Looking Back: '96 tornado

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

Diane Goodwine and Tim Goodwine, 13, of Champaign empty a wheelbarrow full of debris in the Eagle Ridge Subdivision in Urbana on April 21, 1996. The Goodwines volunteered to help in the cleanup.

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

Valery Shaw of Champaign waits outside for the Fields family to finish gathering their belongings from their home in Urbana the morning after the tornado struck.

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

Volunteers coordinator Sarah White of Urbana makes an announcement on April 21, 1996 to a crowd of volunteers in front of County Market in Urbana. More than 500 volunteers were reported to have signed up to help clean debris in the Eagle Ridge Subdivision and surrounding area.

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

Volunteers work to clean up a pile of debris in the Eagle Ridge Subdivision in Urbana on April 21, 1996.

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

Workers from Illinois Power disconnect power lines that were knocked down by the Friday night tornado near the intersection of Philo Road and Silver in Urbana.

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

A construction company works to cover the roof of a house in Urbana's Eagle Ridge subdivision on April 20, 1996, the day after the house was damaged by a tornado.

Photographer: John Dixon

Brian Huckstep of M&R Builders walks through the exposed second floor bathroom of a house at 2213 S. Lynn St. in Urbana on April 23, 1996. The roof of a nearby house was torn off and slammed into the side of this house.

Photographer: Robin Scholz

Greg Chew packs up goods from the kitchen of Ron and Connie Eldridge's home on McHenry Street in Urbana on April 20, 1996.

Photographer: Robert K. O'Daniell

Urbana building inspectors check their lists in between house inspections. From left are Gordon Skinner, Craig Grant, Tim Mecum and Steven Cochran.

Photographer: John Dixon

A sign in the front yard of a damaged house at 806 McHenry in Urbana proclaims the property is for sale "cheap."

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

Terry Fields of Urbana hugs a neighbor after assessing the damage to their Eagle Ridge Subdivision home on April 20, 1996.

Photographer: Heather Coit

Bob and Carol Hurt huddle together under a stairwell in the same area where they sought shelter from the 1996 tornado. They were at their home, much of it rebuilt since then, on April 9, 2006.

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

Urbana Fire Chief William Pessemier makes an announcement the morning after the tornado to a group of people in front of the Kmart in Urbana. The Eagle Ridge Subdivision homeowners waited their turn to be escorted to see their homes.

Photographer: Carlos Miranda

Rogger and Terry Fields work their way into their home at the Eagle Ridge subdivision in Urbana the day after the tornado hit. The Fields had occupied their home for a month when the storm hit.

Photographer: Robin Scholz

Workers dig through debris in Urbana the day after the April 1996 tornado struck.

Photographer: John Dixon

Jerry's IGA employees Bob Pierson, left, and Dennis Lewis clean up the front of the store after a window was blown out. The April 19 tornado passed over, sending a dumpster flying over the building. Pierson and Lewis were filling the dumpster on the east side of the building when they say they saw one large tornado and three or four smaller ones pass over.

Photographer: John Dixon

An aerial view of a cul de sac in Urbana shows severe damage to six houses on April 20, 1996.

Photographer: John Dixon

The Ogden Village Hall remained open on April 22, 1996, although most of the buildings around it were damaged or destroyed.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

The Ogden water tower was one of the few structures still standing after the tornado swept through town.

Photographer: John Dixon

Cindy Acklin of Ogden shows Illinois State Trooper Jon Purviance her driver's license with her address on it to gain admittance to Ogden. The road block was set up at the intersection of Illinois Route 49 and U.S. 150, as state police blocked all entrances to the village. Only residents, emergency workers and cleanup crews were allowed in.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

Shattered trees fill the ground around the Ogden Grade School on April 23, 1996.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

Charley Steffey stands in the remains of his classic old barn, with milking stanchions behind him on April 22, 1996. He lived south and west of Ogden and lost all of his outbuildings, but the house was spared.

Photographer: The Laird family

Mary Lou and Fred Laird of La Plata, Mo., were driving their semi truck on I-74 when it was blown off the road by the tornado. Mary Lou Laird, who had been in the sleeper part of the truck, was thrown into the field and killed instantly. She was the only fatality of the storm.

