10th anniversary tornado

A publication of the Inter-County Cooperative Publishing Association • 3rd section • Inter-County Leader • June 15, 2011

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10storiesof courage, hopeand survival fromthe 2001 tornado

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AlsoAnatomy of a tornado • 2The tornado’s path • 2Siren hockey rink • 5

Just a few tales of survival • 6“Troops on the ground” • 8

Sign language • 9Before & after • 11

Irreplaceable loss • 12

1100 ssttoorriieessA silent siren • 2

“The numbers that came to help ...” • 3After the storm • 4

A Mayor’s declaration• 4“We can and will recover ...” • 7

“Thank God for these people ...” • 7A gift from the tornado • 8

A trip to Wadena • 9“Where was God?”• 10

“More of Us” • 12

IINNSSIIDDEE

“A day of change, a day ofthanksgiving” will be held in Siren

on Saturday, June 18. Seeschedule in Leader.

2

Murphy’s Law struck the same time asthe June 18 tornado.Despite a tornado warning being is-

sued, Siren’s only siren was malfunction-ing as a result of a lightning strike inApril or May.Reportedly the siren was so old, re-

placement parts were not immediatelyavailable.No police officer was on duty that day

in Siren. Police Chief Dean Roland (nowBurnett County Sheriff) was on vacationand had just come out of the TimbersTheatre where he had seen the movie“Shrek.” He went home, turned on thenews, heard about the tornado on theground - and went into work mode,knowing he had to warn people.What happened next was to become a

chapter in author Brad Herzog’s best-seller “turn left at the trojan horse.”“I used my PA system, lights, siren,

yelling, telling everyone there was a pos-sible tornado coming - I had about atwenty-minute warning,” he recalls.“The tornado was rain-wrapped. Youcouldn’t see it. And when I finally did seethe tornado coming out of the dark cloud,and I heard what sounded like the roar ofa jet, I was only about a quarter mileaway. I tried to get to my house, but Icouldn’t make it. So I went around thecorner and parked beneath an awning atthe center of town ... at that time I remember thinking ‘Oh, my God. I forgot totake care of me.’”Roland said two big dumpsters came flying at him as he watched a church

building “pulsate.” Trees were exploding, roofs were coming off.“There was a brief calm when I was right in the eye of the tornado. I went

from total fear, saying ‘God don’t let me die’ to ‘Wow, this is beautiful’ - andthen it picked up again.’”

Grantsburg Wood River Daniels Siren La Follette Dewey Bashaw

10 A silent siren

Adam Imme and his friends were swimming in the St. Croix River west ofGrantsburg the evening of June 18, 2001, when they noticed purplish clouds to thenortheast, forming a funnel. “It was a strange sight,” he said.What Imme and his friends were seeing was the birth of the largest of five torna-

does that were spawned from a two-hour-long storm system that began earlier thatday with a line of thunderstorms along a cold front in Nebraska and Iowa.The storms extended into Minnesota, and by 7:22 p.m. a smaller tornado touched

down near the Town of Day, Minn., cutting a path eight miles long through mostlyrural areas. Just 14 minutes later, a second tornado - rated an F0, made a brief touch-down near Tekamah, Neb. At 7:59 p.m., the first of two F0 tornados would touch down briefly in Harrison

and Carroll counties, damaging crops.At 8:06 p.m., the tornado Imme and his friends watched form touched down and

began an eastward journey of 30 miles through southern Burnett County - spend-ing just over an hour on the ground, through the towns of Grantsburg, Wood River,Siren and LaFollette and the Town of Bashaw in Washburn County.The tornado that struck Burnett and Washburn counties was the outbreak’s only

fatal storm, killing two, with a third fatality related. Total damages were estimatedto be $10 million in Siren alone, most damage occurring in the village of Siren wheremost structures were destroyed, including a brand-new hockey arena. A total of 240buildings were damaged or destroyed, and more than 100 firefighters helped res-cue people trapped in buildings and clean up. Residents also reported cows andother livestock flying through the air during the tornado. - with information fromwikipedia.com

Starting in Nebraska, a storm system moved into northern Minnesota and into Wisconsinthe afternoon and evening of June 18, 2001, spawning an F3 tornado as it moved into BurnettCounty. The red dot indicates Siren. - Special photo

10 10 stories of courage, hope and survival • 10-year anniversary of 2001 tornado2

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Photos of the funnel cloud of the 2001 tornado as it traveled 30 miles across southern Burnett County, dissipating near Spooner in Washburn County. - from KSTP

Siren’s silent siren. Following the tor-nado, Milwaukee’s American Signal Cor-poration donated a new siren to thevillage. - Photo by Gary King

TThhee ppaatthhAn aerial photo (right)

shows the path of thetornado. Below, a mapindicates the areas af-fected by the 150- to 200-mile-per-hour winds overthe tornado’s 30-milepath. - Special photos

3

by Don TaylorAs we take time to reflect on theevents of the evening of June 18, 2001,and the days that followed we can onlywonder. Wonder at the power of thestorm, wonder at the response that fol-lowed the devastation of that mightytornado that tore across Burnett Countyand into Washburn County.It was nearly a week after the tornado

before I had the opportunity to seemuch of the devastation. It was onlythen did I have the chance to drivearound and marvel at the power thatMother Nature brought to bear, withoutdiscrimination, on homes, cabins andthe landscape.Like most memorable days, it started

out routine, if fairly long. Deputy SteveWierschem and I had ended the work-day around 6 p.m. after walkingaround an 80-acre section of countyforestland looking for a marijuanagrow. At the time the tornado struck,my wife, Jeanne, and I had just finishedsupper when the scanner rang out withthe news - Siren had been hit hard. Weheard the storm pass some three milessouth of our home. Heard the roar andwaited at the basement door until itpassed. As we entered the car to headfor town, softball-sized hail, the largestI have ever seen, began to fall. No senseto drive in that, so we waited until ithad passed and then headed for Siren.Based on the radio traffic saying that

