40 years later, looking back at the Super Outbreak
6 killed, more than 300 hurt as storms hit Tri-State
On April 3, 1974, what became known as the Super Outbreak began. Over the next two days, 148 tornadoes would strike across the eastern United States, including more than a half-dozen that struck within the 온라인 바카라 게임 5 viewing area.
While more recent outbreaks have had more total tornadoes, none have had as many violent F-4 and F-5 tornadoes -- 30 in all.
One F-5, two F-4 and two F-3 tornadoes moved through the Tri-State that day, plus a trio of weaker tornadoes.
Photos | Sayler Park tornado video
The F-5 tornado traveled through parts of Indiana and Northern Kentucky to smash through Sayler Park and Bridgetown. An F-4 tornado rolled from Elmwood Place to Mason, another F-4 moved from near Madison, Ind. to Aurora, Ind., an F-3 narrowly missed Cynthiana, Ky., and an F-3 tornado touched down in Adams County.
According to the following day's Cincinnati Post, six people died during the storms:
- Marjorie Sams, 17, was hit by a falling tree limb while leaving Withrow H.S.
- Jerry Teague, 30, was hit by bricks torn from the Longview State Hospital on Paddock Road.
- Albert McMurray, 84, was crushed when his South Road home fell on him.
- George Matt, 80, died after a traffic accident at the height of the storm.
- James Boyle, 39, was found dead next to his van at Harrison Avenue and Valley Ridge Road.
- Helen Wilson, 57, was found covered in debris near her West Union home.
Thousands of homes across the region were damaged or destroyed, and more than 300 people were injured.
On the 40th anniversary of the tornadoes, 바카라게임 온라인 바카라 게임 5 brings you the memories of those who lived through the storms.
Jan Barnhorst -- My family survived the 1974 tornado that destroyed our house and many of our neighbors houses. We lived on Springmyer Drive in Mack, Ohio.
This was a fairly new street with 22 houses. Many were small ranch starter homes with young families with kids in age range from babies to 10 years old. I was 5 years old at the time with a 6 year old sister, and two brothers who were 4 and 6 mos. old.
I remember my mom making a Chef Boyardee pizza for dinner and watching a Gilligan's Island rerun on TV. My sister kept telling my mom that there was a tornado warning on TV. My dad came home from work and the weather got worse with rain, baseball-sized hail, a dark sky. It got so bad that we all went to the basement and huddled together. The tornado was loud and sounded like a train when it hit.
When it was over, we walked up the basement steps and opened the door to see the sky - our roof was gone. We had to leave by the back door because we couldn't get through the mess of fallen walls and debris to get to the front door.
My dad checked on the neighbors because many of the dads weren't home from work yet, it was right before suppertime.
Our family and many of our neighbors ended up going to a house up the street for shelter for an hour or so while we figured out what to do next. My dad managed to get his VW Beetle up the hill of our street by driving up the sidewalk (powerlines were down in the street so you had to watch where you walked).
That night we stayed with relatives and eventually rented a small house and rebuilt the house on Springmyer from the foundation up.
Most of the families near us rebuilt bigger, two story houses and stayed in the neighborhood while the kids finished high school and college. Most have moved away now but we are still friendly and still get together for the milestone anniversaries like this one. The tornado was definitely a bonding experience.
Jennifer Ruwe -- I was just a few weeks shy of my 7th birthday on April 3, 1974. I can vividly remember the tornado that day.
My mom, sister and I had just returned home from a Camp Fire Girls meeting on nearby Childs - we lived on Welge Lane (my mom still lives there). It had rained heavily and was appearing to clear so my friends, sister and I were playing out by the gutter racing leaves in the water down the street to the sewer in front of our driveway. That was when the civil defense siren began to sound.
My friends and I had never heard anything like that and we joked about how the siren sounded "sick" or the "batteries must be dying". We then heard a popping/cracking type noise and hail the size of golf balls began to fall. I had never seen hail before and we didn't know what it was. My friend Joe picked up one of the balls and said "Hey cool! It's ice". so naturally we all started to pick it up and try to eat it. Looking back, it is amazing that none of us were struck on the head with it.
