Zelphia Taylor, 45, and her husband, Norman, were in a car that was flipped several times by high winds at Reading and Galbraith. They were thrown 30 yards almost to the curb. [6][54] The same supercell then re-strengthened and produced a new tornado just south of the town of Decatur. I just never seen anything like it," Cooper said afterward. [6] Numerous homes in Harvest and surrounding rural areas of the county were swept completely away and scattered, and extensive wind-rowing of debris was noted. [73], On April10, voting on the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 was expedited and passed unanimously in the United States Senate in direct response to the scale of damage from the tornado outbreak. Xenia, Ohio has a long history of severe weather, namely tornadoes. 6. The storm came with no warning from the National Weather Service, but the Emergency Operating Center issued a tornado warning. There was only one hospital left standing, and it was packed with nearly 2,000 people. F5 damage was observed near the community of Depauw, where numerous farms were leveled. The Cincinnati/Sayler Park tornado; photo taken near Bridgetown. A funnel cloud formed west of the city; the storm hit shortly before 7:30 p.m, following a parallel path just north of the 1974 tornado path. Ground scouring occurred in this area, as reddish soil was dug up and plastered against trees. More than 500 homes were damaged along with the death of four people and multiple injuries. While moving into the Mississippi and Ohio Valley areas, a surge of unusually moist air intensified the storm further, while there were sharp temperature contrasts between both sides of the system. There were 29 tornadoes in Ohio on July 12, 1992, and 19 on Nov. 10, 2002, the most of any days since 1950. Twenty-five years ago this weekend, the town of Xenia, Ohio was crushed by . The most prolific and longest-lasting tornado family of the outbreak tracked from central Illinois and the entirety of northern Indiana from 2:47p.m. 6:59p.m. (UTC05:00), a span of 4 hours and 12 minutes. Today marks the 49th anniversary of the Xenia Tornados, an event that wreaked havoc in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky on April 3, 1974. Residential areas in Guin suffered total devastation, with many homes swept completely away and scattered across fields. SEE how the Enhanced Fujita Scale, adopted in 2007, measures tornadoes. The deadliest tornado of the April 3-4, 1974 outbreak was the F5 that hit Xenia, OH. Most of the fatalities occurred in and around the Tanner area. The tornado then crossed Dewart Lake and Lake Wawasee, destroying multiple lakeside homes and trailers. It would be rebuilt again by January 1970. NWS surveyors noted that a pickup truck in this area was carried a half block over the roofs of five homes before being smashed to the ground. Losses were estimated at $10 million to $15 million ($69 million to $103 million in today's dollars). These aerial photographs were provided to NWS Wilmington, Ohio by Attila Kilinc and are used with permission. But rebuilding was a tangible goal, and Xenia rebuilt. [35] Trees and shrubbery in town were debarked and stripped, extensive wind-rowing of debris occurred, and numerous vehicles were destroyed as well, some of which had nothing left but the frame and tires. [7] Consequently, the storms increased in intensity and coverage as they moved into Illinois, Indiana, and northern Kentucky, producing several tornadoes, including the first F5 tornado of the day, at 19:20 UTC, near Depauw, Indiana. He had a fractured hip. We know we can pull together.. The tornado continued northeast and struck the south sides of Atwood and Leesburg, with additional severe damage occurring at both locations. There were Xenia Lives bumper stickers and a Spirit of 74 Committee assembled to map the way forward, as city leaders made plans for residential and commercial redevelopment. Heard on All Things Considered. Xenias nightmare landscape has long been cleaned up, but Mays notes that there are still reminders of the struggle to revive the city. The Walker County Library and the Jasper First Methodist Church were also damaged. [42] It was considered the most-photographed tornado of the outbreak. The National Weather Service said the system was part of a. As the storm system moved east where daytime heating had made the air more unstable, the tornadoes grew more intense. Please select one of the following: Local KILN Standard Radar (low bandwidth), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Monday night a series of tornadoes ripped through the Miami Valley and the region killing one in Mercer County and injuring scores of others. The Burger Chef sign was a mangled mess. The tornado then struck Talma, destroying most of the town, including a fastening plant and the schoolhouse. There were seven F5 tornadoes[10] and 23 F4 tornadoes. A portion of Fujita's track analysis focused on the northern portion of the outbreak. [38] The first area of town hit was the Morehead Marina, where numerous boats were thrown and destroyed. The tornado quickly