STORY COUNTY, Iowa (KELO) — When Kevin Ruegsegger left for work last Tuesday, he had no idea what the day had in store.
A powerful tornado blasted through several rural neighborhoods between Cambridge and Nevada in Story County that night.
Ruegsegger, better known as Regs, had lived in the historic home first built in 1924 with his girlfriend Cheryl. When he was caught right in the middle of the tornado, he began trying to call her.
“I was dialing Cheryl to tell her goodbye,” he said. “I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
But crouched down in the smokehouse near his home, Ruegsegger said one lesson he learned in seventh grade guided where he stood.
“Whatever direction the tornado was coming from, that’s just the corner of the building or structure house or basement that you wanted to be,” he said.
So he got in the southwest corner, right where the storm was coming from. And when it all passed seconds later, he found himself in an entirely different place.
“When it was gone, I was about 20 feet away to the north and I got up and knew I was injured,” Ruegsegger said.
He got eight staples in his head and had a minor brain bleed. But now, just one week later, Ruegsegger is walking around telling his story. He said he’s gotten loads of help from friends, family and strangers in getting things picked up since.
“I feel extremely fortunate,” he said. “We just had so much help. All the fields have been walked. The property has been cleaned.”
But Ruegsegger said what’s most important is taking severe weather seriously — because one different decision could’ve changed everything.
“If I would have been in the opposite corner of the smokehouse, I probably would have got a face full of bricks,” he said.
The couple said they have secured a builder and plan on building a new home.