An EF-3 tornado destroyed a Streator, Illinois home, trapping Gary and Roxanne Rymek under collapsed debris after the storm hit Thursday night. Gary freed Roxanne but couldn’t get himself out until first responders arrived; both were taken to a hospital as com
STREATOR, Ill. — The tornado hit with such speed that Gary Rymek says the only way to survive was to move into a closet and hold on.
He and Roxanne Rymek were in their home on 12th Street when the strong storms rolled through the Chicago area Thursday night. Within moments of taking shelter, the structure began to fail. Gary described the moment the collapse started: “The door flew out of my hand. and then everything just started falling apart.”.
Roxanne later tried to put the force into words. “I felt through my back like I was being pushed really hard down to the floor, but what was happening is the roof fell on us.”
Gary remembers the two of them exchanging what they thought could be their last words. “All I remember is my wife telling me, you know, I love you, and I told her I love you, too,” he said.
When the storm passed, they were still there—trapped beneath the wreckage. Gary had injuries immediately after the collapse: a nail punctured his arm and his ankle was crushed. He also worried about something more than impact and bruising.
“The gas was coming out pretty bad, and I know just a little spark, it would have done it,” Gary said.
Despite the pain, he pushed to get his wife out first. Gary used his good arm to free Roxanne, and Roxanne escaped the debris. But Gary remained stuck underneath the collapsed home.
Roxanne described what it took to watch him become trapped—and what she couldn’t do. “There was so much debris on top of him. Part of it was the roof because I remember seeing our shingles there,” she said. She added she wasn’t able to move the wreckage on her own.
Outside, a nearby freelance journalist, Scott Lasker, was recording video when he heard Roxanne calling for help. “And I ran over there immediately, and she said, ‘Can you please help me? My husband is trapped underneath our house that collapsed,’” Lasker said.
Video captured the chaotic minutes as he got close to the debris and spoke with Gary. Gary told him, “I think I got a broken leg.”
Lasker began helping remove material. He described the trapped spaces that made Gary’s injury worse. “There were shelving units and doors, and it looks Iike they were crushing his leg, so I was able to get it off of half of his body to give him a little bit of comfort,” Lasker said.
First responders eventually arrived and freed Gary from the wreckage.
Both Gary and Roxanne Rymek were taken to a hospital. Their home was destroyed, but they emphasized that the outcome could have been worse.
“I’m just very thankful I’m alive, that we are,” Gary said.
Roxanne suffered lacerations across her body. Gary is expected to need surgery on his leg. While recovery started in the hospital, the next steps were already beginning at home too: the couple has started the process of determining where they will live next.
By Friday, communities began the cleanup process across the area still working through the damage left by the EF-3 tornado.
EF-3 tornado Streator Illinois Rymek couple Chicago area storms tornado cleanup trapped under debris first responders