became violent as it moved into Meade County, producing F4 damage as it passed north of Irvington, sweeping away numerous homes in this rural area. Xenia isnt alone in being struck by twisters. Multiple locations were found. The tornado continued past Guin and struck the small community of Twin, destroying numerous homes, mobile homes, and businesses at that location, though the damage was less intense than that observed in Guin. All NOAA, Hazards [55], In total, the storm took three lives, but injured one hundred and fifty residents of Jasper or Cullman. But the cataclysmic storm system wasn't done. [17] The tornado had a peak width of 7001,760 yards (6401,610m). As the cluster of thunderstorms was crossing much of the Ohio Valley and northern Indiana, additional strong storms developed much further south just east of the Mississippi River into the Tennessee Valley and Mississippi. Much of the town was destroyed including the courthouse, some churches and cemeteries, 40 businesses and numerous homes as well as three schools. [70] President Nixon approved federal aid for Fayette, Greenbriar, Raleigh, and Wyoming Countieson April11. Local Product Criteria. The 1974 F5 wasnt the only twister to hit Xenia even though its wrath is unmatched. Because the middle school lost its roof, 340 students had to cram into the high school to finish the school year. Lightning was lighting up all over the place.". Tornado Anniversary. Thirty-one people have died locally in tornadoes and severe storms since 1968. [22] Central State University also sustained considerable damage, and a water tower there was toppled. The same storm would later strike the Cincinnati area, producing multiple tornadoes, including another F5 tornado. Another funnel cloud formed over Standiford Field Airport, touched down at The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, and destroyed the majority of the horse barns at the center and part of Freedom Hall (a multipurpose arena) before it crossed I-65, scattering several vehicles on that busy expressway. Published photographs of this storm reveal a very wide debris cloud and wall cloud structure, with no visible condensation funnel at times. Despite the apparent connection between La Nia and two of the largest tornado outbreaks in United States history, no definitive linkage exists between La Nia and this outbreak or tornado activity in general. Formula works for Bellbrook in no-hitter at Carroll, Hill sets school record for Beavercreek Sports Digest: April 5, 2025, Transgender woman not guilty of public indecency, County prosecutor presents Victims Rights Week Awards, Children, children advocates honored at breakfast. Ten tornadoes touched down in the Tri-State on the day before Reds Opening Day, starting around 4 p.m. and continuing into the night. [6] A series of studies by Dr. Tetsuya T. Fujita in 197475which were later cited in a 2004 survey by Risk Management Solutionsfound that three-quarters of all tornadoes in the 1974 Super Outbreak were produced by 30 'families' of tornadoesmultiple tornadoes spawned in succession by a single thunderstorm cell. Students in the school, practicing for a play, took cover in the main hallway seconds before the tornado dropped a school bus onto the stage where they had been practicing and extensively damaged the school building. Gov. A Fairborn medic assists after a tornado hit Xenia in 2000. Earlier in the day, the famous Xenia, Ohio tornado was also an F5 in this outbreak (32 killed). In that pre-FEMA era, help came from the Ohio National Guard, Red Cross, and regional aid workers. The Sayler Park tornado was among a series of tornadoes that earlier struck portions of southern Indiana from north of Brandenburg, Kentucky, into southwest Ohio. An F-5 tornado went straight through Xenia, Ohio's downtown. [44], WHAS-AM broke away from its regular programming shortly before the tornado struck Louisville and was on-air live with John Burke, the chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Louisville office at Standiford Field when the tornado first descended. He drove back to Xenia with a reporter later that evening. A collection of dramatic photographs from the Dayton Daily News archive documents the ruin a tornado left in Xenia on April 3, 1974. It began as a moderate-sized tornado, then intensified while moving northeast at about 50 mph (80 km/h). >> PHOTOS: The 1974 Xenia tornado The Montgomery/Blue Ash tornado tore through Ohio on April 9, 1999. [39][40] At a further inland area of Sayler Park, the tornado maintained F5 intensity as numerous homes were swept away at a hilly area near a lake, with only bare slabs remaining. I guess because we shoot looters, said a member of the Indian Hill Rangers police department. [50] The tornado then continued into Madison County and struck the Capshaw and Harvest areas. John Gilligan said after touring the area. [54] The Walker County courthouse sustained major damage, and a new fire station was completely leveled. . Overall damage according to the NOAA was estimated at US$250 million with US$100 million damage in Monticello