'We just thank God for being alive today' — Springfield remembers 2006 tornadoes 15 years later

Mar. 12—Something "troubled" Bishop Lowvell Ross about going back to his small church in the 2000 block of East Spruce Street for evening services on March 12, 2006.

Ross was at Pillar and Ground of the Truth Apostolic Church leading the usual Sunday morning service with a handful of parishioners earlier that day.

When others decided not to go to the church that evening, Ross also stayed behind at his home. On other occasions, even if there wasn't a Sunday service, Ross would make the short drive to the church by himself and pray.

"I believe in listening to the voice of the Lord," said Ross recently, standing in the front yard of his home. "A lot of times when we don't pay heed to the warnings, a lot of things can happen to us."

Like a lot of other people that night 15 years ago, Ross hunkered down in his home, taking heed of a tornado siren.

A short time after a second tornado had barreled through part of Springfield around 8:30 p.m., something else "troubled" Ross.

So he climbed into his truck and made his way as far as he could toward the church, negotiating downed power lines and branches. Ross finally had to get out of his truck because of the huge trees blocking Spruce Street.

"When I looked and didn't see the top of (the church), I knew it was gone," Ross said.

There were actually two tornadoes that touched down in the capital city 15 years ago Friday, damaging businesses, homes, radio towers and school buses.

It was part of a supercell that lasted an unheard of 18 hours, developing in northeast Oklahoma before finally dissipating in southern Michigan, said Ed Shimon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

The tornadoes caused 24 injuries in the area, including 19 in Springfield, but no fatalities. Most of the city was left without electrical power.

Records kept by the Sangamon County supervisor of assessments office and the Capital Township office indicate at the time that at least $7.5 million worth of property was lost.

For some people, like Dave and Jeannette Roberts, who lived next to Ross' demolished church on East Spruce Street, rebuilding their home was an ordeal.

A contractor left in the middle of the build, and it took almost a year before the couple was in their new home, which was, admittedly, "bigger and better," said Dave Roberts.

Bob Mathews said he knew right away that he was going to rebuild his North Street auto body shop "to continue the family operation." The business bears the name of his late father, Bill Mathews.

Lowvell Ross said he also thought about rebuilding the church, but soon afterward, the congregation dissipated and Ross caught on with another Bible-based congregation, Christway Apostolic Church, which he now pastors in Decatur.

Ross mused that the one thing he found standing in the aftermath was the pulpit, the one from which he preached every Sunday. Ross also salvaged a pair of ceramic praying hands and his study Bible.

"It's hard to believe it's been that long," Ross said of the 15-year anniversary. "We just thank God for being alive today and that I didn't get hurt in that building that night. I'm standing here today because of the mercy of the Lord."

Matt Huff was putting some finishing touches that day on the Panther Creek West home he and his then-fiancée were supposed to move into within a week, ahead of their May 20 wedding.

Huff, a lineman for City Water, Light and Power, got several calls from a friend who knew he was working on the home and was warning him about impending bad weather.

After the third call, Huff took the hint and headed, with his fiancée, to the basement, under a stairwell.

Huff recalled seeing rain coming in between where the house and the foundation met. Eventually heading outside, Huff admitted he had a sick feeling about what he might find. He had spent months building the house. It could be gone within a matter of moments.

Huff found little damage to his home. He checked on relatives who lived in the neighborhood.

Then Huff's boss called. Did he want come in to work?

"I said, 'Sure, what are the problems?' and he said, 'Everything. It's really bad,'" Huff recalled.

The drive into work was eerie because everything was dark, to the point where Huff missed his exit on the highway.

"I was pretty depressed about our brand new house and things I'd have to fix, and then I drove to work," Huff said. "When I got there, I was extremely thankful that I had a house. I felt so terrible for those people who had all that damage."

As Dana and Pat Kuster huddled with their 7-year-old grandson, Devin Leavell, in the bathroom of their home on Manchester Drive, Devin calmly asked if it was a tornado.

"The only thing you heard," remembered Dana Kuster, "was wood tearing away and glass breaking."

For Pat Kuster, it was the pink insulation "snowing down on us," she said. "I'm thinking, this is going to be one (heck) of a mess to clean up."

Jeannette Roberts was also huddled in her home that night. Her mother, daughter and granddaughter were all living with her then. Dave Roberts, who works for ADM, was between Indianapolis and Cincinnati on a long-distance haul bound for North Carolina.

"We couldn't get out the front door. We couldn't get out the back door. That's why I knew something major was messed up," Jeannette Roberts said.

It was hard reaching anybody, Roberts recalled. Once she did get outside, she found most of Ross' church "in my yard."

CWLP's Huff said he was first dispatched to an area around Southeast High School. The first order of business was to count the number of broken power poles.

When Huff's boss asked him how many there were, Huff replied, "all of them. It was endless.

"Everything was ruined. We would have to put up all new poles, all new wires, all new insulators, all new cross arms, transformers. You name it, because it ripped everything to shreds."

Huff has a bit of perspective. He spent time as part of a mutual assistance group working in municipalities across Ohio, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia as part of the 2011 Nor'easter.

For linemen in Springfield, Huff said, the 2006 tornadoes felt like an attack, like everything they worked for was gone in a matter of minutes.

"We had to fight back," he said, "and put it all back together."

In the end, Huff had just a few shingles and a piece of siding torn from the house he was building. After personally seeing some destruction up close, Huff admitted he had to eat "a bit of humble pie."

Huff's work with CWLP delayed the move into his home, but the May 20 wedding did go on as scheduled. Huff and his wife have two kids.

"That devastation," Huff admitted, "gets you on the inside and it makes you realize how thankful you are."

