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The Putnam County
Volume 146 No. 33
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Putnam County’s Only Newspaper
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Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Ten years later ... The 2004 tornado By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
GRANVILLE — An important milestone in the village of Granville will have its 10th anniversary on April 20, but don’t look for brass bands or happy faces. While Granville was lucky on that day compared to neighboring Utica, it was still the beginning of some trying days for the village. April 20, 2004, was the day the tornado ripped through town, leaving a trail of destruction which took years to fully repair and still haunts the lives and dreams of some residents. The final weather statement from the National Weather Service office in Chicago recounts the tornado — one of seven produced by this particular storm — in very matterof-fact tones: “The third tornado developed about 2 miles west southwest of Granville. This tornado had a 15 1/2 mile path through Granville...across the Illinois River and Interstate 39 ... into the town of Utica. It dissipated on a ridge about 1/2 mile northeast of Utica. This tornado produced F3 damage in Utica, and its maximum width was about 200 yards.” The tornado touched down first straight south
of the Mark hill and continued on a nearly perfect northeast course crossing Route 71 into Granville at Division Street. The twister passed through the western side of town and exited on the north side at Hopkins School where it lifted the roof off the gymnasium. The estimated damage to Granville was $8 million, with nearly half the total at Hopkins. As it passed
Dave Thompson remembers By Ken Schroeder GRANVILLE — Dave Thompson remembers April 20, 2004, perhaps a little better than most. That’s easy to understand since the building he was in — his business Granville Drug — nearly fell on top of him. Vol. 146 No. 33 One Section - 20 Pages The Putnam County
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Above, the north end of the McCoy Street business district shows some minor damage. At left, a flyby reveals the extensive damage to the Hopkins Primary School where the gym’s roof was completely peeled off. The extensive damage to the building required its demolition. Photos courtesy of Bureau County Republican archives
See Tornado Page 2
Unofficially one death linked to storm By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
‘Two-thirds of the store collapsed’ kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
through town, it produced damage at the high end of F2 on the Fujita tornado scale. It continued northeast crossing into LaSalle County where it neatly parallelled the bottom road before jumping Route 251 passing within a half-mile of Illinois Valley Community College. For the next two miles,
“It was close to closing time. I was in the building with two young men who worked for me. Brad Moriarty was in the back with me; he was at IVCC at the time. Alex Bradish was a high-schooler working up front,” Thompson said. “There had been
See Thompson Page 2
GRANVILLE — Officially, there were no deaths in Granville related to the 2004 tornado. While it’s true nobody died that day in Granville, a case can be made for a death tied to the events of the day: Vivian Goetz. “When the storm hit, she went to the strongest place in the house which for her was the bathroom,” Vivian’s son Kelly Goetz said. “When the storm was over, she opened the door and saw all the destruction around her; then she had a heart attack”
Goetz was taken to St. Margaret’s Hospital in Spring Valley, then Life-flighted to OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Kelly Goetz was working in Spring Valley at the time, and though he knew the weather had gotten bad, he didn’t know how bad until he was on his way home. “I came up the hill from Spring Valley, and I could tell something was wrong,” he said. “I got home and got the news, and made sure everyone else was OK. Then I grabbed my wife and drove down to Peoria. “They put a stint in her heart
and watched her around the clock. After a week, we were able to bring her home,” Kelly Goetz said. “She stayed at my brother’s spare house that night where she had another heart attack and died. “I know it was the stress of the storm that caused the heart attacks,” Kelly Goetz said. “There’s no question in my mind. If it weren’t for that, she might still be alive today. She could have seen her oldest greatgrandchild graduate from school. She could have met her first great-great-grandchild.” Vivian Goetz was 82.
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