Super Outbreak

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Super Outbreak (1974)

Paths of the 148 tornadoes generated during the Super Outbreak.
Date of tornado outbreak:	April 3-4, 1974
Duration1:	~18 hours
Maximum rated tornado2:	F5 tornado
Tornadoes caused:	148 confirmed (Most ever in a single-day outbreak)
Damages:	$3.5 billion (2005 dollars)
Fatalities:	315 - 330
Areas affected:	Most of central and eastern North America
1Time from first tornado to last tornado 2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The Super Outbreak is the largest tornado outbreak on record. On April 3–4, 1974, there were 148 tornadoes confirmed in 13 states and one Canadian province: Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and New York. One tornado also occurred in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, killing nine and injuring 30 others there, most of them at the former Windsor Curling Club. It is believed such an outbreak of this magnitude occurs once every 500 years, according to a 2004 special report of the 30th anniversary of the outbreak on WHAS-TV in Louisville.

Contents 1 Events and aftermath 2 List of tornadoes 3 Xenia, Ohio tornado 4 Tanner, Alabama tornadoes 5 Cincinnati/Sayler Park area tornado 6 Brandenburg, Kentucky tornado 7 Monticello, Indiana tornado 8 Louisville tornado 9 Guin & Huntsville, Alabama tornadoes 10 Depauw & Madison, Indiana tornadoes 11 See also 12 Related movies 13 Internet References 14 Further reading 15 External links

[edit] Events and aftermath

This outbreak also broke the record for the most violent (F5 and F4) tornadoes. There were six F5 tornadoes and 24 F4 tornadoes. The outbreak began in Morris, Illinois, at around 1 p.m. on April 3, 1974. As the storm system moved east where it had been sunny all day, the tornadoes became more severe. A tornado that hit near Monticello, Indiana, was an F4 and had a path length of 121 miles, the longest path length of any tornado for this outbreak. Nineteen people were killed in this tornado. The first F5 tornado of the day hit in Xenia, Ohio at 4:40 in the afternoon. It killed 58, injured 1,150, completely destroyed about one-fourth of the city, and caused serious damage in another fourth of the city.

Five more F5s would go on to hit—one in Indiana, one more in Ohio, one in Kentucky, and two in Alabama. Twenty-eight were killed in Brandenburg, Kentucky, and 30 died in Guin, Alabama. The lowest number killed by an F5 tornado in this outbreak was three in Hamilton County, Ohio. During the peak of the outbreak, a staggering fifteen tornadoes were on the ground simultaneously.

There were 18 hours of continuous tornadic activity. The outbreak finally ended at about 7:00 A.M. on April 4, 1974. A total of 315-330 people were killed in 49 tornadoes and 5,484 were injured.

The Super Outbreak occurred at the end of a very strong, nearly record-setting La Niña event. The 1973–74 La Niña was just as strong as the 1998–99 La Niña. Another tornado outbreak, which may be linked to La Niña, was the March 12, 2006 tornado outbreak. Despite the apparent connection between La Niña and two of the largest tornado outbreaks in US history, no definitive linkage exists between La Niña and this outbreak or tornado activity in general.

Some tornado myths were soundly debunked (not necessarily for the first time) by tornado activity during the outbreak. ^[1]

[edit] List of tornadoes

Main article: List of Super Outbreak tornadoes

Table of confirmed tornadoes - after surveys by local weather service offices

Confirmed Total	Confirmed F0	Confirmed F1	Confirmed F2	Confirmed F3	Confirmed F4	Confirmed F5
148	23	31	30	35	24	6

[edit] Xenia, Ohio tornado

The Xenia Tornado was the deadliest individual tornado of the Super Outbreak. The tornado started in southwest Greene County just outside the Dayton area at about 3:30PM CDT. Initially, started as a small tornado, it intensified while moving northeast at about 50 mph. A passing motorist filmed the tornado at its early stages and noticed that a one point two tornadoes were formed and merged into the main one. When reaching Xenia shortly after, numerous structures were completely destroyed including apartment buildings, homes, businesses and even churches and schools. Several train cars were blown over when the tornado hit a track. The hardest hit area was the Arrowhead subdivision near U.S route 68. In that area, there were many houses that literally disappeared. The Pinecrest Garden district was also extensively affected.

One resident recorded the tornado while he was inside an apartment complex. Before the tornado hit the building, the resident left the tape which continued the recording. When the cassette player was found after the storm, the tape was then made public. ^[2]. After passing through Xenia, the tornado passed through Wilberforce heavily damaging the university and several campus and residential buildings.^[3] Afterwards, the tornado lifted in Clark County after travelling nearly 30 miles. Its maximum width was less than one-half mile in Xenia. Other tornadoes by the same storm touched down near Columbus in Franklin County.

