Wednesday’s tornado passed by the home of Michael Yeager Jr., southeast of Shumway, on its way to the business north of Effingham that has been in his family for decades – a cornerstone of the community and known nationwide among Volkswagen and Corvette enthusiasts.
“My wife and I live in Stoneridge,” said Yeager, the president and CEO of Mid America Motorworks. “We had a tornado out there, and so we immediately, once everything was safe, we checked on our neighbors and made sure the kids were safe and our friends.
“And then I saw a picture on Facebook, and I was like, I think that’s my building. And my general manager started calling me, and she was like, ‘It’s gone.'”
“What’s gone?” he asked.
“Everything is gone,” she answered.
Officials say the tornado touched down near Shumway at about 8 p.m. Wednesday. Yeager couldn’t get out of his neighborhood for about an hour. By the time he arrived at the business at 2800 N 3rd St., his insurance agent was already there.
“The museum, the cars, all of the memorabilia is gone,” Yeager said as he surveyed the scene Thursday morning. “We had another building back here, about a 7,000 or 8,000 square foot building behind our main building, that Vantage was leasing from us. That building is completely destroyed. I’m going to guess that two-thirds of our roof is gone.
“Right now, we’re just trying to get tax documents, computers, and just whatever we can get to kind of restart the business.”
The museum has been there since the early 1990s. The Yeager family has been on the property since 1981.
“There’s no inventory that’s salvageable,” Yeager said. “I mean, anything that was tech-driven is going to be waterlogged. I’m going to guess somewhere between $7 million to $10 million, probably, in damages by the time you look at cars, buildings, the vintage gas stations. And if you’ve ever been in our building, our museum, there’s motifs set around vintage gas stations.
“And my grandfather’s original bar from 1949 from Newton, Illinois. My wife and I were going to build a new house, and we were going to put that bar in the basement, and that’s completely gone. You know, that’s probably a $50,000 to $60,000 vintage bar. I don’t care about the money, it’s more of the memories that are gone.”
The annual Volkswagen Fun Fest scheduled for this weekend is canceled for the first time since it launched in 1994.
Yeager estimated the fest would have had “400 to 500 cars and a couple thousand people, and that’s not going to happen. We’ve got social media, and we’ve got a local technology company that’s helping us and they’re working on getting our e-mail servers and all that back up to send e-mails out to, not only our customers, but our suppliers. I’ve had hundreds of text messages and phone calls from suppliers and friends and businesses.”
Corvette Fest scheduled for September is also likely canceled.
“I have a feeling it’s going to be kind of one step forward, two steps back on a lot of this,” Yeager said.
Yeager is grateful for the support his family has received.
“My wife was born and raised in downtown Minneapolis, and we met in Chicago, and I asked her to move here, and she was like, ‘Do I really want to live in a small town?’” Yeager recalled.
The answer is clear after a night like Wednesday.
“I think this is what reinforces a small town,” Yeager said. “I mean, we’re out here this morning from our insurance agent to our neighbors to water and porta potties. This is small town personified. Just everyone’s got our back, and I can’t tell you how many messages I have from people just saying, ‘You know, what do you need, how can we help? And, you know, I don’t think in other communities that would happen.
“So I’m beyond happy to be here, as silly as that sounds.”
It was hard for Yeager to choose words to express his emotions as he gazed at the devastation.
“Overwhelmed, depressed, happy, sad, enthusiastic,” he said. “I don’t know, every adjective you could think. Relieved.
“I went out here last night at 6.30 because I’d left my laptop. I grabbed my laptop. And I’m so beyond thankful that that happened. As silly as it sounds, it’s kind of my life. So, at least I have that with me.
“At least that gets me a step closer to tomorrow.”
The company issued this statement Thursday morning:
Last night, a powerful tornado moved directly through Effingham, IL, causing catastrophic damage to our corporate campus. While the extent of the physical damage is significant, we are incredibly grateful to report that no employees were on site at the time of the storm, and everyone is safe.
As we begin the recovery process, our teams are assessing the damage and developing plans to restore operations as quickly and safely as possible. At this time, our network infrastructure and internal systems remain unavailable, which will impact our ability to process orders, access records, and respond through our normal channels.
At this time, we do still have our main phone line, 800.500.1500, and email address, customer.service@mamotorworks.com, that remain accessible for questions and urgent communications. We ask for your patience and understanding as response times will be longer than usual while we work through this unprecedented situation.
We have been deeply touched by the outpouring of support through calls, emails, text messages, and social media. Your concern, encouragement, and willingness to help mean more to us than words can express.
Our thoughts are also with our neighbors, local businesses, first responders, and all members of the Effingham community who have been affected by this devastating storm. Together, we will navigate the challenges ahead and support one another through the recovery.
Mid America Motorworks has always been built on resilience, dedication, and the strength of the relationships we share with our customers, suppliers, and community. While the road ahead will require patience and determination, we remain hopeful and confident that we will emerge stronger from this experience.
We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
Thank you for your support, understanding, and partnership.
Sincerely,
The Mid America Motorworks Team