This day in local history.....
Apr. 3rd, 2003 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1Twenty-nine years ago today -- April 3, 1974 -- was one of the most devastating and destructive weather events in U.S. History: The Tornado Superoutbreak of 1974. This massive storm produced 148 tornadoes within a 24 hour period -- the largest number ever recorded.
One of the largest tornadoes from that storm hit the town of Xenia, Ohio -- a 20-minute drive from where I now live. The tornado was an F5 on the Fujita scale. It was a half mile wide went it swept through the town -- the county seat of Greene County -- and decimated it. 33 people were killed and over 1,000 people were injured. The hardest-hit area was the Arrowhead subdivision, in the southwest corner of the town.
I remember hearing about the tornado on the news back then, and seeing the images of devastation. I still remembered those scenes when I moved to Ohio in the summer of 1989. Once of the first things I did on a free weekend was to drive to Xenia. There is a memorial plaque at the Xenia City Hall, with the names of the 33 people who perished that day. The town still has some scars from the 1974 tornado, but most of the building have since been rebuilt. I also learned more about the tornado -- how it formed, the path it took (it paralleled US 42 from Bellbrook to Wilberforce), and how massive it was.
Southwest Ohio is just one area that's prone to severe weather in the springtime. How does one prepare for such a catastrophic weather event such as a tornado? First, find the most interior room in the house, away from windows, to serve as a tornado shelter. (Ours is the downstairs bathroom; we don't have a basement.) Second, stock up on non-perishable foods and water. (It's almost like preparing a fallout shelter, without the duct tape and plastic sheeting.) Third, get a weather radio, which will turn on when a severe weather warning is sounded. (Sidenote: The local TV stations show what counties have weather warnings and watches. There are also tornado sirens, which get tested once a month at noon, unless the weather is bad.) Fourth, when the siren goes off, don't delay -- get to shelter ASAP!
There are several good sites about the Xenia tornado on the web -- do an advanced Googlesearch on pages containing the words "Xenia", "Tornado", and "1974". Here are a few of my favorites:
Here's an account of the 1974 Xenia tornado by Homer G. Ramby, currently a resident of Waynesville, along with some links to pictures. It even has an MP3 file of what thr tornado sounded like.
Here's a site assembled by Kitty Merchant, who survived the 1974 tornado.
www.april31974.com, which covers the entire superoutbreak.
One of the largest tornadoes from that storm hit the town of Xenia, Ohio -- a 20-minute drive from where I now live. The tornado was an F5 on the Fujita scale. It was a half mile wide went it swept through the town -- the county seat of Greene County -- and decimated it. 33 people were killed and over 1,000 people were injured. The hardest-hit area was the Arrowhead subdivision, in the southwest corner of the town.
I remember hearing about the tornado on the news back then, and seeing the images of devastation. I still remembered those scenes when I moved to Ohio in the summer of 1989. Once of the first things I did on a free weekend was to drive to Xenia. There is a memorial plaque at the Xenia City Hall, with the names of the 33 people who perished that day. The town still has some scars from the 1974 tornado, but most of the building have since been rebuilt. I also learned more about the tornado -- how it formed, the path it took (it paralleled US 42 from Bellbrook to Wilberforce), and how massive it was.
Southwest Ohio is just one area that's prone to severe weather in the springtime. How does one prepare for such a catastrophic weather event such as a tornado? First, find the most interior room in the house, away from windows, to serve as a tornado shelter. (Ours is the downstairs bathroom; we don't have a basement.) Second, stock up on non-perishable foods and water. (It's almost like preparing a fallout shelter, without the duct tape and plastic sheeting.) Third, get a weather radio, which will turn on when a severe weather warning is sounded. (Sidenote: The local TV stations show what counties have weather warnings and watches. There are also tornado sirens, which get tested once a month at noon, unless the weather is bad.) Fourth, when the siren goes off, don't delay -- get to shelter ASAP!
There are several good sites about the Xenia tornado on the web -- do an advanced Googlesearch on pages containing the words "Xenia", "Tornado", and "1974". Here are a few of my favorites:
Here's an account of the 1974 Xenia tornado by Homer G. Ramby, currently a resident of Waynesville, along with some links to pictures. It even has an MP3 file of what thr tornado sounded like.
Here's a site assembled by Kitty Merchant, who survived the 1974 tornado.
www.april31974.com, which covers the entire superoutbreak.