Siren was gone, I asked dispatch to callfor additional ambulance and fire de-partments from neighboring countiesfor support. Amazingly, those ambu-lances stood idle. Law enforcementfrom Burnett County responded to theemergency. Hearing the news, theycame without being called. Dispatchersalso responded. They knew how hectic

dispatch would be after such an event. Driving south into Siren one could

see, or maybe not see, what had oncestood. Mighty pines and oaks alongCrooked Lake were now gone. Theroadway was blocked in front of Ad-ventures, but soon cleared, and wemade our way into town. What was leftof it, anyway. The first order of busi-ness was twofold, search and rescue toset up and traffic control. As we allknow, nothing brings out a crowd likean event such as this.At that time I did not know that the

tornado had struck anywhere else! Itseems like the news of destruction in

areas like Daniels, LaFol-lette and Dewey did notreach me until nearly anhour after the storm. Per-haps it is the history oflarge windstorms in Siren,the storms of the late ‘70sand early ‘80s thatseemed to target Siren;perhaps it was just thefact that the north end ofSiren was mostly de-stroyed. For whateverreason, the first focus wasin Siren. Siren and other fire de-

partments handled searchand rescue. The sheriff’soffice began to reroutetraffic around Siren onOld 35. That soon

changed as word of damage to thetowns of Daniels, Siren, LaFollette andDewey came in. Fire and law enforce-ment were detailed to check as manyhomes and cabins as possible and markwhat had been checked.We first met in the parking lot of the

Dairy Queen but soon moved the com-mand post to the lot at the grocerystore. That was my office for the nextweek. The work that Burnett CountyEmergency Government Director BobbiSichta did after the storm with assis-tance from Wisconsin Emergency Man-agement cannot be stated enough. Itmade my task much easier. Before midnight Deputy Director

Rick Risler of Emergency Police Serv-ices was on-scene with the mobile com-mand center. He asked me twoquestions: how many cops did I wantand when did I want them. At 8 a.m.the next morning 50 officers fromacross Wisconsin were waiting at thecommand post for instructions. Therewere three main tasks to start with. Thefirst order of business was a completesearch of all dwellings in the area af-fected by the tornado for people. Teamswere dispatched to those areas.

The command post performed a vari-ety of functions in the aftermath of thestorm. Officers were assigned to dutieslike patrol and traffic control. With 24years of service with the sheriff’s office,I knew that the people of northern Wis-consin would come to help. I had seen it many times, be it for a

forest fire or lost child, they come tohelp. But the numbers that came afterthe storm were amazing. They camefrom not only Wisconsin and Min-nesota but from around the country. Atthe command post we directed them towhere they could help. There were alsothose that came to see, perfectlyhuman, but causing traffic problems.And there were some of those thatcame to see what they could get forfree, though there were few problemswith criminals during that time. There is no question that the patrol

effort deterred crime during thecleanup. All the major television net-works were here along with stationsfrom Wisconsin and Minnesota. Theyoccasionally strayed into areas theyknew to stay out of and were movedback to the media area at the Lodge.WCCO missed a morning report be-cause they set up in the wrong area andhad to move. We kept the commandpost up for around a week. The amountof work that was done by volunteersand contractors during that time wasincredible.I maintain that emergency services

had the easiest job. Law enforcement,fire and EMS responded in accordancewith training. We had specific jobs todo and we knew how to do them. Inemergencies these services respond as ateam and work together. That’s whathappened after the storm. Of them Ihad the easiest job of all. I didn’t haveto stand in the heat and direct traffic ata roadblock while trying to answerquestions or in the dust and heat insupport of a cleanup crew. I didn’t haveto patrol the affected areas. It was notuntil the next week that I actually gotout to see some of the damage. All Ihad to do was make decisions and giveorders. At the time I had 27 years in law en-

forcement, including the military, eightyears as sheriff, and over three as chiefdeputy; giving orders came pretty easy.Looking back, I think that if you askedthose officers that responded abouttheir efforts you might get an answerstraight from “Dragnet’s” Sgt. Joe Fri-day, “We’re just doing our job.” At leastthat’s the way I see it.

9 “The numbers that came to help were amazing ...”A grocery store parking lot became chief deputy Don Taylor’s office for a week, beginning the night of the June 18, 2001, tornado. - File photos by Gary King

Firefighters and citizen volunteers suchas the group of youths from Herzl Camp(photo at right) at Webster responded to thevillage of Siren within an hour of the tor-nado striking.

The Pour House in Siren, where a customer hung on to a bar-tender as the bartender flew into the air as the tornado struck.

10 10 stories of courage, hope and survival • 10-year anniversary of 2001 tornado 3

8by Mary Jacobsen

The tornado left behind a surreal landscapewith acres of jagged, denuded trees, huge up-rooted oaks and pines, scattered branches,concrete foundations where buildings andhouses once stood. Dazed people wanderedamong their belongings. Clothing, books, fry-ing pans and beds lay strewn over their lawnsand their neighbors lawns.People told of their fears and how they had

huddled for safety in a bathroom, cellar orcloset. They told of tragedy, bewilderment,loss, and occasionally, of humor.A neighbor burst into the La Follette Town

