Tornado Victims Share Stories At Peoria Museum

People affected by the November 17, 2013 tornadoes were invited to a special kick-off event Monday night at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.  About 40 people attended, many young families, to share their stories following the disaster.

Washington resident Brittney Miller and her husband attended the event with their two sons. They lost their entire home.

But the family was out of town when the tornado struck. Still, Miller says the timing of the event is good for their family.

You do a lot of talking about it at the beginning, and a week or two later. But there are still a lot of emotions and experiences that you're going through a couple of months out," she said.  "So it’s probably a good format to deal with that. And would says too that coming to the museum is something we did pre-tornado so it was nice to have an opportunity to come back and do something fun.” 

The museum is also collecting pictures and videos. The material is intended to be part of a one year anniversary exhibit. However, the exact details of the exhibit are still under consideration.

All the material the museum collects will become part of the Peoria Historical Society and shared with the Washington and Tazewell County Historical Societies.