A week after a tornado ripped through Plainfield, an NIU commuter is just beginning to put the remaining pieces of her life back together.

Kris Bullmer is a divorced mother of three grade-school age children in her mid-30s. A full-time senior special education major, Bullmer spent two hours a day commuting from Plainfield, while holding down two part-time jobs.

In less than one minute, any resemblance of her difficult, but stable, commuting routine was wiped out by last Tuesday’s tornado that killed 27 people and injured more than 250 others.

What the tornado didn’t level, the wrecking crew finished off as the Bullmers made other living arrangements and made plans for storage of their salvagable belongings.

Bullmer was talking with a fellow education major, Chris Bjurstrom, after class last Tuesday evening when a professor told them that a tornado had leveled Plainfield High School. Bjurstrom said she remembers her friend gasping, “I live a block away!”

For the next six hours Chris Bjurstrom, her husband and a frantic Kris Bullmer searched the chaos that was Plainfield on foot for Bullmer’s three young girls. There were no lights and police had blocked off the area to protect from looters.

At 9 p.m. they were able to get through to the babysitter who assured them that the children were unharmed. Bullmer’s rented house, however, was not.

“About 75 percent of the homes on her block weren’t there anymore,” Bjurstrom said.

Later in the week, Kevin Bjurstrom and several of his Navy coworkers returned to Bullmer’s property to collect the family’s belongings.

“We were thankful to be carrying away furniture in pickup trucks, as we watched so many of her neighbor’s things being hauled away in state-owned dump trucks,” he said.

Even after several days, Bjurstrom described the trip back to the Plainfield High School area, where the most extensive damage was dealt, as an “absolutely shocking and humbling experience.”

For now, the Bullmers are staying with friends elsewhere in Plainfield. Whether or not she will receive federal disaster relief funding, or how much, is still uncertain.

A “Kris Bullmer Disaster Fund,” started by special education faculty member Diane Kinder, has raised $300. Local businesses have also donated boxes of food and clothing.

“The students have really helped out,” Bjurstrom said. After announcements were made in education classes, students donated clothing and dollars.

“Sometimes the further you get away, as the days go by, it gets easier to say, things must be getting better,” Bjurstrom says, “but for those hit by natural disasters it doesn’t get back to normal for a long time afterwards.”

For now, Bullmer is still searching for a two-bedroom apartment in the DeKalb area on a limited budget, as well as part-time employment. Anyone who can help is encouraged to call either Diane Kinder at 753-9311, or the Bjurstroms at 756-7257.