Hall meeting on June 18, 2001, and an-nounced that a tornado had been sighted inBurnett County, headed our way. My hus-band, Ed, the town chairman, said, “Meet-ing’s over.”As soon as we arrived home, Ed put the car

in the garage (not as easy as it sounds), and Ipicked all the peonies. I didn’t think they’dsurvive a tornado.The lights went out.The aftermath of a tornado is disorder; ob-

jects are displaced in space, events are dis-placed in time. We remember eating coldcereal by candlelight. Was it before or afterthe tornado hit? Like the 2-inch hailstones hit-ting our deck, other events dance randomlyin my mind. Ed on his radio with “sky-watch.” Wind blowing open the front dooruntil I locked it. A candle, a bottle of wine andtwo glasses on a bedside table. Listening totrees cracking and crashing.After the tornado left to wreak havoc else-

where, we surveyed the damage. Fallen treesand branches everywhere, all pathwaysblocked. But we went to bed that night thank-ful to be alive, safe and under our own roof.Our first concern the next morning was

how to make coffee. It took a long time for thewater to boil on our barbecue grill. But thenwe weren’t going anywhere. While eatingcold cereal, we heard a knock at the door. Im-possible! Did someone drop from the sky?A tall man in a brown uniform stood on our

deck.“How in the world did you get here?”“It wasn’t easy.”A policeman showed up, puffing. “It’s

tough keeping up with a forest ranger,” hesaid.The men had struggled to get through to us

by climbing over and crawling under fallentrees and other debris, and they had manymore places to check.That morning, 20 people with chain saws, a

bulldozer and a backhoe spent three hoursclearing our driveway. Volunteers arrived, theSalvation Army helped. More volunteers,neighbors and friends of neighbors came tohelp. Tribal members from Hertel broughtfood and water. Three days later the powerwas restored.The telephone rang for the town chairman.

But the town chairman was out coordinatingaid groups, checking damaged roads andproperties, arranging for government funds,assuring bewildered residents that theirclaims were being considered. Help was com-ing.Some people were impatient. A few were

resentful of the focus on Siren when countrypeople too had suffered. But most were ex-tremely grateful for the help, and many cameto help.The tornado cleared a path of destruction,

but it also cleared the way for a small appletree to receive more light. And for us to seethe red-gold sunset from our porch.So much work to be done. So many sunsets

to see.

Afterthe storm

by Larry Blahauvietz“I hereby declare the village of Siren a disaster.” Those were the words I had to utter at 1 a.m., the

morning of June 19, 2001, in order to begin the process ofreceiving state and FEMA assistance for our village. Theextent of the disaster was not fully known at that time,and later exceeded my expectations. The extent of recov-ery was totally unknown, and as it developed, also ex-ceeded my expectations. The resilience of the business and residential commu-

nities of Siren allowed the village to provide a remark-able recovery, with new homes, new businesses, newstreetlights and even new trees! Now, 10 years later, we can look at the tornado disaster

and confidently state “Siren is back!”

7Mayor’s

declaration


Ray Schulz returned home from the hospital to survey the damage done to his Town of Dewey home where he was injured andhis wife, Ruth, was killed. The couple lived in the home for nearly 30 years, Ruth for 41. Their granddaughter from Racine is shownat left. - Photo by Gary King

Still standing, this tree (photo at left) lost most of itsbranches in the 2001 tornado. Below, hundreds of people tookpart in a walking tour of the village of Siren the morning afterthe tornado struck. - Photos submitted


Ben Anderson of Frederic toured the remains of the hockey rink in Siren with his father,Dean. “I broke two records in here,” Ben, a sixth-grader at the time, told Leader reporter NancyJappe, with tears in his eyes. “This is for the kids so it has to be rebuilt,” Dean said. “We didit once and we can do it again.” Almost immediately the Burnett Youth Hockey Association, withfundraisers and other donations, began the effort to build a new rink, shown below. - Photoabove by Nancy Jappe - aerial photo of destroyed rink (lower left) courtesy of DNR- aerial photo belowof the hockey rink today by Carl Heidel

“It looked like a T-rex came through Siren”- Siren student, describing the tornado in an essay


JJuusstt aa ffeeww ttaalleess ooff ssuurrvviivvaall ......

Walkin’ man: The late Jens Rasmussen, a 90-some-thing Siren legend who could be seen walking to thegrocery store or local restaurants several times a day,in all types of weather, lives less than a block fromSiren Covenant Church. Rasmussen was home whenthe storm hit. The lights went out and he went tobed, in his second-floor bedroom. Dr. John Ingalls,Webster, is Rasmussen’s grandson. As soon as Ingallsgot to Siren to volunteer his services, he went tocheck on Jens, finding him sound asleep, safe and to-tally unaware of the devastation that was going onaround him.

•••Holding on: Greg Hunter, owner of the Pour

House, a well-known Siren business, was at his homesouth and east of the village when the tornado struck.Hunter, a volunteer firefighter, heard the paging calland came into town in his role as firefighter, not real-izing that his business had been one of those that washit. Staff members and customers at the Pour Housewent into two walk-in coolers when the tornado hit.None were hit, but bartender Chris Cormell escapedinjury by holding onto customer Clark Jewell’s leg,going airborne as the cooler that sheltered him ex-ploded.

A real DQ blizzard: In case of severe storm, theowners of the Siren Dairy Queen, a new business thatthe Boyer family had opened earlier in 2001, were ad-vised to take shelter in the freezer. For some reason,they headed for the refrigerator instead. The freezerwas history after the tornado struck; the refrigeratorand its occupants were intact and unharmed. “Wecan rebuild. Nobody was hurt,” said Kara (Boyer)Alden, one of the owners. Her brother, Kent Boyer,didn’t quite make it into the refrigerator. He was ableto escape injury by hanging onto the door.

