ROME, N.Y. – A tornado that hit this small, upstate city tore off rooftops, leveled brick buildings and toppled the steeples of two historic churches. No one was killed, but the twister left a debris-strewn scar through downtown and nearby areas. More than 370 homes were damaged.
Residents are vowing to rebuild. But some of the damage on July 16 was so severe that the path forward is uncertain for many in this old manufacturing city, where people are more accustomed to digging out from snowstorms than from piles of rubble.
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Standing by the wreckage of his hot dog, catering and event business a week after the storm, Scott Smith gazed at the ruins of his storage space, which collapsed onto much of his equipment including tables, amusement rides and smokers. The 65-year-old owner of Scotty's Hot Dogs plans to forge ahead with his enterprises. But he needs to find new warehouse space.
“I do plan on rebuilding,” Smith said. “Is it going to be Rome? I would like to believe that.”
The 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme that was his first car was crushed. So was his first hot dog cart, which sat among a pile of bricks.
“I was hoping to save it for my first grandchild one day, you know, start him or her out,” Smith said. “It’s kind of sad to see it sitting in that debris right now.”
The July 16 tornado in Rome, which is home to about 32,000 people, was unusually destructive for this region, with peak winds of 135 mph (217 kph). It traveled for more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) and had an EF2 rating, considered “significant,” on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which rates tornadoes based on estimated wind speed and damage.
Only about one in six tornadoes in New York are EF2 or greater, said Nick Bassill, director of the State Weather Risk Communications Center at the University at Albany.
The Rome tornado was among 10 confirmed in the state that day. One of them killed an 82-year-old man about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of Rome who was struck by storm debris.
The tornado roared through Rome like a locomotive, Smith said. He and his girlfriend, Wendy Goldenbaum, sheltered in his catering kitchen, holding each other as the building shuddered.
In one particularly hard-hit area, four of the five homes that landlord Richard Secor owns likely will have to be demolished, he said, noting that includes one whose roof was ripped off but its occupants were OK.
“Everything just lifted up like ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and disappeared,” Secor said.
Dozens of businesses already have sought relief funds, Mayor Jeffrey Lanigan said.
Allison Graves has been working to haul stuff out of her New York Dance Academy studio, which adjoins a building that collapsed and took down a local landmark mural of a Revolutionary War hero on horseback. That left her building unusable and her plans are up in the air.
“Where can we go? What can we do? I have been offered by some local studios some space if I want to go in and use their studios for the time being,” Graves said.
Homeowner Willard Harvey is waiting for insurance information to decide how to proceed with his severely damaged house. He has a rural place up north where he and his wife can live. But he has memories of growing up in the home, which his parents owned previously. He thinks he would like to rebuild.
“Just my roots,” Harvey said. “I’ve been here all my life.”
Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente estimates demolishing uninhabitable and unsound structures could cost up to $25 million, and a couple of buildings need to come down soon. The county and the city have asked the state for help meeting the costs.
Some older buildings would be especially painful to lose, like the two 19th-century churches with extensively damaged steeples and roofs.
One of them, St. Mary’s, was sold by the local Catholic diocese several years ago and was not being used. The current owner said insurance would not cover the costs of rebuilding or demolition.
At the other church, First Presbyterian, crews used a giant crane to remove debris this week. The Rev. Edwina Landry remains hopeful that the parish can rebuild but said it’s too soon to say what is possible.
“There's so much history here,” she said. “People have grown up in this church, they were baptized here, married here, just experienced so many big life changes in this church building. And so that’s something that we want to hold on to.”
In the wake of the tornado, First Presbyterian held Sunday services in a nearby church that opened its doors to the congregation.
Lanigan, the mayor, said if some buildings can't be saved, officials at least want to pay homage to them in a way that honors Rome's long history. He is confident the city will bounce back.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” he said. “This is definitely going to take a little bit of time and a whole lot of effort from us, the community and our outside partners.”
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Associated Press writer Cedar Attanasio in New York City contributed.