34 were killed in the tornado (including two Ohio National Guard servicemen in a fire several days after) and about 1,000 were injured in Xenia alone. About half of the town or about 1,400 buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed. Damage was estimated at 400 million US dollars. Then-US president Richard Nixon declared the area a disaster area. It took several months for the city to recover from the tornado with the help of the Red Cross and the Ohio National Guard which assisted the recovery efforts. ^[4] Most of the town was quickly rebuilt afterwards.

The Xenia tornado was rated an F5. It was one of two F5s that affected Ohio during the outbreak, the other being in the Cincinnati area (see Cincinnati / Sayler Park area tornado, below). The town was later hit by an F4 in September 2000, killing 1 and injuring about 100.

Prior to the 1974 storm, the city didn't have any tornado sirens. However, after the F5 hit, several of them were installed across the area and helped to limit casualties in the 2000 event.^[5]. A memorial was also installed near Xenia City Hall to commemorate the tornado victims.

[edit] Tanner, Alabama tornadoes

Most of this small Alabama town located southwest of Huntsville in Limestone County was destroyed when two violent tornadoes struck the community at an interval of just over 30 minutes. The first tornado cut a swath of over 80 miles through several counties in southwest Alabama and ending in south central Tennessee. It touched down at 6:30 PM CDT in Franklin County and ended just over 90 minutes later in Tennessee also in Franklin County. Many people mentioned that the tornado was quite big and was demolishing everything along its path.

While rescue efforts were underway to look for people under the destroyed structures, few were unaware that another equally violent tornado would struck the away. The path of the second tornado which touched at 7:35 PM CDT was nearly identical to the first but had a path length about four times smaller than its predecessor. Still, some of the structures that were not hit by the first tornado in Tanner were demolished as well as remaining walls of already damaged homes.

Many other homes in Franklin, Limestone and Madison counties were completely demolished including the communities of Harvest and Hazel Green just northeast of Tanner. ^[6] The death toll from the two tornadoes was over 50 and over 400 were injured. Most of the fatalities occurred in and around the Tanner area. Over 1,000 houses, 200 mobile homes and numerous other outbuildings, automobiles, power lines and trees were completely demolished or heavily damaged.

Meanwhile, in Tennessee, another (although weaker) tornado followed roughly the same path as the first Tanner tornado.

At least the first of the Tanner tornadoes is rated as an F5 according to most sources. However, NWS record shows that both of them were rated the highest-scale. ^{[7] [8]}

The rate of the second tornado that hit Tanner is still disputed but some of the NWS offices. Nevertheless, a tornado that later hit Guin just south of the first Tanner tornado was also rated an F5 (See below).

This was the second state been hit by more than two F5's during the Super Outbreak. The next occurrence of two F5's hitting the same state on the same day happened in March 1990 in Kansas.

[edit] Cincinnati/Sayler Park area tornado

The tornado was the only one of the outbreak that travelled through three states: Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. It is only one of two F5 tornadoes that did just that, the other having been the Tri-State Tornado in 1925.

The Saylor Park tornado was among a series of tornadoes that earlier struck portions of southern Indiana from north of Brandenburg, Kentucky to the Ohio border. It began shortly before 4:30 PM CDT/5:30 PM EDT in southeastern Indiana (Ohio County) near the Ohio River. It then travelled towards Boone County, Kentucky before reaching its maximum strength in the Cincinnati Metropolitan area. The community that was hardest hit was Sayler Park in the western end of the city where F5 damage occurred. Homes were swept away in a hilly area near a lake and boats were thrown and destroyed several feet away. Other areas near Cincinnati also suffered extensive damage to structures. Thousands of people saw it on television, as WCPO aired the tornado live during special news coverage of the tornadoes.

Other areas affected were Bridgetown, Mack, Dent and Delhi. Damage in Delhi was rated as high as F4. ^[9]

The second so-called "Tri-State" tornado killed 3 and injured over 100 in Hamilton County, Ohio. It was considered the most photogenic tornado of the outbreak.

The same thunderstorm activity was responsible for two other tornado touchdowns in the Montgomery and Mason areas. The Mason tornado, which started in the northern subdivisions of Cincinnati, was rated F4 and killed an additional 2, while the Warren County tornado was rated an F2 and injured 10. The storm that spawned all the tornadoes weakened before reaching the Dayton and Xenia areas which was previously hit by an earlier F5.