Why me?: On the morning after the tornado, Joeand Terri Simon were surrounded by friends andfamily who were helping the family after their homeon Church Street outside of Falun was basically de-stroyed by the tornado that hit the Burnett Countyarea Monday night. While surveying the damage toher house, Terri paused and said, “Sometimes youjust have to say ‘Why me?’” Terri remembers sittingin the living room of their house watching the stormroll in and then suddenly realizing the seriousness ofthe situation. She told her kids, “Hit the basement!”She said that the family made it into their basementseconds before the tornado ripped through theirhouse. She wasn’t sure of the time because theirpower had been going on and off for a while, but she

guessed that it was around 8:15 p.m. When they fi-nally came upstairs, all four walls of the house weregone and their belongings had been strewn all overtheir property. The garage that once stood next to thehouse was completely gone and pieces of it were scat-tered throughout a field behind the house. All three oftheir vehicles received damage and the family waswaiting to hear from their insurance agency. Achicken coop behind the house was also missing, al-though most of the chickens were wandering aroundthe yard. The family’s two dogs had been outside

during the storm and one was found afterward tan-gled up in its chain in a tree near the house. AngieCampeau, a friend of the family, said that she had got-ten to the house early the next morning to help how-ever she could. She began by searching for importantpictures and papers that were blown all over the prop-erty. She said, “We don’t even really know where tostart.” - Nancy Jappe, reprinted from June 20, 2001 Inter-County Leader

The Timbers Theatre and Shops at The Lodge took a huge hit in the 2001 tornado. Ten years later (photos below) the scene is quite different. - Photos above courtesy DNR pilot Joe Sprenger.Photo below by Carl Heidel with pilot Ernie Swanson

The home of the Rick Peterson family in the town of Dewey was completely blown away by the tornado. He and his wife andeight children scrambled to get into a root cellar that had recently been constructed as they heard the tornado approach. Pe-terson said they experienced the “calm before the storm,” and green sky before hearing the wind. - Photo by Gary King

F3 tornado: 158 to 208 mph winds

7

Reprinted from June 27, 2001 Inter-County Leader

Elliot and Allene Peterson stood out-side their demolished home, huggedeach other and cried as they attemptedto describe their emotions.“I’ve been crying all day,” Allene

said. “Not for my loss, but for thesepeople. Thank God for them.”A crew of workers from Maxwell

Heating in Luck had been working allmorning to help the couple clear awaydebris from their home which sits iso-lated at the end of a half-mile-longdriveway. A crew from the DNR was also there

as well as others. The crew anxiouslyawaited a delivery of food from the St.Croix Tribe at Hertel, which had beenserving food to volunteers and victimssince Tuesday.“This is unbelievably wonderful,” El-

liot said. The family’s Town of Dewey home is

located within a few miles of wherethree people lost their lives early Mon-day evening, June 18, when an F3 tor-nado cut a half-mile-wide swaththrough southern Burnett County. Theentire Town of Dewey, just southeast ofHertel, was hit hard. Among thosekilled was Sylvan Stellrecht, a friend ofthe Petersons and neighbors TomHaseltine and Rose Schultz. FarmerGlenn Albee of rural Shell Lake had hiscattle pastured in the area and lost 35head.The couple’s son, also named Elliot,

said the family had survived hurricanesin Maine and an earthquake in Alaska,

and now this. The house was without aroof and belongings had been blownaway.The Peterson home is considered a

total loss. Half of the upper story isgone. The concrete block basement isfull of cracks and the blocks are cavinginward.“It helps to have a sense of humor

about it all,” son Elliot noted. “I tellpeople we don’t have any popcorn, butyou can have all the movies you canfind.”“I think we should have a yard sale -

on that side of the house,” Allene said,pointing to where most of their belong-ings ended up.Allene said that she and her husband

had written out checks to the Red Crossin the past after seeing tragedies on thenews. Even though they never expectedanything in return, they are now bene-

ficiaries of the organization. The RedCross visited them Wednesday eveningand checked on Allene’s blood pres-sure.Downed trees shut off the Petersons

from visitors, but Elliot said the head ofthe Webb Lake Fire Departmentcrawled over and under a mile ofdowned trees to reach them just hoursafter the storm.They asked me if we wanted out and

I said, “No, we’re just going to bed,”Peterson said. He said they were laterreached by a neighbor and then theDNR, which cleared their driveway thenext day.The Petersons have two daughters,

one in Colorado and one in California,who were informed by phone of thetragedy. A day later, a tornado warning was

issued near the home of the daughter in

Colorado, Deb Carlson.“We stayed on the telephone until it

had passed approximately two hourslater,“ noted Kat Peterson, the daughterin California. “If she was going to gothrough it, I was going to go through itwith her. Thankfully, we were sparedepisode two.”Kat added she was thankful for all

the volunteers, which included theDNR, St. Croix Tribal Council, RedCross, Wesleyan Church, sheriff’s de-partments from various counties, manyother volunteers and neighbors.“Unfortunately, we lost a wonderful

friend and neighbor, Sylvan Stellrecht,”Kat said. “ He was a good neighbor, anexcellent friend and my mom’s huntingbuddy. He will be greatly missed.” -Gary King

by Bobbi SichtaI’ve been the emergency management director for

Burnett County since 1990. Over those years, I havetaken many classes, written many plans, participatedin many exercises and networked with hundreds ofpeople. But nothing teaches you more about disasterresponse and recovery than an actual event! We tend to focus so much attention on the response

phase of a disaster, which occurs immediately follow-ing an event andlasts a relativelyshort time. Whatfollows, however,is the recovery pe-riod, which can beslow, complicated,painful and maylast years. Duringthis time, we focuson the healing, therebuilding, the co-ordination of re-sources, volunteermanagement, do-nation manage-ment, debris removal and so much more. The first 12 hours following the storm, most of our

focus was on search and rescue. Protecting life is al-ways the top priority. Dawn on June 19, 2001, ush-ered in an enormous challenge. How to manage therecovery? We soon discovered that the damaged areawas much greater than initially thought, and therewere many people who were now homeless, hun-dreds of damaged and destroyed buildings, andmiles of blocked roads. The emergency operationscenter was already handling hundreds of calls fromvolunteers, individuals and companies wanting todonate, family members looking for friends or lovedones, news media, government agencies, etc. A shel-ter was opened at Siren Schools, and meal prepara-tion began. A donation site was established andworkers began the task of sorting through donations.The need was great, volunteers were starting to ar-rive, the donations were flooding in, governmentagencies, churches, and private agencies were on

