Girl recovers 61-year-old check after storm
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">No other weather phenomenon can match the fury and destructive power of a tornado. Tornadoes can throw railroad cars through the air like plastic toys and drive blades of grass into telephone poles.<br /> Tuesday's tornado left a trail of destruction that stretched from Perryville, Mo., to eastern White County in Illinois. While the city of Du Quoin was spared from a full-on hit of the tornado, residents there were still faced with cleaning up debris left behind by the winds that accompanied the wave of storms.<br /> In the aftermath, Heather Vancil and her 4-year-old daughter, Hailey, were cleaning up their Du Quoin yard and piecing back together the family's trampoline that was ripped apart by the storm when Hailey picked up a piece of paper, strangely in near-pristine condition.<br /> That paper was a cancelled check written Feb. 12, 1956, to Kirk & Val's Standard Service. The $2.50 check was drawn on the Bank of Perryville account of Dale G. Huber.<br /> Here, things get even stranger.<br /> Heather's husband, Bailey, is a grain salesman for Stone Seed. He thought the name sounded familiar. He was correct. As it turns out, Bailey's friend and co-worker, David Retherford of Advance, Mo., actually sold seed to Huber's son, Al.<br /> "Bailey said that Huber's farm was destroyed in the storm," Heather said.<br /> The Vancils plan to meet with Al Huber to return this little piece of history.<br /> "Dale has passed away," Heather said, adding the couple thought his son would like to have the check back.<br /> Hailey is not quite aware of the significance of her find. <br /> "We've explained to her what it is," Heather said, "but she's only four so she doesn't really understand. She just didn't know what to think."</span></span>
<em><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Force of Nature produces similarity to May 29, 1982 Marion storm</span></span></strong></em>
The story out of Du Quoin bears an eerie similarity to at least one incidence from the Marion tornado on May 29, 1982.
A few days after that tornado that left a path of destruction along Illinois Route 13 from Carterville to Illinois Route 166, a man in Evansville, IN found a checkbook belonging to a Marion, IL resident who home was obliterated by the F4 tornado.
The Marion tornado caused 10 deaths, nearly 200 injuries, and left over 1,000 people homeless.