By 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 18, a Saturday morning, the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the southwest side, home to many Latino residents, was already bustling with energy along Kedzie Avenue near the intersection of 61st Street.
It would be hard to believe that just three months earlier, on July 15, an EF1 tornado swept through Chicago Lawn, prompting the opening of a FEMA/State Disaster Recovery Center on Oct. 16 at the Chicago Lawn Branch Library.
The center’s FEMA specialists arrived to assist residents with the process of applying for federal and state funds to help repair homes damaged by the tornado.
The Chicago Lawn tornado
“The line of storms on July 15 were officially classified as a derecho and that line of storms produced a record number of tornadoes, 32, for the area our office serves, northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana,” said local National Weather Service meteorologist Rafal Ogorek.
“For the southwest side of Chicago, there was one EF1 tornado that developed on the southwest side of Marquette Park and the Chicago Lawn community area that tracked eastward into Englewood.”
The scale for measuring tornadoes based on wind speed and structural damage is called the Enhanced Fujita Scale. According to the scale, EF1 tornadoes produce three second wind gusts between 86 to 110 miles per hour.
The Chicago Lawn/West Englewood tornado, with peak winds estimated at 90 mph, caused somewhat more damage than two EF0 tornadoes that touched down in the city the evening before, he said.
Tornadoes are measured by the Fujita scale, invented in 1971 by University of Chicago meteorology department professor Dr. Tetsuya Theodore Fujita, using aerial photographs to track tornado paths, the direction tornado debris falls in after it leaves, wind speeds and temperature movement to study tornadoes.
His analysis identifying tornado formation resulted in the siren warning system that alerts people giving them enough time to get to safety.
Chicago Lawn resident thoughts
On the sunny, 70-degree day of Oct. 18, an elderly couple held hands as they crossed Kedzie Avenue while an appliance store owner positioned washing machines and refrigerators on the sidewalk, like metal mannequins, for potential buyers to inspect.
Glimpses down side streets reveal well-kept, modest homes sporting giant Halloween lawn skeletons and fall-worn foliage.
July 15 was a different day altogether.
“That night I couldn’t believe I didn’t hear nothing; I was sleeping,” said Chicago Lawn resident Juan Carlos Denorio, who is an area property owner and lives around the corner from the library.
Denorio woke up the morning after the tornado passed through the neighborhood and when he went behind the house, he noticed a large branch or tree on the ground; three months later he doesn’t remember exactly which it was but the size still stands out in his mind, he said.
“It was really, really big and it just missed a parked car. I was surprised,” Denorio said.
After seeing the fallen tree, he decided to check on his other properties. While driving around, he saw neighborhood damage.
“One of my properties, luckily there was nothing. The other, near 52nd and Richmond, I saw little branches on the ground and I didn’t even stop my car to pick them up,” Denorio added.
Denorio already knew about FEMA and said he would have used it if any of his properties had tornado damage.
Unfortunately, Martin Atilano’s home did not escape the tornado’s touch. In fact, on July 15 he did not know his home was damaged because he was still on vacation that day.
“I was on vacation in Mexico and when I came back, I found a lot of [roof] shingles around my house and my neighbors told me about the storm,” Atilano said. “Since then, I’ve been looking for assistance, actually the insurance didn’t cover that, you know, home insurance, so I was looking for cheap work to repair my [roof]. It’s not easy because there is not much of that.”
Damage to the area concerned his neighbors, he said, saying that at that time, people didn’t know about FEMA help.
His neighbors mostly sustained damage to their roofs but some had house siding damage as well, according to Atilano.
Because he happened to come by the library on Saturday, Atilano went inside immediately to start his FEMA disaster recovery process.
FEMA assistance
The quick development of a tornado can cause negative after-the-event mental health effects, according to the National Institute of Health. Survivors can exhibit symptoms like confusion, anxiety and depression.
Protective factors, like the FEMA/SBA/State of Illinois support are crucial to positive mental health outcomes after a natural disaster.
