Survival
Hanging on in the midst of tragedy
Special section • Inter-County Leader • June 20, 2011
A special section of photos from the tornado that hit Burnett County on Monday
Siren area copes with tornado’s aftermath
by Nancy Jappe SIREN – In the midst of tragedy, people often seize upon something humorous just to keep them going. Karen Howe, owner of Syren General Store, did this when she found ice cream still frozen in the freezer in her business, destroyed by the tornado that hit the village Monday evening. Howe, her family and friends were busy at work hauling salvageable merchandise out of the building. “When we finish this, we're going to have a cone,” she said. Howe’s building, new just a year ago, was on the north edge of the destruction.
Walking man Jens Rasmussen, a 90-something Siren legend who can be seen walking to the grocery store or local restaurants several times a day, in all types of weather, lives less than a block from Siren Covenant Church. Rasmussen was home when the storm hit. The lights went out and he went to bed, in his second-floor bedroom. Dr. John Ingalls, Webster, is Rasmussen’s grandson. As soon as Ingalls got to Siren to volunteer his services, he went to check on Jens, finding him sound asleep, safe and totally unaware of the devastation that was going on around him. Like an earthquake “This reminds me of 1971 when a 6.3 (on the Richter scale) earthquake hit the San Fernando Valley in California. Like the Siren Hotel (whose one wall was gone, exposing the interior), that is the way all of the houses looked,” said Bill Heffner, who lives on Viola Lake. Heffner and his wife, Lois, came into Siren the next day to survey the damage. They saw the storm coming east across Viola Lake. Bill used the words “gray/green” in describing how the sky looked at that time. “It didn’t scare me that much,” he said. “A week ago, I saw skies that looked a lot worse than this.”
Holding on Greg Hunter, owner of the Pour House, a well-known Siren business, was at his home south and east of the village when the tornado struck. Hunter, a volunteer firefighter, heard the paging call and came into town in his role as firefighter, not realizing that his business had been one of those that was hit. Staff members and customers at the Pour House went into two walk-in coolers when the tornado hit. None were hit, but bartender Chris Cormell escaped injury by holding onto a customer’s leg as the cooler that sheltered him exploded. Hunter said the business was covered by insurance and that there is no doubt they will rebuild. “I have kids to bring up,” he said.
In a scene reminiscent of a war movie, a news helicipter hovers over the devated streets of Siren early Tuesday morning, ls than 12 hours after the tornado hit. – Photo by Gary King
Survivors Homes to the east of the Pour House were totally destroyed. Dick Blaker, his wife, Cindy, and daughter Naomi had just gotten into the basement when their home went down. The three spent the night at Siren United Methodist Church. Elderly residents at Birchwood Manor, the housing unit on Fourth Avenue, huddled into one room as the storm hit. Amazingly, all of
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