Photographer: Holly Hart

Allen McConnell, formally of Ogden and his daughters Katey, 17, (middle) and Rachel, 20, stand in front of Memorial tree in the Ogden park on Friday, April 14, 2006. The 1996 tornado ripped the roof off their Ogden home and fallen debris trapped them in their house.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

Damage to the Kirchner Building Center in Ogden is seen from above, as wood was scattered around the town.

Photographer: Rick Danzl

Crushed pews stick out from under a collapsed roof at one of the churches in Ogden severely damaged by the tornado.

Photographer: Robin Scholz

Kendra Stewart, right, cries as she holds her mother, Carol Ann Hurt, as they stand across the street from the Hurt's house on McHenry Street in Urbana on April 19, 1996.

Photographer: Robin Scholz

Jean Reeves and her son Nick, 9, crouch near their basement, where they had taken refuge when the tornado pulled their house off its foundation. Jean was hit in the head by bricks and received stitches. The house was located along Route 105 north of Bement.

Photographer: Robin Scholz

Mike Oakley, left, and his father John remove boxes from the closet of a bedroom in a house along Route 105 south of Monticello. The house belonged to Morton Oakley, Mike's grandfather.

Photographer: Francis Gardler

Just the walls and debris remain from a house near the intersection of Mumford Drive and Morrow Court in Urbana on April 19, 1996.

Photographer: Rick Danzl

Jack and Kathy Hall look through the pages of their homeowners insurance policy in front of their home at 109 North Street in Ogden on April 20, 1996. The Halls were inside the house with their children, Kelsey, 6, and Tyler, 14, when the tornado hit.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

Grain bins that were toppled by the storm lie near the Ogden water tower.

Photographer: Rick Danzl

Kathy Hall (facing) hugs her friend Jan Gallo in front of Hall's house at 109 West Street in Ogden.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

The streets and yards of Ogden were littered with debris the day after the tornado hit.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

The gym of the Ogden Elementary School had its roof ripped off.

Photographer: Rick Danzl

Workers salvage what they can from the shell of a damaged house in Ogden on April 20, 1996.

Photographer: Francis Gardler

A Pro Ambulance paramedic administers aid to a driver who was injured when her car was flipped on its side at the intersection of Philo Road and Mumford Drive in Urbana on April 19, 1996.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

Despite losing its roof, dishes on a shelf at the Ogden Church of the Nazarene sit unmoved in cabinets in the upstairs kitchen area.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

Windows at the Ogden Grade School were shattered by flying debris.

Photographer: Francis Gardler

Ogden resident and businesswoman Tammy Tracy gives a haircut to Mike Wright on her front porch on May 16, 1996. Area farmers were building her a new beauty parlor and garage behind her home to replace the one destroyed by the tornado.

Photographer: John Dixon

U.S. Congressman Tom Ewing, center, walks the streets of Ogden, viewing the tornado damage firsthand on April 22, 1996. Guiding Ewing on his tour were village mayor Jim Gilliland, left, and Illinois Emergency Management Administration Region 7 coordinator Patrick Keane, right.

Photographer: Vanda Bidwell

From left, Jerrid Smith, 7, Adam Smith, 6, and Lana Ray Stokes, children of Brenda and Darrin Stokes of Ogden, play with their pet gerbil outside their demolished home at 101 Leeney St. in Ogden on April 22, 1996.

Photographer: John Dixon

Workers use a bulldozer to push debris onto a burn pile on the north end of Ogden on April 22, 1996. Dump trucks would empty their load near the pile and the heavy equipment would push the debris into the fire.

Photographer: John Dixon

Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, center, walks the streets of Ogden with Mayor Jim Gilliland, right, and a horde of reporters on April 23, 1996.

Photographer: Robert K. O'Daniell

The Bensyl family of Ogden stand in what will become the basement of the tornado resistant house they are building in rural Penfield. Pictured on April 8, 2006 are Roger and Angela Bensyl with their children Zachary, 11, Sarah, 8, and Johnathan, 3. During the 1996 tornado, the Bensyls rode out the storm in their crawl space under their Ogden home.

Photographer: Darrell Hoemann

Bryce Waddell, who was 10 years old at the time, stayed in the crawl space at his home south of Monticello with his friend Dylan Heath and Dylan's mother. Waddell is holding The News-Gazette from April 20, 1996.