PEORIA MAGAZINE November 2023

S P O T L I G H T 11-17-2013

A neighborhood in the Devonshire subdivision of Washington after the November 2013 tornado tore through

On that fateful day, an EF-4 tornado struck central Illinois, and 10 years later, survivors recount the harrowing tale BY PAM TOMKA PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON J essica Uftring and her sons headed to church that morning while her husband, Grant, stayed home to get ready for the Bears game later that day. When he saw the funnel cloud off to the west, he ran to the basement, hovering under the couch he had flipped over. After he heard what sounded like a train and debris hitting their house, all went quiet. He came to the stairs and saw daylight above. Not a wall was standing. Their car had been blown up against the neighbor’s house. The next time Jessica saw Grant, he was standing at the back of the church soaking wet in just his sweats and stocking feet. He had just run more than two miles to get to his family.

As he hugged his wife and sons, Jessica said she wanted to go home. Grant responded: “Jess, we don’t have a home. Our house is gone, our neighborhood is gone, half the town is gone.” Stories like this one happened many times that eventful day, Nov. 17, 2013. Despite the tragic evidence that lay all around them, many residents of Washington found themselves saying how lucky they felt. There were only three deaths as a result of the EF-4 tornado, which at one point reached a half-mile wide, even though 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed along with seven businesses, seven apartment buildings and 2,500 vehicles. There were several communities in the area that were affected, including Pekin and East Peoria, but Washington took the brunt of the damage that fateful Sunday. Ten years later, Brian Gorsich claims that multiple sclerosis saved his life that day. He was in bed resting and his wife was at work. As he looked out his bedroom window facing east, he saw clear sky but could hear the wind. As he slowly made his way to the front of the house, he was picked up and tossed around in the hallway. He woke up to blue sky overhead. The next day, a man in a yellow safety vest came along with about 50 people to “pick up the pieces of our lives,” recalled

Gorsich, who gives a great deal of credit to the many faith-based organizations from all over the country that came to help. “I had people from New Jersey and California in my yard.” RESPONDING TO THE UNPRECEDENTED The angels of mercy were many. Team Rubicon, a national non-profit, came prepared to do demolitions and remove debris. Caterpillar, Inc. provided many of the machines its volunteers used. The Salvation Army and American Red Cross were ever-present. Financial support came from the Chicago Bears. Musical groups Styx and REO Speedwagon, as well as many restaurants, businesses and big corporations such as Nissan all stepped up. Gary Manier, then as now the mayor of Washington, recalls seeing Peoria Police officers in town as he made his way to City Hall that day. He later found out that Peoria City Mayor Jim Ardis had sent them. The home of Ardis’s mother-in-law had been destroyed. As he arrived at her home following the storm, he found her sitting next to the front door, which was attached to the only wall in the house left standing. During that first post-tornado week, the city hosted three meetings daily at a

38 NOVEMBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE

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