The Rock Island Argus from Rock Island, Illinois • 3

Tuesday, November 1 9, 201 3 The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus A3 Illinois I IN v. 'v Vi- 1 tornado destroyed hundreds Photos: Paul Colletti pcollemqconline.com of neighborhood homes, many residents are returning to their Residents of Washington survey the damage and look for personal items to salvage on Monday. A day hnneac tft accacc tha rlamana anH holn thoir noinhknrc rlaan un. after a i 1 Above: George Harl, from Rock Island, and Shannon Potter, from East Moline, help Jeffrey Wara salvage belongings from his tornado-damaged home in Washington on Monday. Mr.

Wara, who is originally from East Moline, had his home totally destroyed by Sunday's storm. Left: Washington residents fly the American flag from the trunk of a tree that has been ripped off on Monday. were damaged really have to try hard to loot this," he added. "There are things in here that I would like to have still," he said. "And them telling me, 'You're not going to be able to get back into your house for three or five that's just stupid." Saved by gym bar Ann Marie Klein, of Washington, said her husband barely made it into the back room of their basement when the house collapsed.

Her family was saved by the strength of a gymnastics bar, she said. "He stepped in the door and shut it," Ms. Klein said. "And as he shut it, all the glass exploded, and he dove over the kids. "And when he dove over the kids, the ceiling above him fell," she said.

"And it landed on my daughter's gymnastics bar, which prevented them from being crushed." The sound of the tornado ripping through their home was almost indescribable, Ms. Klein said. "When they say you hear a train for anyone who has been through this, it's an understatement as to how loud and honestly unreal it seems," she said. "It seems like you're in a dream because it's so loud. "As we were trying to sleep, the kids had nightmares last night," Ms.

Klein said. "And as I tried to sleep, every time I closed my eyes, it's all I could hear." Ms. Klein said she wants to find photos and her wed ding ring. But she added she is just happy to have her family unscathed. "When it stopped, I looked at all my kids, and I could just see their eyes," she said "They were covered in white, covered in debris.

"You just don't think something like this can happen, and it can," she said. "My heart goes out to those people who didn't walk away from it" 15 MINUTE LUBE OIL CHANGE SHOP 600 17th St. Rock Island, IL Rock Island Hours nOQ 786 2224 30-5 30 tJUSJ 00.4 life of your car TTl ifilWl 111 I Don't run it into the ground! Maintenance is cheap! Storm: Mayor says From Page A1 when we got the call," Ms. Harl said. "So we drove from Iowa City back home and were going to head down.

But we were told that another storm was coming through, so we stayed put." Ms. Harl planned to go back to Rock Island Monday night but said she would return to Washington today to help with the cleanup. "We're still missing one (purse) and car keys, checkbooks and things like that," she said. "They have two cats that we haven't found yet." Trees between the city's destroyed homes were wrapped Monday in gutters, clothes and sheets of aluminum that slammed against them Sunday as the winds reached about 140 mph. One Washington resident died during the storm, and Washington Mayor Gary Manier has estimated 250 to 500 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Gov. Pat Quinn toured the city on Monday, receiving a phone call from President Barack Obama during his visit. Safe in the bathroom John Beyler Dann said he, his wife and their four kids barely made it through as the tornado ripped through their house, destroying even their basement. The winds threw his minivan from their garage into the basement, landing inches from him and his family. "It happened so fast," he said, "I shut the door, Brady Klein works with his family to find his mother's wedding ring in Washington on Monday.

The bright blue sky that stands behind Brady is now visible from the basement of his house after a tornado blew the first and second stories off the foundation on Sunday. The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Washington had wind speeds of 1 70 to 190 mph. Sell Your Boat in orl-80Q-5M-074o 250-500 homes gathered all my kids around me, and then I got pressed to the floor. "And then there was light and rain," he said. "What was I thinking? 'I'm gonna die, and all of my kids are going to be killed with me'." He said that, through the basement windows, he watched the storm approach while trying to get his dog into the basement bathroom with him and his family But the frightened dog bit him several times.

"My dog's in here some place, I think," he said. "She was in her kennel that's right here. She wouldn't come to me, though." The kennel also was covered with debris. Some areas of his basement contained at least five feet of his wrecked home. Frustration with officials On Monday afternoon, county deputies and local and state police were blocking all entrances into Washington.

Residents could walk into town but could not bring vehicles to haul out personal belongings. "You have to snake around neighborhoods to get to your home," Mr. Beyler Dann said. "They're (police) saying there's downed electrical lines and gas," he said. "But it's really (bad) the way we've been treated, like we're doing something wrong.

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