Actually April 3, 1974 has been a ongoing research project for myself the past few months. I even visit a town devastated by an F5/EF5 in Brandenburg, KY. Granted it was 35 years later (this year actually) and they have since rebuilt, but there is a sense of history that looms with the town.
Just to start, I was lucky enough to interview a person who survived in town as the F5 tornado passed over. She is the grand mother of one of my fellow co workers at work.
Here are some of the questions I asked and her responses: (Forgive me if some of this seems fragmented. I communicated with her through her grandson.
1. Before the outbreak, was there anything out of the ordinary? (ie: animals acting strange, things out of place, etc)
A. Nothing I noticed.
2. What were the conditions that day?
A. Raining hard before the tornado came.
3. Did the meteorologist that week or that day say anything about severe weather before the storm? Did you have any warning?
A. No (to both questions).
4. The radio disc jockey at the radio station at the time who gave the warning before the final moment, what his name? Did he survive the tornado? (Reports from books about that day talked about a radio disc jockey who saw the tornado coming toward Brandenburg made a last ditch effort to warn the town.)
A. I can't remember his name - yes he did survive.
5. Did you hear the tornado before it hit?
A. Yes sir! I looked out upstairs window and didn't see anything but a wall of mud and water. (Later making a comment about it sounding like a bardge trying to go up river.)
6. What did the sky look like as the tornado was coming?
A. Not a funnel, but several dark dark clouds coming straight down.
7. What did it sound like?
A. Lot of people said a train, but to me it sounded like a loud large barge up river.
8. What were you doing before the tornado hit?
A. Paper work - I owned a florist. It wasn't damaged.
9. What was your first thought when you emerged after the tornado hit?
A. I thought we were lucky to be alive. There were 5 of us in the bastement.
10. What did you see after the tornado?
A. A lot of people wet and covered with blankets leaving the main part of town because their homes were gone.
11. In your words, how you describe the scene after the tornado?
A. Homes and businesses destroyed. Even the grass was gone as were the leaves on the uprooted trees.
12. From the technology used back then, to forecast severe storms and tornadoes, how much safer do you feel with the technology we have today?
A. Much Safer.
13. For someone who didn't live through it, what would you tell that person about April 3, 1974?
A. It was a scary time and I was lucky we only lost 3 trees and some shingles. 31 people lost their lives and I think some "200 homes" were damaged and destroyed in this small town on the Ohio River.
Bea is her name. (I left out the last name due to privacy.)
After reading what happened to Brandenburg and talking to a Bea, I will admit when you visit the town, you can almost feel the tornado is still there, as if you were there in 1974. Its an erie feeling but an interesting one.
But it wasn't the only F5 close by. Another F5 that touched down was from Palmyra, Indiana all the way to Sellersburg. (Eventually forming the Madison, In F4 tornado). I wish I could find where I read this, but from what I read the Palmyra tornado was 1.5 miles wide. Which I have to say, sounds like a familiar tornado that hit a small town in Kansas not too long ago.
I live in Jeffersonville, IN right across from Louisville. If it happened again today, it would be scary. But in all honesty I think I'd be chasing every part I could chase. Thing is, where I am at... within a couple hours period of time. from 3:30-5:00 pm I would probably seen two F5s, two F4s and probably travel no further than 200 miles total.
But what is truly amazing is the people stories who survived it. Another friend of mine/mentor I use to work with at the printshop I worked at was owner of another printer press in Jeffersonville, IN. At the time he sent a delivery person to pick up paper in Louisville (near the Bardstown Road area I think he told me) as my friend was heading home. Well when the Louisville tornado hit, after he got home, he went out on his back porch watching the clouds hit Louisville. It suddenly hit him that his delivery was still over there. As the tornado hit the Bardstown Road area, he gets a call from the delivery guy saying he was okay, that he missed the tornado by 10 minutes.
But the stories didn't stop there. Its actually started a new study I want to get into next time a tornado hits. That is the studying of the tornado damage itself. I want to study on not how a tornado destroyed a home or business, but what cause the initial failure. (Ie: Why is a certain joint have nails that were bent by 90 degrees when you have another set that wasn't.) I also want to fully document a severe weather event from start to even months after clean up. I want to fully understand what happens when severe weather like this does to a certain area.
While at the time I was doing these interviews and researching, I happen to come across pictures of Xenia, Ohio storm damage as well. I grabbed those as fast as I could. To be honest... last month was the best month finding information on April 3, 1974. I am actually working on a website to put all this information together.
But in the mean time, here is the link to the Xenia, OH pictures.
Xenia, Ohio 1974
Even though I am only 26, finding a newspaper article when I was about 11 years old turned one of my biggest fears into an obsession. Its one of those events I kind of wish ed I was there to witness unfold.
I do want to recommend this though, if you guys want to read more on this day, there is a really good book by Mark Levine called "F5". Another book you may all find interesting (I think also mentioned in an eariler post) "Tornado: A look back at Louisville's Dark Day April 3, 1974." by William S. Butler.
In closing, I have to say, out of all the research I've done, it was truly a dark day that day. It has truly change the way I look at storms and just drives me even further to wanting to storm chase. The more I read about April 3, 1974, the more ideas, theories, and curiosity it sparks within me.
**Sorry for the really long post... one of my other curses is writing O
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