Returning to normal

The yards have been cleared of debris. The gutters and windows have been replaced. Vehicles have been repaired.

Life is finally getting back to normal a year after a tornado tore through Gage County last April 15, the eve of Easter, but it took months, money and labor to make it happen.

But what two families affected by the storm came out of the experience with is an appreciation of their neighbors and volunteers who gave of their time to help their fellow man in a time of need.

Gary and Annette Wiese lost two chicken houses as well as some other damage to their farm, located four miles east and two miles north of Beatrice. Luckily, they had sent 86,000 broilers to Tecumseh's MBA Poultry only a few days before, four days before they usually are, so it was just the buildings affected.

However, Annette Wiese said it took several months for the couple to decide to rebuild.

“It took six months of do we or don't we,” she said.

If they still had kids in college, they would have rebuilt to the same level they had before, but since it's just the two of them, they decided to scale back from buildings which could hold 88,000 broilers to buildings holding 56,000.

The new chicken houses were completed in November and are now holding the third batch of chickens since the new construction.

The Wieses also lost a machine shed.

She said everyone she had talked to was wary of what their insurance company was going to do, but even though the Wieses had just switched companies, it came through for them.

“Our insurance just switched six months prior,” Wiese said. “Four days after we had a check for it.”

Although they could have used more money to replace what they needed to, she said it made it so much more manageable to have that money so fast.

She felt bad for her son, whose new semi and two pickups were totaled, but the pickups ended up being repaired. A new pickup was in the machine shed and the older one was put in the chicken house to keep it out of the hail. Then the tornado hit the chicken house.

Wiese has a great sense of humor about the tornado, despite the damage.

“Be careful what you wish for,” she said.

A week before, there was a storm with 80 mph winds that went through the area of her church, Zion Lutheran, and the Adams area and as she and Gary went to check on the church to make sure everything was OK, “I said I would take a tornado hitting our house rather than our church,” she told him. Famous last words, because it did just that a week later.

But she won't go back on what she told her husband.

“I said I'd stand by that still,” Wiese said.

To thank all of the volunteers who came out to help the Wieses and other families in their area, six of the couples are holding a barbecue tonight with the cash donations received to help them out after the tornado.

Wiese said she plans to make cheesy potatoes to feed 400 people. The couples are planning to wear T-shirts that say, “thanks to you we survived 2006,” with a tornado graphic.

“I put on the invitations that we're planning on better weather than last year,” she laughed.

“You really have a lot of appreciation,” she said. “I'm totally amazed at how many people helped.” She estimated there were between 150 and 200 people showing up on Easter to help out. And for that, she's grateful. “We have a wonderful community,” she said. “There's not enough good you can say. I'm sure everybody from the Hallam tornado feels the same way.”

There were about seven or eight farms affected in her area.

“Every one of them had volunteers on Easter Sunday,” she said.

Jim McPheron and Shirley Roebke, who live one mile south of the Beatrice Country Club and two and a half miles east, also had their share of volunteer helpers.

“I guess a lot of it is the support of so many friends and family members, strangers and neighbors,” Roebke said.

She was overwhelmed with the outpouring of support. She estimates they had 50 or 60 volunteers on their farm on the Monday following the storm.

People brought food and their labor.

“People were offering everything they could,” she said.

A friend offered the use of her vehicle until the couple could repair theirs. Stock car crews helped round up the goats and sheep that were wandering the farm. All but a goat kid survived. That baby died on Monday following the storm.

“It seemed fine that night,” she said, but she speculated it must have had internal injuries.

They had to replace a 50x70 foot machine shed and its contents including a riding lawn mower, push mower and a tiller, to the tune of between $4,000 and $5,000. Their Durango and a truck were totaled but the truck was repaired. Windows in the house were blown out and the couple had to live with dust blowing in around the plywood in the windows for several months before they could have the windows replaced.

The roof on the house, as well as on the shed and garage had to be replaced. Gutters and downspouts were also replaced.

“There was a lot of cleanup,” Roebke said. “There was so much debris on the walls, leaves and twigs.”

Their windmill became a tourist attraction.

“It took the windmill, which is highly unusual,” she said. “A lot of people took pictures.”

The tree line was completely ruined, the tornado taking out more than 100 trees.

Still to be done - exterior painting.

The couple had a scaled down Easter dinner the day after the storm, but making sure to keep clear of the glass that was blown in onto their floor.

Easter was a bit different this year.

“My daughter-in-law said she was thankful we didn't have a tornado this year,” Roebke said.

“We had a lot of frustrating times,” she said, including trying to get contractors to come out with all of the other tornado repairs and other construction projects going on at the same time.

Recovery was quick for the couple's lab Jessi, who took refuge in the window well as the storm went through.

“A lot of people wanted to take her home,” Roebke said.

They haven't noticed any difference in her demeanor - she's just as friendly as ever and doesn't get scared when a storm comes through. However, it's different for her poodle friend Jasper, who was hiding in the basement with McPheron and Roebke during the storm.

“Anytime a storm comes up it really bothers him,” she said, especially when there's lightning and thunder. He has to stay right next to the couple during a storm.

Both families are thankful the tornado only destroyed property and not lives.

“We're thankful of that,” Roebke said. “It took some time to recover, but we're thankful no one was injured.

“A lot of things can be replaced but people can't be replaced.”