their way, and the main priority was to ensure thatrecovery efforts were unified and coordinated. I was privileged to work with a group of people

who were dedicated to making our community’s re-covery proceed as smoothly as possible. I saw a com-munity that, under enormous strain and fatigue,pulled together over the months following the tor-nado to strengthen and refocus their energy on recu-peration and rebuilding. Was the road to recoveryalways smooth? Of course not! There were bumpsand an occasional crater to overcome along the way.But one fact remained constant throughout, and thatwas the will to recover, the community sense of self-reliance, and the strength to get the job done.The thousands of people and hundreds of busi-

nesses and organizations who came to help sup-ported our recovery in tangible and inspiring ways. Iremember being amazed at the hundreds of volun-teers lining up outside the government center to sign

up for any job we would assign them, without ques-tion and without complaint. It was our job to makesure they remained safe and healthy, including pro-viding food, water, sunscreen, bug spray and medicalattention.A lot of things we learned and implemented during

the recovery have been replicated in other locationsin Wisconsin, such as our long-term recovery project,the partnership of the DNR and local government involunteer management, debris management, anddaily planning meetings for all local government sec-tions to ensure that each community’s needs weremet. Because of the lessons learned in 2001, we are much

better prepared in this county. Changes have beenmade in plans and training based on our experiences.We have learned that we may not be able to preventevery disaster, but we can, and will, recover.

“We can and will recover ...”10 10 stories of courage, hope and survival • 10-year anniversary of 2001 tornado 7

6

Bobbi Sichta

5 “Thank God for these people ...”

Allene and Elliot Peterson (on either side of volunteer with chain saw) are shown with a crew of volunteers at their Town of Dewey home.- Photo by Gary King

Following the 2001 tornado, people wanting to help showed up at the Burnett County Government Center to sign up for anyjob they were assigned. - Photo by Nancy Jappe

8

- reprinted from Aug. 1, 2001 Inter-County Leader

Gilbert Wald, who lives north ofCable, about 80 miles from here, had agift for Dave and Janis Wegner. Thegift was an 8 x 10 picture of the Wegn-ers’ oldest son, Wesley, when he was inthe sixth grade at Siren ElementarySchool.What made this gift unique was that

Wald found the picture in his drivewaysoon after the June 18 tornado hit anddestroyed the Wegners’ two-storyhome and Dave’s nearby cabinet shop.When the Wegners last saw the pic-

ture, it was in a frame on their piano,stacked behind Wes’ picture from the2000-2001 school year. Wes’ name wason the back, no address, just his nameand the school year when the picturewas taken.Being pretty sure that the picture

came in on the tornado winds, Waldturned to the “W” section in the phonebook. With only two Wegners, Wegnerwith an “e,” in Siren, he picked theright number to dial on the first try.“Do you have a son, Wesley?” he askedDave. When the answer was yes, Waldtold Dave he had the picture.Dave figured that Wald would like to

meet the family; but with all that washappening and the replacement of hislivelihood (the shop) foremost in hismind, there was no time to make thetrip to Cable. One day, about a month after the tor-

nado, Wald showed up to hand-deliverthe picture to its owners. None of theother school pictures that were on thepiano have been found; and this wasthe only picture that made its way intoWald’s driveway. The Wegners lost 75 percent of their

possessions during the tornado, whichdestroyed the home they built and fin-ished six years prior to the 2001 tor-nado, and Dave’s shop, which hemoved there after a fire destroyed hisSiren trailer-park location. No traces oftheir refrigerator, three love seats or acouch have been found. “I would rec-ognize the refrigerator because of thepictures on the front,” Dave com-mented.

What is more amazing to him is thatno trace, not even parts, have beenfound of the solid oak staircase he hadbuilt for the house. “It was a massiveset of oak stairs,” he said.Looking at pictures of the destruction

on the property, including the crum-bled wall of the basement where Daveand two others took shelter from thetornado, one wonders how anyone sur-vived without injury that memorablenight in June. Yet three people did.The Wegners’ daughter, Natalie, was

at Wisconsin Dells that Monday. Dave,Janis and their three sons, Wes, Isaacand Josiah, went to a hockey game inSpooner. Janis left for the Dells withthe boys right after the game, and Davecame back to Siren.On the way home, he stopped at a

small house that he and Roy Ward own.The two were remodeling the house,and Roy was there with his girlfriend,Krissa, and sister, Lori. The radio wason, and Dave heard the tornado warn-

ing, a warning and not a watch. Heasked if the three wanted to go on tohis house. Roy and Krissa went withhim; Lori headed back to town.The television at home was on for

less than a minute when the powerwent out. This was 8:20 p.m. Davewalked outside on a couple of occa-sions, looking at the sky. The phonerang. Dave answered, thinking itmight be Siren Police Chief DeanRoland calling to warn them, as he hasdone in the past. It was one of his em-ployees, Eric McKinley, who lives overtoward Grantsburg. “You need to getin the basement. I saw a tornado,”McKinley said.Dave hung up and walked outside.

