CLARK, PA. Stay or go? Most plan to rebuild

The woman whose house is expected to be a total loss said she wouldn't think of living anywhere else.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
CLARK, Pa. -- Barbara Zook said the tornado that destroyed her home a week ago isn't driving her out of town.
"It took my house, but it's not taking me out of here after 17 years," she said. "This is a beautiful town."
"Could you imagine living anywhere else?" asked her neighbor Tricia Mueller, who also lost her house to the twister.
"I already know what I'm doing," Zook said. "I'm putting a modular [home] in there," she said, nodding to where her house had stood at 16 Milton St. "That way, I won't have to deal with any contractors."
"I've got all the information you need. I'll get it for you," Mueller replied.
Not everyone has determined whether to rebuild, but some, like Zook, say they have no intention of leaving this quiet town of 630 people located on the southern shore of Shenango River Lake just east of Pa. Route 18.
"We bought this house 14 months ago in anticipation of when I get out of the Navy three months from now," said Matt Mueller as he stood in the driveway of what once was a brick home at 5 Nora St.
"This is where we were going to settle down," said the Navy physician, quickly correcting himself by adding, "It's still where we're going to settle down."
The Muellers, their two children, Christopher, 4, and Hanna, 3, and two guests rode out the tornado in their basement and escaped with some minor cuts and bruises.
Part of their house still stands.
One fatality
Zook and her son, Harold Jr., barely made it to the basement of their frame home and had to crawl out of the debris after the twister passed. They also suffered only minor injuries but their house was gone. Only the open basement, filled with debris, remained.
The storm killed her next-door neighbor, Charles E. Templeton, 81, of 22 Milton St., and left his wife, Georgette, 85, hospitalized. The Templeton house was also blown away, leaving only a basement.
Across the street, Eli Paczak, 76, of 2775 Lake Road, was blown out of his house and found in the yard. His house was also blown away, and he remains hospitalized.
Authorities said 18 people were hurt when the twister touched down in Clark and neighboring South Pymatuning and Delaware townships but most of the injuries were minor.
Up the street from Zook, Lisa and Rich Bordell said they plan to stay as well.
They were just completing an addition to their single-story ranch at 34 Milton St., and, though the house appears to be intact, it is expected to be declared a total loss.
There are at least five serious cracks in the foundation and the roof is separated from the walls. There's other internal structural damage as well.
The Bordells and their daughter, Nicole, 9, made it to their basement and weren't injured when all but two windows blew out of the house, Lisa said, adding that she was living in Niles on May 31, 1985, when a tornado devastated part of that city.
"I saw it. I was just a half-mile away," she recalled.
"We'll probably rebuild, right here too," she said as she lugged fallen branches to a waiting truck. "I wouldn't live anywhere else."
Her husband noted that he helped move his mother, Genevieve Bordell, to Clark several years ago. She lives just three doors away, and he said he wouldn't move away now.
Still considering
Others aren't sure they will stay.
Bruce and Cindy Wetzel rode out the storm in the first floor of their log cabin at 13 Nora St., which they had called home for eight years.
The twister left their house looking like a large version of a child's set of discarded Lincoln Logs. Bruce was pinned beneath the fallen fireplace in the living room.
His neighbors dug him out. The glint from a flashlight beam bouncing off his wedding ring led them to his location.
Wetzel walked away with minor cuts and bruises and initially said they would rebuild.
His wife noted they had planned to remodel their home next year and would now rebuild the entire place, but Wetzel said later in the week that they are rethinking their plans.
"We're not sure yet," he said has he mapped out plans to salvage his pool table from what had been the newly remodeled basement of his home.
"We might buy another house," he said adding that it might not be in Clark but it would definitely be in the same area.
Next door, Jim and Jan Scott of 9 Nora St. also lost the frame home they'd shared for 25 years to the tornado. They barely got to their basement, and Jim was injured when the wind blew the basement door shut on his right hand.
"We probably will rebuild here," Jan said, adding that no final decision has been made yet.
"We love the neighbors and the neighborhood. That's the only reason we would rebuild here," she said, adding, "It's amazing how many friends you have."
Sign of humor
The Scotts recently finished an addition to the back of their home. All that remained of the entire one-story home after the twister were some exterior and interior walls.
The storm damaged their house but left the Scotts' sense of humor intact. A large blue sign in their front yard reads "For Sale," and notes that the price was "just reduced" from $189,500 to $11,895.
Mayor Douglas Bradley isn't surprised by residents' decision to stay in what he described as a small, close-knit community.
"This community will bounce back," he predicted.
"The borough is a really, really nice place," said Jane Schell of 35 Nora St., whose home wasn't damaged, though a large pine tree fell on her van in her driveway.
She's lived here for 15 years, and like others in the borough not severely affected by the storm, she was walking around the day after the tornado to survey the damage and to see whether neighbors needed assistance.
She paused and slowly looked around as she reached the corner of Nora and Milton streets, the area hardest hit by the twister.
"It's never going to look the same," she said.