Illinois families still picking up pieces in aftermath of tornado

Published: 2004-04-30

JOLIET, Ill. (CNS) -- Days after a tornado swept through the area April 20, Joliet resident Jeff Pritz was still not sure how much structural damage his Victorian-style home suffered but he felt sure of one thing, that his family was blessed. "We were fortunate nobody was hurt here," he said in an interview on his porch after days of backbreaking clean-up work. Dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans that were covered with dust, the husband and father of three wiped the sweat from the back of his neck and pondered his family's escape from a storm that brought down century-old homes and uprooted trees with trunks that measured more than two feet around. But he grew somber when he reflected on the storm's fatal consequences for residents of Utica, a small town 54 miles west of Joliet. Eight people died when the tornado flattened a tavern where they sought shelter.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .