Kids & Family

Tornado Debris Travels 125 Miles, Lands in Lemont Yard

Mail, a certificate of Honorable Discharge, and other debris with a Washington, Illinois return address landed in the front yard of a Lemont home following a Nov. 17 tornado.

Like most children, Eily Brousseau, 8, is terrified of storms and tornados. But following the heavy storms of Nov. 17, the Lemont youngster has a new sense of wonderment over the power of Mother Nature. 

Eily found debris including pieces of photos, newspaper remnants and personal checks—some presumably carried from the home of a woman named Lisa Hunter in Washington, Ill.—125 miles away from Lemont. 

Eily looked up the last name Hunter in Washington, and discovered the heroic tale of a family's 6-year-old son urging his mother to take shelter at the sound of the tornado siren, Brousseau said. It's reported that six people in Illinois were killed when an EF-4 tornado touched down—one fatality in Washington, according to an ABC report.

"We are grateful that the Hunter family is unharmed!" wrote Eily's mother, Katie Brousseau, in an email to Patch.

The debris was scattered throughout the front and back yard of the Brousseau home, at 502 Singer Ave. in the historic area of Lemont, Brousseau said. 

"It's truly incredible," wrote Brousseau. Her daughter's third grade classmates at Ss. Cyril and Methodius were on the lookout for additional items Monday morning. 

"She has been able to find some good in the situation," Brousseau said of her daughter.  "She is going to put together a care package for Ms. Hunter's two boys to show them her appreciation for their safety.  

"It's interesting how situations like this can bring people together!"

Editor's Note: Patch has blurred the exact street address of Lisa Hunter for her privacy.

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