A month and a half after an EF-1 tornado swept through Country Club Hills, Hazel Crest, Harvey and Homewood on a looping track, some residents are still struggling to repair damaged homes.
Homewood resident Liz Varmecky said Thursday she finally got a roof replacement scheduled. Three trees fell onto her home on Cedar Avenue when the storm came through July 27, she said, damaging the roof and siding.
“I’m trying to like, make some lemonade out of the whole situation,” Varmecky said. “Getting a whole new roof, getting all new siding.”
The contractor she booked was so busy they wouldn’t be able to come do the work until the first or second week of October, Varmecky said.
“It will be nice to get them done and not have a hole in my roof after October,” she said. “I’m excited about that.”
Varmecky said she received some insurance money, but that it would not cover the full cost of replacing her roof, which was 12 years old.
“Whole new roof, but they’re only paying for a depreciated value,” Varmecky said. “And they’re only paying for three sides of my siding, and you know, there’s four sides of my house.”
It took more than two weeks after she filed the claim for an insurance adjuster to come out to her home, she said.
“In the end, they’re paying, I guess, more than half of the expenses, which is still going to be a pretty significant expense,” Varmecky said. “It’ll be nice to have the house refreshed, I guess. I’m trying to stay positive about it.”
Dozens of trees and branches were felled on Cedar Avenue by the July 27 storm. One small benefit, Varmecky said, that she didn’t get additional damage from the Aug. 11 storm that struck Homewood two weeks later.
“I think all of the trees that were going to come down, came down on the 27th,” Varmecky said. “I think our whole street was pretty fortunate in that way. We had so much damage the first time around.”
Daniel Richmond, who lives with his mother on Orchard Ridge Avenue in Hazel Crest, said insurance will cover the damage he received. The next step, he said, is to find a trustworthy contractor to do the repair work.
“It’s about finding a repair company that’s not looking to get over,” Richmond said. “It’s a lot of vultures in the area right now, passing out cards and fliers to do the repairs, but that doesn’t mean it’s a reputable company.”
The tree that hit Richmond’s home damaged the roof, with one branch breaking through a skylight and into the bathroom.
“That roof, in the rear section of my home, I wouldn’t say it’s gone, but it’s failed, the structure itself,” Richmond said. “Thankfully it didn’t go through the ceiling in the bedroom.”
He didn’t have any additional damage from the Aug. 11 storm either, he said, though he’d worried about the integrity of the damaged roof.
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“I was concerned about water damage, because I have tarps on my roof now,” Richmond said.
One frustrating thing in the aftermath of the storm, he said, was how long Xfinity cable service had been interrupted while he and his mother continued to be charged.
“That took weeks and the bill was not discounted in any way, considering what happened,” Richmond said. “They could’ve gave a little bit of grace on the bill.”
Immediately after the storm, Richmond was pessimistic about how long cleanup would take, but he said Friday the village had done a good job overall.
“I think they did about as good as they could do, as far as cleaning up the neighborhood, restoring power,” Richmond said. “You know, because it was the first time ever. I’ve been in Hazel Crest almost my entire life and that’s the worst storm we’ve ever had.”