Tornado survivors in Washington, Illinois have shifted their efforts from rebuilding their home to helping a community now picking up the pieces from Thursday’s deadly tornado.
The small town of Fairdale in DeKalb County was leveled by a tornado that left at least one person dead and several others injured.
The situation is one many in Washington are familiar with, having lived through the November 2013 tornadoes that devastated central Illinois.
“Having experienced and living through the F-4 Tornado in Washington, Illinois now is our time to give back to a community that is experiencing extensive tornado damage,” Jewel Ward wrote on a fundraising page to help Fairdale residents, “to a small communtiy [sic] that first gave to us, Fairdale, Illinois.”
The YouCaring page, which had raised almost $3,000 by Friday morning, looks to send funds to the Kirkland Lions Club, which the page says will distribute the funds to those in need.
The Fairdale twister killed 67-year-old Geradine M. Schultz and destroyed about a quarter of the town's homes. Roughly every structure in the town was damaged, Rockford Fire Department division Chief Matthew Knott added.
"This town is absolutely devastated by the tornado," Knott said.
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In 2013, seven people were killed when tornadoes swept across central Illinois. The tornadoes traveled up to 46.2 miles on the ground, leveled countless homes and injured more than 100 people.
“All of us remember what it was like in those first days of recovery and how important it is to get needed funds to those in need quickly,” Ward wrote. “If you can help, please do so now.”