He could see low clouds streaking infrom someplace. When they got to thetop of the trees, he lost track of themand couldn’t see where they weregoing. “I’ve never seen that before,” hesaid. He grabbed a candle and threepillows; and he, Roy and Krissa wentinto the basement.Because of the location of their prop-

erty overlooking Little Doctors Lake,Dave had thought about where wouldbe a safe place to go in case of highwinds. His focus had zeroed in on a 5-foot by 12-foot table in the basement,with a kneehole in the center and over-hang on each end. “I recall telling (Royand Krissa) we should get under-neath,” Dave said. Just about that time,their ears popped. The three crawled under the table,

Roy and Krissa in the kneehole and

Dave on the right corner.“I don’t think we were under that

table even one minute,” Dave said. “Iheard the window blow, not just glassbreaking but the huge noise of‘whoosh.’ The house began to creak asthe winds hit it. I never heard a train;or if there was that sound, I don’t re-member. I could hear the sound ofwood breaking and something break-ing loose.”He could see the floor joists move

and the cement wall opposite them col-lapse into the basement. He could seedaylight because the house had justdisappeared. Hail as big as a fist andwater were pouring into the basement.The center floor beam fell down on thetable the three were under, causing thetable to shift.“I never felt scared or worried for our

safety (until then),” Dave said. “Ithought we were going to be trapped,with the house gone and things comingdown on us.” He added, “Not know-ing where the house was, was unset-tling.”From the time the first window blew

in until the time the beam hit the tablewas 45 seconds.Dave waited until the sound of air

moving had stopped, then he calledover to make sure Roy and Krissa wereOK, before stepping on the table andshelving to crawl out of the basement.He felt awestruck, seeing things scat-tered all over the place when five min-utes before, there had been perfectorder. The sense of personal loss had-n’t hit yet. It wouldn’t, until about12:30 or 1:30 a.m.With the tornado putting him about

six weeks behind in his cabinetry work,one of Dave’s priorities was getting theshop back up and running. First thingthe next morning, he called Brad Peter-son, Peterson Construction, Webster,who brought almost his entire crewover to clean up the area and start workon a new shop.The biggest loss in the shop was a set

of tables Dave was making for the ex-pansion of the Pour House, a Sirenbusiness that, too, was totally de-stroyed by the tornado. Other thanthat, because he had been working onan outside job, Dave didn’t have a lot ofprojects going on in the shop.Built just like the old shop but a bit

larger, the new Wegner Cabinetrybuilding is nearly finished, with ma-chinery to go back in the week of Au-gust 6. The next big job to be tackled isreplacement of the house.Although they lost so much by way

of personal possessions, the mood atthe Wegners is positive. “It could havebeen worse. I could have been awidow,” Janis commented. - NancyJappe

10 10 stories of courage, hope and survival • 10-year anniversary of 2001 tornado

by Ed JacobsonDistrict Emergency Coordinator for

RACES In the early hours of June 18, 2001,

the National Weather Service issued asevere weather warning with the possi-bility of producing tornadoes. Sixteenhours later a tornado hit Siren.During those 16 hours members of

the local amateur radio group Nor-WesCo Radio Amateur Civil Emer-gency Services, who were contacted bythe NWS in Duluth, watched the sky.When they sighted the tornado as itcrossed the St. Croix River, they usedtheir handheld radios to radio theNWS.The NWS is good at predicting

which storms might produce tornadoesbut their Doppler radar system seesonly the top of the storm. They needthe “troops on the ground,” like theNorWesCo storm spotters, to tell themwhen and where an actual tornado hasbeen sighted.After our tornado had dissipated, the

work of NorWesCo RACES took an-other form. They went to the emer-gency operations center commandedby Bobbi Sichta, emergency manage-ment director for Burnett County. Theyprovided communication across thevarious services—Salvation Army, RedCross, DNR, power company, fire ...NorWesCo RACES, supplemented byoutside mutual aid, provided 66 radiooperators for Skywarn and the EOC.Carol Christenson, warning coordi-

nator meteorologist for the NWS in Du-luth, quoted from the NWS Web site,“The National Weather Service worksclosely with the local law enforcement,SKYWARN, and ham radio networks,to reduce the loss of life and propertyduring severe weather. It was this co-operation that helped us to reduce theloss of life with this tornado.”But you don’t have to be a ham radio

operator to receive weather alerts. Youneed only to invest in a weather radioand keep it on. Be weather safe.

A gift from the tornado4

Janis Wegner holds the picture of her son Wesley that was taken duringthe 1999-2000 school year. The picture, underneath the current year’s photoin a frame on the Wegners’ piano, was picked up by the June 18, 2001 tornadowinds and deposited 80 miles away, in a driveway north of Cable. The manwho found it, Gilbert Wald, returned the picture. Shown here with Janis, sit-ting on the edge of the basement where once their house stood are (L to R)husband Dave and sons Isaac and Josiah. - Photo by Nancy Jappe

Landmark lost

The old Siren Hotel on Main Street was razed following the 2001 tornado,after sustained extensive damage. - Photo by Nancy Jappe

““TTrrooooppss oonn tthhee ggrroouunndd””:: aammaatteeuurr rraaddiioo ooppeerraattoorrss

ppllaayyeedd aa kkeeyy rroollee

8

The 2001 tornado produced signs of determination and evenhumor - and several that were blown away. At left, Pat Cremin ofrural Siren holds up part of the original sign of the Inter-CountyLeader’s Siren office, found recently in woods about 100 yardsfrom his house. It was lying face-down and covered with leavesand debris. “It was surprisingly well preserved after a 10-mileflight and nine years of waiting to be discovered,” Cremin noted.Also found were cups and cones from the Dairy Queen and steelsiding which may have come from the original hockey rink, alongwith other odds and ends. “Our house was severely damaged inthe tornado,” Cremin said. “I am still picking shards of glass outof the interior of our log home. Our forest is recovering well - fi-nally. We are still harvesting firewood from trees downed in thetornado.” Cremin said the financial and emotional impact of the2001 tornado “will be with us for a lifetime,” and that he’s foreverindebted to the hundreds of volunteers that helped with the sur-vival, repair and cleanup efforts. “God bless you all,” he noted.“You helped restore my faith in humanity when I needed it themost.” - Photo submitted