alone. [6][29], After the tornado struck Monticello, the tornado reached peak strength and completely leveled several farms northwest of town. [6] Overall, six were killed by the storm and 86 were injured. "The transition from winter to spring brings these deadly storms. [69] The National Guard provided four-wheel drive vehicles for search and rescue efforts. There were 61 tornadoes in . I tried to catch the doors which were moving out. Train cars near the plant blown off the tracks and thrown into the building. Their neighbors were thrown from their home, too. [52] The tornado continued northeastward through rural portions of Madison County before crossing into Tennessee, where major damage and 6 deaths occurred in Franklin and Lincoln Counties before the tornado dissipated in Coffee County. Damage in Delhi was rated as high as F4. gHWO March 31, 2023 The Xenia tornado on April 3, 1974, was the strongest storm in the string of deadly twisters that touched down from Alabama to southeastern Canada. 2000-9-20 - F4 Tornado: 3.6 mi. The 1974 tornadoes forced updates to weather technology, storm warning systems, and federal disaster recovery. The Brandenburg tornado, which produced F5 damage and took 31 lives, touched down in Breckinridge County around 3:25pm CDT and followed a 32-mile (51km) path. The funnel cloud tore through sections of Hartwell, Arlington Heights, Reading, Amberley Village, Deer Park, Silverton, Madeira, Indian Hill and Terrace Park, according to storm data. Fifty-one years ago, on Aug. 9, 1969, a tornado struck near Galbraith and Reading roads in Reading, leaving four dead and more than 200 injured. [8] By 19:50 UTC, supercells producing F3 tornadoes hit the Decatur and Normal areas in Illinois. Butwhy has thisdeadly tornado not been remembered? The station remained on the air delivering weather bulletins and storm-related information until well into the early morning hours of April 4. By May, hed signed amendments to the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 to include tornado recovery. The damage became more intense continuous as the tornado entered Tuscaloosa County. The tornado then finally dissipated near Oliver Lake airfield. [48] The tornado crossed into Morgan County, causing additional destruction in rural areas near Hillsboro and Trinity. Damage was reported in Cullman from the storm before it lifted. The Mason tornado, which started in the northern Cincinnati subdivisions of Arlington Heights and Elmwood Place, was rated F4 and took two lives, while the Warren County tornado was rated an F2 and injured 10. A nearby house was lifted from its foundation and thrown into the river. Rows of old-growth trees in Terrace Park were splintered and toppled. The worst tornado was an F5 that struck portions of Southeastern Ohio from Wheelersburg to Gallipolis, just north of the Ohio- Kentucky state line, killing seven people and injuring at least 93. The F2 tornado spared lives this time but left reportedly $1.22 million of damage to clean up. A massive re-planting effort was undertaken by the community in the aftermath of the tornado. An aerial view of damage caused by the 1989 tornado. Total damage from the tornadoes and thunderstorms in the state reached $3,655,000, more than half of which was incurred by Raleigh County. At one point, 15 separate tornadoes were ongoing at the same time. On April 3, 1974 49 years ago much of Xenia was leveled by a powerful F5 tornado. [6][54] Past Delmar, the tornado grew up to a mile wide as it tore through the William B. Bankhead National Forest, flattening a huge swath of trees. CYCLONIC SWIRLS IN CORN AND BEAN FIELDS, AS WELL AS NUMEROUS SNAPPED AND TWISTED TREES MARKED A DISCONTINUOUS PATH NORTHEAST TOWARD XENIA. The tornado continued its 22-mile (35km) journey northeast where it demolished most of Audubon Elementary School and affected the neighborhoods of Audubon, Cherokee Triangle, Cherokee-Seneca, Crescent Hill, Indian Hills, Northfield, Rolling Fields, and Tyler Park. Thirty-three died in the Xenia storm, with countless injuries. It seemed to last forever, she says. All rights reserved. The tornado finally dissipated south of Basham, destroying 546 structures, killing 28 people, and injuring 332 others. The Tornado touched down around 4:40pm just outside of downtown Xenia. EF-5 tornado in Wichita Falls TX. Noble from the family farm on Stone Road near Hook Road. [6], Severe thunderstorms on April4 brought 1 to 3in (2.5 to 7.6cm) of rain to tornado-stricken areas of northwest Georgia. According to reports, the tornado formed near Bellbrook at approximately 4:30 p.m. As it moved to the northeast at about 50 miles per hour, it intensified in strength. [74][75] The primary purpose of the act was to overhaul how disasters are handled on a federal level and to make acquiring federal aid easier. As thunderstorms moved into the warmer, moister air mass over eastern Illinois and Indiana, they produced longer-lived tornadoesone of which began near Otterbein and ended near Valentine in Indiana, a distance of 121 miles (195km).

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