

Status: heavily damaged, as were the former apartments above

The existing Farmers National Bank of Pilger was bought by the Coopers, a longtime farming family, in 1952. The building previously housed a clothing store, a newspaper and a food shop. During the storm, bank President Gene Willers locked five bank employees, two workers from a neighboring business and an ATM representative in the vault. He took shelter in the cellar. After the tornado passed, the group came out and saw another twister moving toward the bank. Willers locked the eight in the vault again and headed for the cellar. They all emerged unharmed.