SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. - A small army of workers converged on the property of Ed and Sylvia Harvey in Highland, Ill., April 30, to help clear trees downed in a Good Friday tornado that carved a 700-foot wide path through the area.
More than 40 military and civilian men, women and children gave their Saturday to help the Harveys, who own a number of coffee shops here.
According to Ed Harvey, the volunteers were recruited by word of mouth from U.S. Transportation Command, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Air Mobility Command and the Faith Baptist Church in Highland, Ill.
In addition to more than 18 trees, some 100 years old, the Harveys lost their deck, two riding lawn mowers, two high-end barbecue grills and a coffee kiosk. Three trees fell on their home damaging the roof and roof truss.
While Ed Harvey said it seemed like an eternity, this all occurred in about 20 seconds as the F2 storm passed over the property.
“I was watching the Weather Channel and it looked like the two cells had passed,” he said. “So I thought, ‘We dodged the bullet,’ and I wanted to see if there was a funnel cloud and went to open the front door, but it would not open because of the pressure.”
Harvey then yelled for his wife, and her sister, Aurora Cruz, and niece, Nica Cruz, who were visiting from the Philippines, to get in the basement.
“By the time they got downstairs I heard the trees hitting the roof,” Harvey said. “So I dove under the kitchen table thinking, ‘I hope I survive this.’”
Fortunately, no one was injured in the home.
Once the storm passed, the Harveys discovered the tornado had damaged numerous nearby homes and farm buildings as it cut a 19-mile path through the countryside.
“I am overwhelmed. Words cannot express how I feel about all this,” Harvey said. “I am stunned by the outpouring of care and concern, and love of all the people who helped us.”
________________________
To receive USTRANSCOM News Service releases and articles by email, simply send an email to join-ustcns@lyris.dmasa.dma.mil . There is no need to fill in the subject or message block. To unsubscribe, please send a blank e-mail to the following address from your subscriber e-mail account: leave-ustcns@lyris.dmasa.dma.mil.