FEMA reservist and Chicago Lawn Disaster Recovery Center manager, Nancy Schmit, whose home is in California, has assisted natural disaster survivors for 9 ½ years traveling to multiple states administering disaster relief from complete destruction of towns to the kind of damage to property that Chicago Lawn has experienced.
“Emotionally, people we have seen here in Chicago Lawn seem to be doing fairly well,” said Schmit. “Most of the tornado damage to homes we’re hearing about are roofing repairs, flooding; things like that.”
“In this area there is, luckily, there is lesser damage to homes,” Schmit said. “The damage is not full-on destruction but it is serious nonetheless.”
Whether someone’s roof needs to be repaired or an entire home has been destroyed people are treated with the same compassion and consideration because trauma does not fit into a one-size-fits-all mold, she said.
FEMA Public Affairs Specialist, Kim Keblish, notes that assistance is for homeowners and renters, which is FEMA’s primary focus.
“Basically, it’s an in-person location where folks impacted by the July 13 to 16 severe storms, floods and tornadoes can come in person to receive assistance from FEMA, the Small Business Administration and folks from the State of Illinois,” said Keblish. “After making their application for assistance with FEMA or the SBA, people can come to the center to check their application status, upload documentation, receive help with appeals and really just get their questions answered.”
Working in-person with a FEMA worker is an impactful benefit to people when filling out an application after a disaster because you can describe your circumstances and needs to another human being, she said.
If a person speaks a language that a recovery center worker doesn’t speak, FEMA can connect clients with a translation line in any language needed so the application process continues to move ahead, Keblish added.
FEMA’s job is to help with assistance that private property insurance may not be able to cover; it does not help with losses already covered by insurance. FEMA financial assistance is a grant meaning money that does not have to be paid back, she said.
“FEMA money might be able to go toward temporary housing assistance, basic home repairs and home replacement and coverage for other disaster-related expenses like moving and storage costs, primary vehicle repair and replacement, dental costs, medical costs, childcare costs, replacement of essential appliances, furniture or HVAC replacement or a furnace for instance,” said Keblish.
There are differences between FEMA and the SBA.
FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Association are collaborative federal agencies that provide help after disasters with the difference being FEMA provides money that does not require repayment and the SBA provides long-term, low interest loans to renters, homeowners, businesses and some private non-profits, she said.
Alderman Lopez reacts
The presidential declaration opening the FEMA office to southwest side residents that are providing assistance after the July 13 to 16 storms makes me happy, said Alderman Raymond Lopez (15th).
“I was home and I saw, firsthand, the ferocity of these storms,” he said. “I think it’s really important that not just FEMA but the City of Chicago as well, plan infrastructure that can accommodate these deluges. That can address our aging infrastructure and replace it quickly in a way that now counts for our new reality.”
Updated weather projections are crucial in order to execute alterations to sewer infrastructure plans, he said.
“This has a very real impact on our residents particularly when our sewers cannot handle the water and it starts backing up into peoples’ homes,” said Lopez. “That’s a clear sign that our sewer system is inadequate.”
Neighborhood trees are another concern for the alderman.
“We need to look at how we maintain our trees because of trees that were snapped or cracked or aged impacted by the weather so if we have to come up with a tree replacement program so that we have younger or more suitable trees in our communities, then so be it,” he said.
When Native Americans lived in the U.S., Oak trees covered 60% of the Chicago metropolitan region, according to the Chicago Region Trees Initiative. The Gage Park Urban Forestry Summary, states that in the pre-settlement era, Gage Park was a prairie with some remaining forest land to its east.
Mitigation plans can anticipate and minimize damage to not only resident homes but also neighborhood trees that reduce flooding, increase energy efficiency by shading homes, improving air quality and are home to community wildlife.
While Alderman Lopez’s proposed solutions are costly, he believes investment now is critical.
“In the end, is it better to pay for prevention or replacement? Prevention is always the better investment,” Lopez said.