Residents explore the devastation from an F-5 tornado around Plainfield High School on Aug. 28, 1990.
Residents who were injured during the tornado in Plainfield receive treatment Aug. 28, 1990, at the village’s fire station.
Firefighters look for victims on the second floor of one of the three-story buildings at Crest Hill Lakes Apartments in Plainfield on Aug. 28, 1990, after an F-5 tornado hit the area.
A resident of Plainfield, back to camera, gets a hug from a relative Aug. 29, 1990, the day after a tornado demolished her home on Pratt Lane. About 1,500 buildings were either damaged or destroyed.
Cranes are brought into place at Crest Hill Lakes Apartments in Plainfield on Aug. 28, 1990, to help remove victims of an F-5 tornado that hit the community.
A grief-stricken girl is consoled as she sits in the triage center at the Plainfield Fire Department on Aug. 28, 1990, after a deadly F-5 tornado hit the village.
An injured Plainfield resident is treated at the village’s fire station after a tornado tore through the area Aug. 28, 1990.
Lily Cache subdivision resident John Lee sits in his rocking chair on Aug. 29, 1990, and surveys the damage done the day before by the F-5 tornado in Plainfield.
National Guard members keep an eye on the neighborhoods in Plainfield on Aug 29, 1990, the day after a tornado ravaged the area.
An Eby-Brown truck sits in the DuPage River near Plainfield on Aug. 28, 1990, after a tornado ripped through the area.
A police dog is used to help search for bodies Aug. 29, 1990, the day after a deadly F-5 tornado hit Plainfield.
Residents of Crest Hill Lakes Apartments in Plainfield carry what they can salvage from their homes Aug. 28, 1990, after an F-5 tornado hit the area.
National Guard members from Joliet search for bodies in a cornfield near the Crest Hill Lakes Apartments in Plainfield on Aug. 29, 1990, the day after an F-5 tornado ravaged the area.
Mark Goodwin, of Plainfield, recovers his golf clubs from his apartment Aug. 28, 1990, after the building was destroyed when a tornado swept through northeastern Illinois.
Firemen search for bodies in Plainfield on Aug. 29, 1990, the day after an F-5 tornado devastated the area.
People survey the damage in Plainfield on Aug. 28, 1990, after a deadly tornado hit the area. About 1,500 buildings were either damaged or destroyed.
A Plainfield resident climbs through debris Aug. 28, 1990, after an F-5 tornado hit the area.
Hazel and Randall Stark pick through the remains of their tornado-ravaged house in Plainfield on Aug. 29, 1990.
Rescue workers explore the area around St. Mary Immaculate Church in Plainfield on Aug. 29, 1990. The school behind the church was completely flattened by the F-5 tornado the previous day.
Scuba divers look for bodies in a pond at the Crest Hlll Lakes Apartments complex in Plainfield on Aug. 29, 1990, the day after a deadly F-5 tornado hit the area. Twenty-nine people were killed.
Isaca Agba looks at what is left of his car at Crest Hill Lakes Apartments in Plainfield on Aug. 29, 1990, the day after a tornado hit the area.
Kevin Smith gets a phone call as his friends and daughter, Amy Sue, 13, help demolish what’s left of his home in Plainfield on Aug. 31, 1990, three days after a deadly tornado tore through town. Debris from other buildings burns in the background.
Volunteers dismantle what’s left of a house in Plainfield’s Peerless Estates subdivision on Aug. 31, 1990, while a bonfire of debris burns in the background.
Cindy Egan, left, and her niece Barb Fitzpatrick gather what’s left from the second floor of their James Street home in Plainfield on Aug. 29, 1990, the day after an F-5 tornado destroyed the community
Lucy Welch stands with the items she could save from her Plainfield home on Aug. 29, 1990. She said that she’s happy to be alive and that her family and friends weren’t hurt in the tornado.
After going through tornado rubble on Aug. 29, 1990, Truder Kaiser, left, and Carol Russell find the American flag that had been used to cover the casket of Russell’s husband — who had been a Korean War veteran. The two decided to place the flag between two trees to raise everyone’s spirit the day after a deadly F-5 tornado devastated the community.
