Moore Resident's Hometown In Illinois Hit By Massive Tornado

Evelyn Shaffer survived the May 20 tornado, and now six months later, her hometown of Washington, Illinois, is living the same nightmare.

Monday, November 18th 2013, 10:42 pm

By: News 9


The tornado devastation in the Midwest has made an Oklahoma woman relive the pain.

Evelyn Shaffer survived the May 20 tornado, and now six months later, her hometown of Washington, Illinois, is living the same nightmare.

Washington, Illinois, is about two hours south of Chicago and Shaffer now lives 700 miles away in Moore, Oklahoma. A tornado tore through Shaffer's hometown Sunday.

"I thought, ‘they're experiencing what Moore, Oklahoma went through,'' Shaffer explained.

Washington is a town of about 16,000 residents.

"I was frantic because I couldn't get a hold of people, just like when we were hit here in Moore, they couldn't get a hold of us," Shaffer said.

The National Weather service says the tornado was an EF-4. Shaffer has finally heard from all of her family and they are safe.

"Did not get very much sleep last night, I couldn't shut my mind down," she added.

The twister destroyed 400 homes, but the house Shaffer grew up in still stands. However, her cousin lost most of her home and countless friends lost their childhood homes.

"My one friend made the comment, ‘I only thought this would happen in Oklahoma, not in Washington, Illinois,'" Shaffer said.

Shaffer is struggling with being ten hours away from her hometown.

"I would like to meet all my family and friends at the Washington Square and just love on them," said Shaffer.

The Red Cross said Monday Oklahoma volunteers remain on standby to respond to the Midwest for help.

Shaffer is planning a trip back to her hometown for the holidays.

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