Tornado destroys homes in Van Buren

By Rusty Ebert, Ledger correspondent

VAN BUREN COUNTY - A rural Keosauqua man and his dog narrowly escaped a tornado that swept across the southern part of Van Buren County on Memorial Day.

The tornado leveled a home and a cabin along Jersey Avenue and damaged other properties near Highway 2. Fortunately, no injuries were reported from the Tornado, determined to be an EF-3, by the National Weather Service. The storm packed a big punch as winds of up to 140 miles per hour were estimated by the NWS.

The home of Jessie and Corinne Hoover, who live on Jersey Avenue south of Lake Sugema, was lifted off its foundation. According to friends, the Hoovers and their four girls were visiting Corinne's parents when the tornado struck.

Across the road from the Hoovers, a cabin owned by Rick and Sherry Ogren, Lone Tree, was leveled. The Ogrens were not at the cabin at the time.

Doug Zollars lives south of Keosauqua and was at home when the tornado struck.

Zollars was on his back porch following the weather warnings on his phone.

He explained what happened next: 'It was deathly still outside, it started raining very hard really quick and almost simultaneously I started hearing what I can describe as a freight train. I opened the house door and hollered for my dog and we ran to the basement.”

'When we got to the bottom step, all of the windows on the porch/laundry room were sucked out along with all of our laundry and a lot more stuff,” Zollars continued. 'Had I been five seconds slower I would have gone, too. It was extremely loud and my ears were popping. It's a sound you will never forget.”

Zollars said a 30x30 barn was destroyed and showed photos of debris in his yard.

The tornado damaged property at the Betty Mitchell farm south of Center Chapel.

The National Weather Service said this about the tornado: 'A strong tornado touched down northeast of Cantril and continued east for 17 minutes for around 7.5 miles. The tornado was 100 yards at its widest. A house and a hunting cabin were destroyed early in its path. The damage to the house was estimated to be by 140 MPH winds. As the tornado moved east, outbuildings and trees were downed.”

Wayne Mast of the Cantril Fire Department said several fire departments, including Milton, Cantril, Bonaparte and Farmington, had spotters out. That's how the Hoover destruction was noticed.

Between 75 and 100 of Hoover's Mennonite church family were on the scene within hours helping with cleanup. A skid loader and backhoe were on the scene and the house and debris were piled in a subdued atmosphere. Friends and family were thankful no one was at home when the tornado lifted it off its foundation, but solemn at the thought of a family needing to rebuild.