One year after a tornado decimated their house, a Naperville couple is still working with contractors and insurance: ‘I just wish it was time for us…

Marc and Marie Whirledge ate lunch this week in camping chairs under a parkway tree outside their home on Nutmeg Lane, nearly a year after an EF-3 tornado tore through their neighborhood June 20, 2021.

Their two-story house is a skeleton of studs and flooring protected from the weather by a new roof and thin layer of home wrap.

While the rain cant get in, birds and carpenter bees can, and they are the only occupants of the Whirledge home.

A sticker prohibiting occupancy still hangs on the front door of the Naperville home of Marc and Marie Whirledge, background, a year after a tornado ripped through their neighborhood. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

Marie said shes able to visit everyday to check on the progress, or lack thereof, because theyre living with her parents five minutes away.

She watches her neighbors return home, though their houses experienced similar damage and also were tagged as uninhabitable. Im really happy for them. I just wish it was time for us to move in, she said.

We were very fortunate

Marie Whirledge said she and younger daughter Maddy, 20, were home June 20, 2021, but didnt think anything of the severe weather alert when they went into their separate bathrooms to get ready for bed about 11 p.m.

Minutes later, Marie said Maddy ran down the hall after hearing a strange sound and the two met in the sitting area of the primary bedroom.

I grabbed her and went to the floor. Immediately debris was flying around.

We were very fortunate. That was the one place that didnt have broken windows, Marie said. Thank God we were OK.

The tornado blew out 17 of the houses 23 windows, ripping apart Maddys bedroom and propelling her door on its frame down the hall.

Marie said somehow they walked barefoot, unscathed through the broken glass, insulation and rubble to the basement where they had shoes free of glass. The only cut Marie said she received was when she reached into a side pocket of her purse where a piece of glass was lodged.

Marc, a pilot for Southwest Airlines who was on a layover in Raleigh-Durham, said when Marie called about the tornado, she described the house as messy. Catching the first flight out in the morning, he would arrive in the neighborhood by 8 a.m. to see exactly what Marie meant.

Princeton Circle home

The only Naperville home completely destroyed by the June 20 tornado was a two-story house at 1809 Princeton Circle a few blocks away from the Whirledges.

Its residents, Arvind and Savita Patel, miraculously survived, though they had to be pulled from the rubble by firefighters.

Dilip Patel, left, joins family members, friends and volunteers in searching for valuables in the debris of the 1809 Princeton Circle house in Naperville destroyed by the June 20, 2021, tornado. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Savita Patel initially was listed in critical condition and in the intensive care unit at Edward Hospital in Naperville because of broken bones in her chest.

Arvind Patel on Wednesday said he and his wife, who are living a few miles away in Naperville, are doing well and are thankful for all the help from the community.

He said he plans to replace the house; the work is being done by Naperville builder DJK Custom Homes.

Contractor change

Now that its a year later, the Whirledges say they wonder how long their insurance company will be willing to shell out money for temporary living expenses.

Its been challenging to live with my parents because they are immunocompromised so we have to be super careful, Marie said. Last month Marc contracted COVID at work so that meant a 10-day, out-of-pocket hotel stay.

They originally were told the house would be repaired by Christmas, she said. But when the contractor they hired from the insurance companys preferred vendor list didnt show up after seven weeks, they had to hire a different company to do the work.

The second contractor was able to repair the roof in the living room that was dripping into the basement despite being tarped and replace the support beam blown out by the tornado that holds up the bedroom over the garage.

The work overall has been a series of starts and stops.

The property at 1809 Princeton Circle in Naperville remains vacant on June 15, nearly a year after a tornado destroyed the two-story home on June 20, 2021. Homeowners Arvind and Savita Patel survived, and they plan to rebuild on the site. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun)

Marie said she was hopeful the siding would arrive soon after the windows were installed in March.

Shes still waiting. The house wrap placed on the exterior at the same time the windows were installed is coming off and will need to be replaced.

Whats also frustrating, Marie said, is examining 60 pages of claims adjustments each time a change is made to figure out if insurance is going to cover the costs.

The deck needs painting and a structural engineer told them the 10 posts supporting the deck need to be made plumb; the insurance adjuster quoted $2,000, she said. Thats not even enough for the paint, Marie said.

The couple also were told insurance would not cover any drywall bombarded with glass and debris. Marc said those walls were supposed to be patched and painted.

The slow progress often is blamed on difficulties getting supplies, they said.

Neighbor Al Steffeter said he suspects its more about finding people to perform the work.

A retiree who worked in project management for 40 years in the commercial industry, Steffeter said subcontractors are taking jobs in new home construction because thats where the work is steady.

Its a challenge for contractors to find tradespeople to come in for what amounts to a one- or two-day job, he said.

A Naperville firefighter marks the Nutmeg Lane home of Marc and Marie Whirledge as uninhabitable on June 22, 2021, two days after a tornado ripped through the Naperville neighborhood. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

A silver lining is that when the Whirledges finally move home, most of their belongings will be new.

Marc said 80% of the furniture and contents of their home was ruined, and insurance is paying for that. The remaining 20% was cleaned and placed in storage.

They also said their computers, photo albums and other treasured heirlooms were not damaged.

We didnt lose our memories. That is a huge blessing, Marie said.

Advice for others

Marie said some neighbors have opted to move away rather than deal with the hassles of rebuilding.

She wont leave because of the close bonds she developed with neighbors and the neighborhood post-tornado.

Shes grateful to all the volunteers from groups like Naperville-based Bike Bald who helped clean up the mess, Little Pops that brought pizza or the community members who donated gift cards, Marie said.

It was just overwhelming, she said.

Marc and Marie Whirledge stand outside their tornado-damaged home in Naperville Thursday. A year after a tornado decimated the house, the Whirledges are still waiting for the contractor to complete the work so they can move back home. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

Marc said looking back, hed like to see a 48- to 72-hour moratorium on contractors coming into a devastated neighborhood with business cards and pressuring people.

An older couple down the street paid $6,000 to remove downed trees, he said. If they would have just waited a few days, volunteers with chainsaws could have done it for free, Marc said.

In addition, he advises people not to sign anything without fully investigating whether the contractor has the ability to work with insurance and to provide a firm time when the work will be completed.

The only urgent need after a tornado, Marc said, is to board up the house, tarp the roof and get fans to mitigate the water damage. People can hire those services and bill their insurance companies later, he said.

subaker@tribpub.com

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One year after a tornado decimated their house, a Naperville couple is still working with contractors and insurance: 'I just wish it was time for us...