3 Paying it forward: A trip to Wadena

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File photos and submitted

Twenty-one people from the Siren area, under thedirection of Pastor Steve Ward and Siren HighSchool Food Service Manager Deb Jaskolka, traveledfour hours each way to Wadena, Minn., Wednesday,Aug. 21, 2010, to serve a meal to people in the areaaffected by a June 17, 2010, F4 tornado. The purpose of the trip was to pass on a gesture

made by 24 people from Comfrey, Minn., whobrought a meal, good cheer and encouragement toSiren-area residents following the Siren tornado June18, 2001.The Comfrey group visited Burnett County three

months after a tornado. The people from Comfreyknew how important it is to hear from other tornadosurvivors following such a difficult time. Seventy-five percent of their town was destroyed by a tor-nado in 1998. The people there received enoughmoney in donations that they set aside some forother uses. One of them was sharing with peoplewho had a similar experience.People in Burnett County, after the tornado,

vowed to do the same. And they kept their promise- twice - once when a tornado struck in Ladysmithand again in 2010 when the Wadena tornado oc-curred. - with information from stories by Nancy Jappe

Wadena’s water tower (photo above, left), on the east sideof the city, showed no damage from the tornado but on thewest side the storm destroyed the high school and the com-munity center, taking down trees in the cemetery and de-stroying or seriously damaging homes in a stretch of thatarea. - Photo of water tower by Nancy Jappe - photo of tornado bydiscovery.com

One of the houses in the tornado-stricken area of Wadena, Minn. in August of 2010,a community of 4,200 people that was hit by a tornado in June of that year. A homeowned by Pastor Gary Rokenbrodt, who was the new pastor at Clam Falls and ZionLutheran, Bone Lake, was one of those destroyed by this tornado.

Kitchen helpers who traveled nearly four hours each way to bring a meal to the peo-ple in the tornado-stricken area of Wadena, Minn., in August of 2010 are shown here(L to R): Deb Jaskolka, Heather Marth, Sharon Richison, Cheryl Turnbull and Barb Hol-comb. A total of 21 people from the Siren area made the trip, bringing food, workersand positive thought to those coping with the effects of a destructive summer storm.- Photos by Nancy Jappe


Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge andstrength, an ever-present help in time oftrouble.”

by Pastor Steve WardAs I look back with the advantage of

10 years behind us, I could ask myself,“Where was God when this tornadostruck?”Instead I ask, “Where is it that God

wasn’t?”In life we can always look back and

can see God’s hand at work even if wedidn’t realize it at the time.I saw God at work as I worked with

many people I know that God put inplace to help with the emergency crisisand relief after the tornado.God was there long before the storm,

as our police Chief Dean Roland wentaround trying to warn people that astorm was coming. God was there aspeople took shelter.God was there as Phil Stromberg, a

Wisconsin Department of Natural Re-sources forest ranger from Webster,used a plan the night of the tornado thathe had developed to help firefightersget to fires in an emergency. That planproved critical as the DNR stepped in tohelp right from the beginning, and inthe weeks after, cutting and brushingmany of the trees that the tornado blewover. Many trees had to be cut the nightof the storm to help emergency peopleget to trapped victims, as well as electri-cal people to get through the debris tohelp restore the power with the manydowned power lines.God was there when Burnett County

Emergency Management Director BobbiSichta coordinated the overall recovery

effort.God was there when the Siren com-

munity passed a building project for anew elementary school, cafeteria andschool auditorium. This facility wasused after the tornado as a shelter forpeople whose homes were lost or dam-aged. The cafeteria was used to feed thepeople and many volunteers who cameto help our town. It was also a gather-ing place for people to come and sharetheir stories. Red Cross, Salvation Army,the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency and social services all set upthere to be in one place for people whowere affected by the tornado, so theycould come and get help. The audito-rium was used to hold a communityprayer service for people to gather to-gether and pray and share their stories.How wonderful that we could come to-gether ecumenically as God’s people!God was there when the school ad-

ministration and staff answered the callto the community’s great need at a timeof crisis. God was there many years ago,when the school district hired DebbieJaskolka to run the school kitchen. Afterthe tornado, she gave countless hours ofher own time to coordinate the volun-teer effort to keep people fed. Otherschool staff pitched in and helpedGod was there when the St. Croix

Tribe responded and wanted to share inthe recovery. God was there and contin-ued his blessing as many organizationsand volunteers from all over came towork. Some offered prayer and financialsupport. God was there to help by send-ing the United Methodist Committee onRelief, Christian Aid Ministry, UnitedMethodist Volunteers In Missions,Church of the Brethren and LutheranSocial Services.These church organizations, as well as

many other people, all worked togetherto share God’s love, by helping God’s

people.God was there with Project Recovery

and the Community Interfaith Connec-tion.God worked with these people as the

community and whole area continuedto heal and to rebuild. How nice that thecommunity, churches , schools, chamberof commerce, village employees andgovernment agencies all worked to-gether. People who provided disasterrelief all over the country commentedhow nice it was to see how we allworked together.Where was God? God was before us

getting this great group of people ready.

God is beside us to guide and comfortus. God is there in the future saying,“We can do all things through Christwho gives us the strength.” (Philippians4:13)I thank God for having given us hope,

strength, and comfort during that time.I thank God for all of the special peoplewho came to help and have left theirfootprints on our hearts forever as theyshared their love with us.