By now my mom and my friend's mom came outside (they had been in getting supper ready since our dad's would be home soon). They yelled across the street to each other what was going on? Our house faced west and at that moment my mom looked up and over the roof of my friends' house and saw the funnel cloud. She yelled "Oh my God! It's a tornado - everybody get inside!" The only tornado I had ever seen was the on the annual broadcast of "The Wizard of OZ".
I remember running up to our front porch to get a better look and you could clearly see debris around the base of the cloud where it was touching the ground. My mom told me to take my sister and go to the basement and wait for her. I don't know when we lost power or how long we stayed in the basement but when we came back upstairs, everything was fine as if there had never been a storm. My mom got out the radio and flashlights and we ate supper by candlelight.
I am now married and my father-in-law was a Hamilton County Sheriff when the tornado passed through. At his retirement party, a tape recording was played of his radio transmissions as the tornado passed over him. It is still a funny story we tell the grandchildren to this day. There was even a picture taken and given to him of him stretched out and lying beneath his car.
I remember how the radio stations would play the Lord's prayer whenever a severe storm was in the area.
Ralph Bradburn -- Lived in Sayler Park...that was my senior year in high school. I can speak from a young person's viewpoint who didn't think that much about it when my mom and I were in the basement but it really hit home when I opened the door.
Michelle Harper -- I was just a baby, so I don't remember anything, buit we were a family of 10 living in a large farmhouse. Our house was destroyed, but we all made it. We were right in the middle of it, McCauley Road and Fields Ertel Road. Big farm house was destroyed, subdivision next to us had a lot of houses tore down
Dawn Oldendick Alcorn -- I lived at the bottom of South Road hill. My neighbor & I stood in the hall of our apartment building. Hail broke through the windows inside our apartment, hit the back wall. We saw the funnel cross the road & head up South Road. Terrifying experience!
Barbara Pope Mueller -- I have never, ever seen the sky look black, purple, yellow, and green all at the same time. It was frightening, and the rain was blinding with the wind. I wound up off of the side of Turkeyfoot Road, and that wasn't even in the midst of the tornado. It was something I will never forget.
Jeanette Jones -- Grampa stayed there for a long time with no roof to help his parents. I remember going there later. National Guard was everywhere. Destruction everywhere. The shuffle board in the basement saved my grandparents' lives.
National Weather Service/Wilmington -- About an hour after the Xenia tornado, another violent F5 tornado took aim at the western suburbs of Cincinnati. The only tri-state twister of the Super Outbreak, this tornado originated near Rising Sun in Indiana around 5:30 PM, passed through Kentucky, and then crossed the Ohio River to inflict severe damage in Sayler Park and other neighborhoods west of Cincinnati.
This tornado was witnessed by many, including by those at the Greater Cincinnati International Airport and WSO Cincinnati, which had issued a tornado warning at 4:45 PM (in effect until 5:45 PM). Then at 5:40 PM, the power went out at WSO Cincinnati, resulting in a loss of radar, teletype, and most means of communication.
While the power was out for the next three hours, the NWS in Cincinnati had some backup radar imagery available from the Air Force and FAA and had the NWS in Cleveland issue warnings for them. Fortunately, most of the worst tornadoes had already occurred before the power went down, but the need for emergency power backup at National Weather Service offices was recognized following this event.
Teri Etherington Kress -- I remember it well! I was 10 years old. We lived in Sharonville, off of Fields Ertel Road. Our house was destroyed. My dad worked 3rd shift and was upstairs sleeping. He rode it out under the bed. Very scary! I have a healthy respect for Mother Nature.
Judy Vollhardt Harris -- I was only 3, but I remember eating Skyline Chili in the basement. My mom saw the tornado come over the back hill and she ran to the basement. We slept downstairs that night. We lost a few windows and some gutters. My dad helped with the clean up and replaced windows all over the community.
Rick Rieman -- I can tell you that these tornadoes forever changed me. At 45 I've lived with the fear of tornado sirens, anxieties of just hearing the forecast of severe weather, potential tornadoes etc. I've gotten a bit better over time but any house I've ever considered has a basement.