Bob Mathews got the call about the auto body shop from his sister and co-owner, Lisa Highley.

An employee who had been working at the shop that night and had escaped serious injury by clinging to an interior doorway called Highley to deliver the bad news.

"I couldn't tell you what went through my mind. I was just devastated," said Mathews, who got to the scene the next morning.

Mathews, who was just 15 when he started working at the shop and 21 when he became the manager after his father died in 1981, had to lay off all its workers at the time. The shop was down 18 months, Mathews said.

A majority of the workers, some of whom had gone to work for other body shops, came back, Mathews noted, a testament to their loyalty. Two employees who were with the shop in 2006 are still working there, he said.

The shop, which has been annexed into the city, nearly doubled in size physically to 30,000 square feet and Mathews added staff as it took on different work, like powder coating.

Mathews said he put "his personal design" on the rebuilding process.

Pat Kuster found that in the aftermath of a tornado "you're at everybody's mercy."

"You're the pawn on the chess board," she added. "They're telling you where you're going to go, where you're going to do it and how you're going to do it."

The couple ended up working with the same contractor, Mark Siegrist, who was putting on an addition at Pat Kuster's workplace, KM Hair Works & Spa.

Pat Kuster admitted she was befuddled by trying to find things like flooring and carpeting when there was no color scheme.

"You have no idea where to start," she said. "Everything is brand new."

One thing the couple insisted on: having better access to a crawl space. The builder installed an old-fashioned cellar door in the garage with a set of stairs leading to the crawl space.

Dave Roberts said, yes, the couple got a new home after the tornado, but "I wouldn't want to go through (the rebuilding) again."

Jeannette Roberts said their granddaughter, Bree Roberts, just moved out days ago, leaving the couple alone in the four-bedroom home.

Even in the new home, Jeannette Roberts recalled having to run to the back of the house when tornado sirens went off. She gets "a bit apprehensive" hearing the sirens other than when they are being tested.

The 2006 tornado left his granddaughter "terrified of storms," Dave Roberts admitted.

A neighbor was in the shower when the tornado hit. Everything fell on top of her, but she survived.

"She left and never came back," Roberts said. "Nobody knows where she went to. She left everything. It scared her to death."

The Rev. Roy Newman was on the Salvation Army advisory board when he walked areas of Springfield's east side damaged by the tornado, passing out meals.

It was a surreal experience, admitted Newman, the pastor of Fresh Visions Community Church, and the first time he had personally witnessed such destruction up close.

"Your heart goes out to the people and the hurt and the devastation they experienced," Newman said. "Considering there were no fatalities, that in and of itself was a miracle."

Sometimes, Newman gets the question of "Where is God in the midst of suffering and tragedy?"

"I see God as a compassionate father who cares for his children," Newman said. "While he doesn't stop every tragedy or devastating storm, he's still with us. While I don't proclaim to understand every detail why these occur and why in some cases lives are lost, we don't lose faith in God.

"It's not an, 'OK, I'm going to give up on God because he allowed my house to be destroyed by this tornado.' It's more trust in him in the process because houses can rebuilt. The hope is that people will draw closer to the Lord during this time and not shy away from him."

Bishop Lowvell Ross held congregation meetings in his house a few times after the tornado destroyed the church.

Ross admitted he didn't have insurance on the building, so it was a total loss.

"We were in the process of getting it all squared away," he said, "and I was going to do it that spring, but it caught me before I got to it. So we had a building with no insurance on it."

A local Church of God in Christ minister took away the bricks for Ross. The lot, where only the foundation remains, was sold to the Robertses.

Now 76, Ross said he has battled some health problems. He had a pacemaker implanted not long after the tornado but said he is a man at peace.

"We're doing pretty good," Ross said. "We just moved on. (The tornado) kind of comes back on my mind at times, but there's no use grieving about it.

"God does what he wants to do."

Contact Steven Spearie: 622-1788, [email protected], twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

A tornado watch means that conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in and close to the watch area. A watch is normally issued for a large area covering numerous counties. The watch is intended to give you time to review your safety rules.

A tornado warning means that a developing tornado has been detected by National Weather Service Doppler Radar or has been reported on the ground by reliable sources. A Tornado Warning is typically issued for a portion of counties at a time and usually lasts no more than 45 minutes. If a Tornado Warning is issued for your county, you should seek shelter immediately. If you see a tornado or feel threatened, move to a safe place immediately, as precious seconds can save your life.

— If you are in a home or small business, go to the basement or a small interior room such as a closet, bathroom or interior hallway without windows on the lowest level. Put as many walls between yourself and the outside as possible. If possible, get under something sturdy, such as a heavy table, or use a mattress to protect yourself from flying debris. Most injuries associated with high winds are from flying debris, so remember to protect your head. If available, put on a bicycle or motorcycle helmet to protect yourself from head injuries.

— If you are in a large business, school, hospital, shopping center or factory, go to the designated shelter area. If a shelter area is not available, the best place is to go to an interior hallway on the lowest level. Stay away from the structurally weaker portions of buildings, such as windows and rooms with expansive roofs, which are more likely to collapse when tornadoes strike.

— If you are in a mobile home or home on stilts, get out and take shelter in a sturdy building or storm shelter. If there is not one nearby, take shelter in the most interior room that has no windows, such as an interior bathroom or closet.

— If you are caught in a vehicle, get out and into a sturdy shelter. If one is not available nearby, get to a low spot and cover your head from flying debris. Do not take cover under an overpass as this does not provide adequate shelter during a tornado and can cause increased wind speeds due to a tunneling effect. (National Weather Service

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