Susan Barwan
I may have only been 4 years old when this tornado came down my street, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was looking out our front picture window and I saw the "big, black thing" not very far away. I asked my mom what it was and she screamed and told me to take my little brother in the basement. I remember the sound as it plowed through houses...I will never forget it! This storm is the reason I chase and spot whenever I can because we really didn't have any true warning on tornadoes back then. I do as much as I can to notify the general public of severe weather and what to do in case of it.
Here is a pic and a little excerpt from an article I keep to remind me how mortal we all are....
"On April 21, 1967, a line of severe thunderstorms moved through northern Illinois that caused an outbreak of 19 tornadoes that afternoon.
At around 5:30 PM, an F4-rated tornado touched down at 103rd Street and 82nd Avenue in the town of Palos Hills. The twister moved rapidly (at 65 mph – more than twice the speed of the average twister) in a northeast direction towards the village of Oak Lawn, causing severe damage to the Starlite Drive-In at 95th Street and Ridgeland, and touching down again at the intersection of Southwest Highway and 95th Street.
It was at this intersection where the tornado caused the most damage, ripping the front off of Oak Lawn High School, leveling several businesses, and literally throwing transit buses, parked at their depot, randomly into the surrounding neighborhood. The worst carnage took place as commuters, waiting in their cars for the stop light to turn green at the intersection, became helpless victims of the twister as it roared through them.
The twister continued on, leveling homes and destroying Oak Lawn Roller Rink on Cicero Avenue, and then moving through Hometown before reaching the Chicago city limits. It left land near 79th Street and became a waterspout over Lake Michigan.
The death toll of the Oak Lawn tornado was 33, with 16 of those perishing at Southwest Highway and 95th Street, and over 1,000 people were injured.
The twister caused over $50 million in damage ($285 million in today’s dollars)."
Here is a pic and a little excerpt from an article I keep to remind me how mortal we all are....
"On April 21, 1967, a line of severe thunderstorms moved through northern Illinois that caused an outbreak of 19 tornadoes that afternoon.
At around 5:30 PM, an F4-rated tornado touched down at 103rd Street and 82nd Avenue in the town of Palos Hills. The twister moved rapidly (at 65 mph – more than twice the speed of the average twister) in a northeast direction towards the village of Oak Lawn, causing severe damage to the Starlite Drive-In at 95th Street and Ridgeland, and touching down again at the intersection of Southwest Highway and 95th Street.
It was at this intersection where the tornado caused the most damage, ripping the front off of Oak Lawn High School, leveling several businesses, and literally throwing transit buses, parked at their depot, randomly into the surrounding neighborhood. The worst carnage took place as commuters, waiting in their cars for the stop light to turn green at the intersection, became helpless victims of the twister as it roared through them.
The twister continued on, leveling homes and destroying Oak Lawn Roller Rink on Cicero Avenue, and then moving through Hometown before reaching the Chicago city limits. It left land near 79th Street and became a waterspout over Lake Michigan.
The death toll of the Oak Lawn tornado was 33, with 16 of those perishing at Southwest Highway and 95th Street, and over 1,000 people were injured.
The twister caused over $50 million in damage ($285 million in today’s dollars)."
Hometown also was hit near the tail end of the tornado...roundabouts of 87th St and Kedzie ave...which is a couple blocks from where i lived back then. 2908 W 86th pl. I remember the sound of roofs coming off houses and afterwards seeing the houses without the roofs as my dad took me around with him when he went to take pictures. (he was a wedding photographer back then so he had a good camera) I sure wish i knew who has those photo albums now...i've asked my mom, but she says she doesn't have the,...been years i spent searching for em and no one seems to know where they went! How sad!
