers cleared lines of debris.

Volunteers from the Church of Nazarene set up a tent at the side of Highway 63, where they distributed food and water to the clean-up crews. Alex Roeglin, a senior at Kirksville High School, said the church holds a food drive every month, so they had plenty of supplies.

"We've just been trying to help people out because the men are working hard, and they're hungry," he said. "Then, when we have a chance to, we're helping out at some different places too."

Roeglin said he lives at the south end of Kirksville, and the tornado left his neighborhood unaffected.

"It could happen to my family, to anybody's family," he said. "We're just trying to do the best we can to help people get through this. It's really a tough time."

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