By Joe Winter
Catholic Herald correspondent
Tornado cuts five-mile-long swath through Hammond
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Workers walk through debris from buildings destroyed by a tornado that touched down in Hammond June 11. People from throughout the area are helping with the cleanup effort. (Catholic Herald photo by Joe Winter) |
HAMMOND -- Cleanup has been quick because of the efforts of many groups of people after an F-2 tornado tore through the Hammond area on the afternoon of June 11.
About two dozen homes in a newer subdivision were damaged, but no one was injured even though none of the homes had basements, so residents hid out in their bathtubs or closets. There were a few horses on a neighboring farm that were injured and at least one needed to be put down.
The tornado hit quickly and made walls shake. It cut a five-mile swath that was more than 100-feet wide and ended just north of the village of Hammond, which has about 1,600 people. It even disrupted the golf outing of several people -Ð including three still on the course who hadn't yet made it into the clubhouse. They were quickly located and OK, despite many uprooted trees around them.
A home located across U.S. Highway 12 from the course was left untouched, although just about every tree around it was uprooted.
Officials at Immaculate Conception Church said that no one who is a parishioner lost a home. However, the initial estimated damage is $3.6 million, according to St. Croix County Emergency Management Director Jack Colvard. Initial indications were that government disaster aid would not be needed.
Firefighters from the Hammond station went door-to-door checking for injuries and gas leaks late that afternoon in The Meadows subdivision, which sits about 300 yards east of St. Croix Central High School. The school was skipped over by the tornado, as was a busy highway.
Firefighters from New Richmond, River Falls and the fire department for Roberts and Warren, Wis., assisted in searching area homes and outbuildings for damage, and inmates with the New Richmond-based Challenge Incarceration Program gave their aid. Trinity Lutheran Church, located just blocks from the development that was hit, donated meals and the Red Cross provided volunteers.
It took a day or so before officials at local utilities were able to give their all-clear so people could re-enter and assess what was lost.
From 2001 to 2003, BRW Development of Hammond built about seven of the twinhomes that were damaged, and members of the company helped clear the debris, said Steve Bouton, one of the owners, who lives in Glenwood City.
"We did it as volunteers. I was at home when I heard (news of) the tornado and I thought about the tenants, many of whom have become friends," Bouton said. "I was concerned."
Working with that crew to remove broken plywood, two-by-fours and concrete pieces by operating a backhoe was Craig Bakke, of Bakke Excavating of Baldwin, Wis. On Thursday, June 16, around the dinner hour, the men were focusing on an area surrounding a house that was one of the hardest hit and had a roof that was largely mangled. Bouton was scurrying around to deliver drinking water to crew members on this day, which was one of the warmest in the summer thus far. "We worked some long evenings," Bouton said, adding that they had been pulling those kind of shifts from the Saturday afternoon of the storm, to last Friday, June 17, when they finished clearing away debris. The concern of he and his workers was to get people back into most of the homes, and help them regain their sense of normalcy, as soon as possible. Some of the families had
been temporarily relocated to other homes in Hammond, and as far away as Hudson.
About 100 yards to the northeast, a Twin Cities company that works with insurance companies to repair damage set up a large tent at curbside of one of the damaged houses. They served brats, hamburgers, potato salad and chips to about two dozen people who had been helping with the cleanup. There was an area of about 10-by-25 feet under a tarp devoted to cooking with two large grills. There were three tables lined up to form a serving line.
Most of the workers were taking a break by sitting on an adjacent lawn with their makeshift suppers, while others continued in and out of a pair of houses that had much of their roofs covered with a thick blue tarp to prevent further damage from rain.
Many of the houses days earlier had shingles, lawn furniture, grills and siding spread throughout their yards.
An F-2 tornado (on a scale of five) produces winds between 113 and 157 mph.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2005