WASHINGTON, Ill. (AP) - A year after deadly tornadoes ravaged Washington, the rebuilding rate is high and the community is even more tight-knit, according to a city official.
The central Illinois city has issued building permits for 80 percent of the 800 homes left uninhabitable after last November’s storms, according to Washington City Administrator Tim Gleason. Federal Emergency Management Agency officials have reported that the average rebuild rate is between 50 and 55 percent, he said.
More than 1,000 buildings in Washington were destroyed and three people died after the tornado hit on Nov. 17, 2013.
“The 70-year-old oak trees are gone forever but we will be better than the day before the tornado,” Gleason said.
Washington was one of the fastest-growing towns in the region before the destruction, and it still is, according to Gleason. The tornado damage in Tazewell County has boosted the local real estate industry, as well as the construction industry, the (Peoria) Journal Star (https://bit.ly/1vcLGU4 ) reported.
“The (central Illinois) building picture has been abnormal due to the tornado,” said Bob Brady of Keystone Homes, a Bloomington-based company that has rebuilt eight homes this year in the Washington market. “If it wasn’t for Washington, the construction business in central Illinois would be much slower.”
Phil Harvey, president of the Peoria Area Association of Realtors board, said a lot of inventory got eaten up after the storm. “The rental market went crazy,” he said. “That rental market is still very strong.”
The city is still working with small business owners to help them get back on their feet, according to Gleason.
“Our major concerns are the mom-and-pops, the specialty shops so important to this community,” he said.
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Information from: Journal Star, https://pjstar.com
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