Rebuilding a dream house

ST. MARY, Mo. -- Allen Rodewald is no stranger to natural disasters.

The flood of 1993 destroyed his family's home near McBride, Mo.

Three weeks ago, a tornado ripped through a rural section of St. Mary along U.S. 61 and again, his home was destroyed.

The difference between a flood and tornado?

"The tornado wiped out my house a lot quicker than the flood did," Rodewald said. And after floodwaters drained from as high as the gutters of his McBride home, he didn't move back.

But it didn't take long for Rodewald to decide what to do with his destroyed rural Perry County home.

"I loved my place," he said. "There wasn't much of a question to rebuild."

His dream two-bedroom, two-bathroom home was built on family property a little more than a year ago in a valley off U.S. 61. Hundreds of tall trees surrounded the one-story brick house that sat next to a small lake.

Rodewald could see for miles off his back porch into the hills of rural Perry County.

His mother lived in a small white home at the top of the hill, just off U.S. 61. Rodewald's brother, Donald, had a camper that sat on the property, next to the lake and a family pavilion where get-togethers were often held.

This was Rodewald's haven from the outside world -- until the night of Saturday, March 11.

Rodewald was sitting at home. The occasional lightning flashes illuminated the walls inside his house. Thunder rolled through the night sky and Rodewald could hear rain pounding on the roof.

His daughter, Jill, called and warned him tornadoes were in the area.

"I said, 'No big deal,'" he said.

Minutes later, "I just heard that roar and then it was a blur. I don't remember much else," Rodewald said. "If you wait till you hear that roar, you don't have time to do anything."

After a few minutes, the tornado had left its path of destruction through rural Perry County. Rodewald's house was in the center of the tornado's path.

Allen Rodewald in Perry County started rebuilding his house just weeks after it was destroyed during the tornado that hit the Perry County and Ste. Genevieve areas on March 11. (Diane L. Wilson)

The house was destroyed. The roof was torn off and walls were down. Debris was thrown everywhere. Trees were uprooted and blown over.

The next day Rodewald learned that his neighbors, Michael and Barbara Schaefer, had lost their lives in the tornado. Across U.S. 61, neighbor Don Valleroy's home was destroyed and next door, Robert Grogg no longer had a shop.

Rodewald's mother, Ruby Rodewald, rode out the tornado sitting on her couch. Her home was also ruined.

Pictures were taken for the insurance company on Monday after the tornado hit. Later that afternoon, Rodewald's friends and family members got busy cleaning up the tornado's aftermath.

The following evening a clean foundation sat ready for a new house to be built back up.

Carpenters who built the original house were available to start working immediately. Rodewald's insurance covered a majority of the damage left by the tornado.

It's been about two weeks since carpenters started rebuilding Rodewald's dream home.

On Wednesday, Rodewald sat outside his home with his daughter Jill and granddaughter Trinity. The walls are back in place and a roof hangs over the nearly constructed house.

"We still haven't found part of the original roof," Rodewald said. The roof may have been carried as far away as Sparta, Ill., where a resident there found some of Rodewald's personal paperwork. The papers had been stored in Rodewald's basement.

A few items, such as the windows, have been ordered and should be in place within a couple of weeks. Rodewald estimates he'll be living in his rebuilt dream home in less than two months.

Currently he's living in Perryville with his daughter, who enjoys having her father as company.

"My daughter loves it," Jill said. "She has her Paw Paw."

The area around Rodewald's home still resembles a disaster area. The camper sits upside down next to the lake and the family pavilion is leaning over.

"That camper was used three times and rolled over twice," Rodewald's brother Donald said.

A majority of the massive trees are either blown over or uprooted. Because of the thinned out trees, Rodewald can now see traffic on U.S. 61, something that was hidden before.

"There will be physical evidence for a long time," he said. "But it didn't take long to decide to put this house back here."

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246