God bless you all,Pastor Steve Ward,First Baptist Church, Falun

“Where was God?”2

A newlywed couple’s home east of Siren was destroyed by the tornado. - Photo by Gary King

More than 60 grade-school-aged children and camp counselors waited out the tornadoin the basement of the Camp Ojibway chapel on Mudhen Lake the evening of June 18, 2001.- Photo by Jill Hoel


These aerial photos (above and below), taken a decade apart, tell a story of progress in rebuilding in the villageof Siren. - Photo above courtesy DNR, photo below by Carl Heidel with pilot Ernie Swanson

The Pour House, owned for years by Bill and Jan Hunter, is shown themorning of June 19, 2001. The Hunters rebuilt their business at the sameHwy. 35 location, below. - Photo above by Gary King, photo below by Carl Hei-del

The north end of Siren was in the direct path of the tornado. Then-Gov.Scott McCallum viewed the damaged areas via helicopter and declared astate of emergency. The village received a state grant of $500,000 and Bur-nett and Washburn counties received $250,000 from the U.S. Departmentof Labor to help rebuild. - Photo above by Robert Holmes, photo below by CarlHeidel

Just one year after the tornado, the village of Siren was well into its rebuilding and recovery as shown by these photos taken of Works Progress Street. - Photos by Gary King

BBeeffoorree && aafftteerr


1

Reprinted from June 20, 2001 Inter-County Leader

For years to come folks will pause on June 18 toremember how the abrupt tornado tore up apretty little town and countryside and upendedthousands of lives. Eventually, all but three of ourarea’s perseverant inhabitants will have bouncedback with reconstructed businesses, homes andlives. But the grave markers of Rose Schultz, TomHaseltine and Sylvan Stellrecht will forever bearthe date June 18, 2001, when an unannounced andunfeeling winds took their lives. All three livedwithin a two-mile radius in the Hertel area.According to authorities, 80-year-old Ruth

Schultz was at home playing cards with her hus-band, Ray, 75, and 53-year-old son Lenny Pfund-heller when the storm alert came over a policescanner. As the three attempted to take shelter in the

basement, the tornado bore down without warn-ing on the house. Ruth had just made it to the topof the stairs when the walls collapsed and flyingdebris sent her into a countertop. She died ofblunt injuries to her chest and abdomen. Sylvan Stellrecht, 77, was alone at his home on

Spaulding Road near Poquette Lake when the de-struction came.

“No one knows exactly what happened,” hisniece, Peggy Gabrielson, said. Son-in-law AllenMelton found Stellrecht outside in the yard, andaccording to Burnett County Medical ExaminerPat Taylor, his death was caused by head traumaand neck injuries. Gabrielson said Sylvan’s wife,Shirley, was at her mother’s home in Shell LakeMonday afternoon and returned home to cookSylvan’s dinner. Her mother called her back intotown that evening, where she was when the tor-nado struck. At her mother’s birthday party Sunday, the day

after her husband’s funeral, Shirley said “I’d liketo thank my mother for saving my life, because ifshe hadn’t asked me to come back into town, Iwould have perished with Sylvan.” The Stell-recht’s home was destroyed, and their daughterJulie Melton’s and son Ron Stellrecht’s nearbyhomes were also hit.Tom Haseltine, 60, survived the actual storm

Monday in his Poquette Lake home with his wife,Carol. According to Carol, Tom saw that hisbrother Lyle’s place across the lake had been hit,and he set out on a four-wheeler to survey thedamage. On his way, he caught a guy wire in thechest, throwing him from the four-wheeler andcausing his death. - Katie Blake

Things we say shall float awayBut print shall freeze a thoughtThis is but a humble way to sayHuman spirit can not be fought

All you folks who came to helpShare a special bond

You must know the gratitude we feltIt gives us the strength to carry on

The awesome power that swelled withinFrom friends and people we metSurpassed the fury of the storm

And we shall not forget

Precious family ever so strongHelped as we knew they would

Then it wasn’t very longWhen friends did what they could

Strangers came to lend a handIn cars and trucks and bus

They restored our faith in manDespair won’t conquer us

This world bombarded by heinous crimesCommitted by heartless menMay be a sign of the times

But there are more of us than them.

- V.L. Haseltine on behalf of all survivors of the June 18, 2001 tornado

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Moreof Us

This is part of a giant mural painting of sunflowers that sprungup everywhere following the tornado, unveiled during the obser-vance of the six-month anniversary of the tornado Tuesday, Dec.18, 2001, at Siren School. The artwork was done by Brianna Rucin-ski and 19 of her classmates at Siren School “The painting showsa rebirth, that something beautiful can come out of destruction.The sunflowers are something beautiful that came out of the tor-nado,” Brianna said. - Photo by Nancy Jappe

A memorial for the Town ofDewey, to remember the threepersons who lost their lives inthe June 18, 2001 tornado wasunveiled in June of 2002. Thoselosing their lives were TomHaseltine, Ruth Schultz and Syl-van Stellrecht. The memorialwould incorporate the bell fromthe McCarty School, later usedas the town hall. The bell, pur-chased from Montgomery Wardin 1903 for $7.50, was the onlything that survived when the tor-nado destroyed the rest of thebuilding. - Photo by Nancy Jappe

Frozen in time, a metal fishing boat that was twisted by the tornado wascreated into a shrine of sorts by Rudy Mothes of Siren. On the other sideof Siren, a memorial in Crooked Lake Park is a reminder of the lives lost anddestruction to homes and families in the wake of the storm. - Photos byNancy Jappe

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The e-edition of this publication can be found at www.the-leader.net. It includes allphotos in color and extra pages of photos from the 2001 tornado.

13

June 18, 2001 tornado

Flattened trees in the town of LaFollette

Combine on truck in Town of Dewey

10 stories of courage, hope and survival • 10-year anniversary of 2001 tornado

14

Siren on the night of the tornado

Gas station in Sirein



June 18,2001

tornado

MudhenLakehome

SirenDairy Queen

Town of Dewey

The cleanup begins

Shoreline at Mudhen





June 18,2001

tornado

PAGE 20 - WASHBURN COUNTY REGISTER - MARCH 30, 201120



Documents

10th anniversary tornado