[edit] Brandenburg, Kentucky tornado

This other powerful tornado touched down in Breckinridge County at about 4:30 PM CDT and followed a 34-mile path that tore through the community of Brandenburg near the Ohio River and dissipated in Indiana. 31 were killed in the storm including 18 in a single block of Green Street in Brandenburg. ^[10] The vast majority of homes and businesses including the High School, the Bapitist Church, the old bank building and the Meade Hotel were either damaged or destroyed. The radio station WMMG was also destroyed.

Several tombstones over at the Cap Anderson cemetery were toppled, broken and even some were displaced a small distance. Most of the trees vanished as well.

A complete description of homes and other structures destroyed in order by the tornado in Brandenburg can be found here. ^[11]

Many of the residents at that time were still remembering a major flood from the Ohio River that affected the area in 1937 when the twister struck on April 3, 1974.

The storm would later produced tornadoes in the Louisville metro area.

[edit] Monticello, Indiana tornado

This half-mile wide F4 tornado, that occurred in the late afternoon hours was the longest one among all recorded during the Super Outbreak as it almost travelled nearly from both ends of the state Indiana starting near Otterbein in Benton County in west central Indiana to Noble County just northwest of Fort Wayne about 121 miles from its starting position. It also hit portions of six other counties with the hardest hit been White County and its town of Monticello. Much of the town was destroyed including the town's Courthouse, some churches and cemeteries, 40 businesses and numerous homes as well as three schools. It also heavily damaged the Penn-Central Bridge over the Tippecanoe River. Overall damage according to the NOAA was estimated at about 250 million dollars with 100 million dollars' damage in Monticello alone.

Other communities such as Rochester and Ligonier were hard hit.

19 were killed during the storm including 5 from Fort Wayne when their mini-bus fell 50-feet into the Tippecanoe River near Monticello. One passenger did survive the fall ^[12]. 5 other were killed in White County, 6 in Fulton County and 1 in Kosciusko County. ^[13] The National Guard had assisted the residents in the relief and cleanup efforts and then Governor Otis Bowen visited the area days after the storm

One of the only consolations from the tornado was that a bronze bell that was over 100 years old and that belonged to the Courthouse and serves as timekeeper was found later among the debris intact despite a large fall. ^[14]

The tornado itself had contradicted a long-time myth that a tornado would "not follow terrain into steep valleys" as while hitting Monticello, it descended a 60-foot hill near the Tippecanoe River and damaged several homes afterwards. ^[15]

[edit] Louisville tornado

About an hour after the Brandendurg tornado occurred, the Louisville tornado started in the southwest part of Jefferson County near Kosmosdale. 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). The tornado continued its 22 mile journey northeast where it demolished most of Audubon Elementary School and affected the neighborhoods Audubon, Cherokee Triangle, Cherokee-Seneca, Crescent Hill, Indian Hills, Northfield, Rolling Hills, and Tyler Park. The tornado ended near the junction of Interstates 264 and 71 after killing two people, injuring 207 people, destroying over 900 homes, and damaging thousands of others. Cherokee Park, an historic 409-acre municipal park located at Eastern Parkway and Cherokee Road, had thousands of mature trees destroyed. A massive re-planting effort was undertaken by the community in the aftermath of the tornado. In addition to the two fatalities directly associated with the event, two other deaths were indirectly associated; a heart attack in the immediate aftermath and a construction worker who fell while repairing Freedom Hall two weeks later.

A helicopter reporter had followed the tornado through portions of its track including when it damaged a water tower and it was heard on a local radio station.

[edit] Guin & Huntsville, Alabama tornadoes

The Guin tornado was the longest F5 tornado recorded in the outbreak. It started after darkness fall at around 8:50 PM CDT near the Mississippi-Alabama border and travelled over 100 miles to just west of Huntsville and lifted just after 10:30 PM CDT. The path of that tornado was just a few dozen miles south of the Tanner tornadoes hit about two hours earlier.

The tornado killed 23 in Guin in Marion County and another 5 in the community of Delmar in Winston County. Close to 300 were injured. Guin was virtually in ruins.

A high number of homes were levelled and the Bankhead National Forest lost a considerable amount of trees when the tornado hit.

Huntsville was shortly later affected by a strong F3 tornado from the same thunderstorm that produced heavy damage in the south end of the city killing 3 while destroying nearly 1,000 structures. The tornado then reached the Monte Santo Mountain which has an altitude of 1 640 feet.

