Tornado victim hopes to rebuild, though the ‘hits keep coming’

State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL)

Dec. 07--TAYLORVILLE -- After being struck by lightning in 2017, Steven Tirpak suffered another blow from a force beyond his control when the tornado that ravaged Taylorville destroyed his home Saturday.

Tirpak said no one was home when the tornado passed through Hewittville, the unincorporated community adjacent to the Christian County seat where he was living with his 5 1/2 -month-old daughter.

The single father said he is grateful he and his daughter are safe. They are staying with one of his aunts in nearby Stonington and depending on relatives for food and other necessities.

But Tirpak, who is estranged from both daughter Zayanna's mother and the mother of his other three children, said he is feeling the stress from personal and financial challenges only made worse by the EF-3 tornado that damaged more than 500 homes in the Taylorville area.

"How much more can a daddy take?" Tirpak said through tears. "I've always worked and provided for my family. I want to rebuild. That was a home I worked hard for."

However, Tirpak, a skilled laborer, said he doesn't know where he will get the money to replace the leveled home. He said he didn't have homeowners insurance because he couldn't afford it.

Tirpak said he plans to investigate potential assistance from a "Multi-Agency Resource Center" that will be open Friday and Saturday at Taylorville Christian Church, 1124 N. Webster St. The center will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

An online GoFundMe account that has been set up in his name listed about $2,300 in donations as of Thursday night. The fund can be reached bit.ly/StevenTirpak.

Tirpak said he hasn't felt well enough to work full time and has focused on odd jobs since the lightning strike in July 2017. It took place while he was working as a laborer to install a natural-gas pipeline in the state of Ohio, he said.

The lightning strike, for which he said he was treated and released, triggered chronic migraine headaches and memory issues that he hasn't addressed with medical specialists because he lacks health insurance.

He told The State Journal-Register that he will look into whether he can qualify for Medicaid.

Tirpak said he bought his home in Hewittville for $11,000 cash almost three years ago. He had saved the money from the years when he was making more money. He said he used to earn as much as $66,000 a year in various full-time jobs in Illinois and other states.

He was rehabbing the home and living with his daughter in recent months, he said. The two of them happened to be visiting his aunt in Stonington when the storm that preceded the tornado hit Taylorville, a community of about 11,000 people.

Tirpak saw the devastation when he drove back to Hewittville Saturday night. Several homes in the community were destroyed; many others sustained damage.

Blown away or remaining somewhere in the pile of rubble that used to be his home were wrecked appliances, clothes and cash from his jobs, Tirpak said. He has been back to the site a few times to salvage some materials.

When asked how he is dealing with the loss, he said: "I really don't know how I am dealing with it. Emotionally, it can be a mess. Physically, I'm not hurt."

Looking down at his daughter while feeding her with a bottle in his aunt's Stonington home, he said: "This right here means the world to me. She's a good baby. I don't even want to go back to the house because everything I have ... is gone."

He broke down as he continued: "I would like to rebuild and give this girl what she needs, what she deserves. She didn't ask to be brought into this world. She didn't ask for what's going on. ... God's got a plan. If it wasn't for this girl right here, it would have been bad."

Zayanna Tirpak's mother declined comment for this story.

Steven Tirpak said he hasn't led a perfect life but said he faced challenges growing up in Taylorville. He said his late father was an alcoholic and his mother is incarcerated on drug charges.

Tirpak said he had drug-abuse problems in the past and spent time in prison and a state-operated boot camp after he was convicted in 2005 on Christian County felony charges of possession with intent to deliver meth and domestic battery.

He said he has been off drugs and alcohol for several years.

Tirpak said he doesn't often see his three sons, 15-year-old twins and a 13-year-old, because of disagreements with their mother but tries to keep up on child support when he is working. A woman who said by phone that she is the boys' mother declined comment.

Tirpak said he misses his sons and is trying to carry on for his daughter's sake.

After the lightning strike, he said he has pursued workers compensation payments from his former employer, but the case remains pending.

Tirpak's cousin, Tomra Friesland, 36, of Taylorville, said she helped set up the GoFundMe account because Tirpak, an avid hunter and fisherman who is a hard worker, deserves the help.

"He would do it for everyone else," Friesland said. "He would be the first one to show up and lend a hand. I've seen it. I just think he needs a break right now. The hits just keep coming."

She said she set the GoFundMe goal of $15,000 to help her cousin rebuild.

So far, the only repair and rebuilding assistance available for tornado victims without homeowners insurance is through Missions for Taylorville, a not-for-profit organization that has received about $75,000 in donations so far for Christian County tornado relief.

The organization will hand out applications for grants Friday and Saturday and begin making decisions on assistance soon, according to the group's coordinator, Ed Legg. Applications also will be available at the Taylorville municipal building and Christian County clerk's office.

Tax-deductible donations to the cause can be made by mailing checks made out to Missions for Taylorville to the Taylorville city clerk's office at 115 N. Main St., Taylorville, IL 62568.

Taylorville-area residents without homeowners insurance eventually may qualify for state and federal assistance, according to Phil McCarty, the Morgan County emergency management director who is assisting Christian County officials.

He said officials haven't yet completed the damage assessments needed before the state and federal government can decide whether assistance for rebuilding will be available in the Taylorville area.

Contact Dean Olsen: [email protected], 788-1543, twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.

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