1977-05-04 Webster Iowa F4 Tornado

[Greg Higgins]

I'm looking for any information regarding this particular storm. From "Significant Tornadoes": May 4, 1977 1832 ok 70y 2m F4 WEBSTER -- This tornado cut a six block-wide swath through a residential and college campus area of NE Fort Dodge. At least 31 homes had F3 or F4 level damage. Fifty were unroofed, and another 200 had lesser damage. $1,000,000.
Looking for information and photos for this incident. Thanks!

 

[Sara Robb]

Hi Greg. I am writing to you from London, UK. I was 12 years old and lived in Fort Dodge when this tornado hit. We lived too far away from the sirens to hear the warnings and went to our basement after I saw the tornado demolishing the house across the street. This is a picture of my house that was on the front page of the Fort Dodge Messenger on May 5th, 1977. The station wagon in the picture was actually flipped by the tornado and spun like a top (there were circular scratched on the top). I am speaking at my daughter's school in a few weeks about this tornado and am interested in more information about the weather on the day, path of the tornadoes (I think there were 2) and maps of the damage. I wondered if you had any luck finding any information? You might have a look at a http://www.myfortdodge.com. A lot of images have been uploaded showing the damage caused by the May 4th tornado of 1977.
Kind regards,
Sara Robb

 

[Greg Higgins]

I never did find much more than what I had posted. What I did have was from "Significant Tornadoes" and another book that made a casual reference. Good luck on your presentation!

 

[Sara Robb]

Thank you very much!

 

[John Paulson]

As part of that system that night, Fort Dodge IA lost a TV station. KVFD was hit by a tornado and the tower suffered significant damage. The owner planned to rebuild but died a year later and the station never went back on the air. More Info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVFD-TV