[edit] Depauw & Madison, Indiana tornadoes

This has been probably the least documented F5 of all the outbreak as it moved into rural areas in southern Indiana north of Louisville. The tornado travelled about 65 miles across Perry and Harrison Counties. F5 damaged was observed near the community of Depauw. Overall, 6 were killed in the storm and over 75 were injured. It was the only F5 that had a path width in excess of 1 mile wide.

Soon after the Depauw tornado lifted, the Hanover/Madison F4 twister touched down and travelled through Jefferson County and levelled most structures in the small towns of Hanover and Madison. 11 were killed in this storm while an additional 300 were injured. According to a WHAS-TV Louisville reporter in a special report about the outbreak, 90% of Hanover was destroyed or severely damaged, including the Hanover College campus. Despite the fact that no one was killed or seriously injured at the college, 32 of the College’s 33 buildings were damaged, including two that were completely destroyed and six that sustained major structural damage. Hundreds of trees were down, completely blocking every campus road. All utilities were knocked out and communication with those off campus was nearly impossible. Damage to the campus alone was estimated at about 10 million dollars.

The same storm would later hit the Cincinnati area with multiple tornadoes including another F5. (See Cincinnati/Saylor Park tornado above)

[edit] See also

• List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• List of Canadian tornadoes
• List of tornadoes striking downtown areas

[edit] Related movies

• Gummo (1997)

[edit] Internet References

[edit] Further reading

• Tornado! the 1974 super outbreak, by Jacqueline A. Ball; consultant, Daniel H. Franck. New York: Bearport Pub., 2005. 32 pages. ISBN 1-59716-009-1 (lib. bdg), 1597160326 (paperback).
• Tornado at Xenia, April 3, 1974, by Barbara Lynn Riedel; photography by Peter Wayne Kyryl. Cleveland, OH, 1974. 95 pages. No ISBN is available. Library of Congress Control Number: 75314665.
• Tornado, by Polk Laffoon IV. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. 244 pages. ISBN 0-06-012489-X.
• Tornado alley: monster storms of the Great Plains, by Howard B. Bluestein. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 180 pages. ISBN 0-19-510552-4 (acid-free paper).
• Delivery of mental health services in disasters: the Xenia tornado and some implications, by Verta A. Taylor, with G. Alexander Ross and E. L. Quarantelli. Columbus, OH: Disaster Research Center, Ohio State University, 1976. 328 pages. There is no ISBN available. Library of Congress Control Number: 76380740.
• The widespread tornado outbreak of April 3-4, 1974: a report to the Administrator. Rockville, Md: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1974. 42 pages. There is no ISBN available. Library of Congress Control Number: 75601597.
• The tornado, by John Edward Weems. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977. 180 pages. ISBN 0-385-07178-7.
• Butler, William S. (editor) (2004). Tornado: A look back at Louisville's dark day, April 3, 1974. A 30th Anniversary Publication. Butler Books. 176 pages. ISBN 1-884532-58-6.
• Deitz, Robert E., et al. (editor) with an introduction by John Ed Pearce (1974). April 3, 1974: Tornado!. The Courier-Journal and The Louisville Times. 128 pages. Library of Congress Catalog Number 74-80806.
• Hartsfield, Ray J. with Robin Garr, Phyllis Morrisette, Jay Harris, Dave Knapp, Tom Scott, Terry Cowan, Mary Ann Woosley, Allen Hammer (editorial staff) (1974). April 3, 1974: The Kentucky Tornadoes. C. F. Boone, Publisher. 96 pages.

[edit] External links

• 1974 Windsor Tornado - CBC Archives
• NOAA and the 1974 Tornado Outbreak
• Super Tornado Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974 (National Climatic Data Center)
• April 3, 1974 Superoutbreak (NWS Indianapolis, IN)
• Super Outbreak of April 3rd 1974 (NWS Northern Indiana)
• The April 3rd and 4th 1974 Tornado Outbreak in Alabama (NWS Birmingham, AL)
• The Super Outbreak: Outbreak of the Century (22nd Conference on Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society)
• Potential insurance losses from a major tornado outbreak: the 1974 Super Outbreak example (22nd Conference on Severe Local Storms, American Meteorological Society)
• A website dedicated to the Super Outbreak
• The Weather Channel's Storm of the Century list - #2 The Super Outbreak
• Super Outbreak 30th Anniversary Special (WHAS Louisville)
• WHAS April 3, 1974 Live Breaking News Coverage part 1
• WHAS April 3, 1974 Live Breaking News Coverage part 2
• The Tornado History Project