Survivors in worcester initially thought the disaster was the work of an atomic bomb. It was the worst tornado in new england history, and one of the 25 worst tornadoes in u. The announcer said that a tornado had gone through worcester and everyone in eastern massachusetts should be on watch for other tornadoes. Through history, massachusetts tornadoes not unprecendented, and. At a home game on or around the anniversary of the tornado, the team remembered the victims with a moment of silence before the singing of the national anthem. Rare extreme footage from the worcester tornado of 1953. With winds close to 300 mph, the twister traveled 46 miles across the county, reaching its peak intensity in worcester.
The tornado spawned multiple books, including john otooles 1993 work tornado. Jun 15, 2012 she predicted the 2008 asian longhorned beetle infestation of worcester, mass. May 26, 2011 the powerful tornado first touched down in rural petersham on june 7, 1953 at approximately 4. Home in the burncoat neighborhood damaged by a tornado. He shows that 94 people lost their lives during this event. And the day following the flintbeecher tornado, the same storm system spawned a f4 tornado in worcester, massachusetts that killed 90 people and injured over 1288. Violent tornado webpage storm prediction center noaa.
Man repays red cross for help from 1953 worcester it took 52 years, but andy karlsons conscience is finally clear. On this day in 1953, worcester county was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit new england. News in 1953 traveled slowly, and tv news was minimal. The devastating story behind the worcester tornado in. Tornado 84 minutes, 94 lives, is a wonderful book written by local worcester author john m. The tornado first touched down in petersham about 4. Worcester, ma f4 tornado june 9, 1953 tornado talk. Today is the anniversary of the worcester tornado of 1953, which. But on a muggy june 9, 1953, a devastating ef4 tornado dropped out of a roiling. On the morning of june 9, 1953, worcester county had no idea that it was about to be hit by a devastating tornado.
In june of 1953, the recently instituted practice of issuing tornado warnings was. Rare footage taken from the inside the worcester wedge of 1953, the mile wide wedge tornado carved a path through the northeastern. The first american novel, william hill browns the power of sympathy. It left a path of destruction that was 48 miles long, killing 94 people in central massachusetts. This is the issue of the paper the day after the tornado struck. Morello, 92, remembers tuesday, june 9, 1953, as the day the infamous worcester tornado leveled the curtis apartments at great brook valley where she lived with her husband, john, and. The photos posted here, taken after the worcester tornado in 1953, were with the items she sent me. This ef4 tornado was yards wide, traveled 46miles. It was a stifling spring day on june 9th, 1953, when a merciless black funnel of wind touched down at 4. The 750yardwide 690 m tornado killed three and injured 22 as it traveled eastward from champaign, illinois to areas north of indianapolis and muncie, indiana. The tornado killed 60 people in worcester alone and destroyed much of assumption college. The worcester tornado of 1953 was the singlemost devastating natural disaster to ever hit massachusetts. These were my sisters mary ellen, age six, and brenda, almost four, and my brother joe, two. On 8 and 9 june 1953, two of the deadliest tornadoes in us history destroyed their eponymous towns in michigan and massachusetts.
The year 1953 was also one of the nations worst tornado years. Photo collection captures destruction of 1953 tornado. Oct 25, 2018 the 1953 worcester tornado was the 21st deadliest tornado in the history of the united states. The worcester tornadoes were named after the destructive tornado that hit worcester on june 9, 1953. When the sky turns a deep purple and rumbling thunder advances from the northwest, they pay.
Arthur harrison, 24 chevy chase avenue, at city hospital. Masslive on youtube masslive on facebook worcester news on. Jun 09, 2012 every once in a while, jeffrey snow will pull out the grim black and white photographs that his grandfather shot the day after the 1953 worcester tornado devastated portions of the city and a. Learn about the people who lived in worcester, massachusetts, usa through stories, old newspaper articles. The storm stayed on the ground for nearly 90 minutes, traveling 48 miles across central massachusetts.
At a time before early warnings and weather alerts, the people of central massachusetts didnt know what hit them as the massive funnel cloud moved across the. Here you will find all city administration, services and information related to worcester. Kathy lundstroms father, henry ekberg took this rare color film before and after the worcester tornado tore up the burncoat area of worcester,ma in 1953. The worst tornado in new england history strikes worcester. It came to be known as the 1953 worcester tornado, part of the flint worcester tornado outbreak sequence, a series of tornado outbreaks that occurred in worcester and flint, michigan from june 69, 1953. Well i just wanted to say that today makes 47 years since the tornado of 1953. Wbztvs ken macleod spoke to a man who caught the worcester tornado on video. The 1953 worcester tornado rated an f4, perhaps reaching f5 at times began in petersham. The worcester tornado was actually the third in a national series.
Part of the 1953 flint worcester tornado outbreak sequence and tornado outbreaks of 1953 1 most severe tornado damage. But what worcester experienced in 1953 was unmatched in the. Jun 09, 2019 on june 9, 1953, an f4 tornado touched down in petersham at about 4. Severe storms began on june 7th over the central plains before spreading into michigan and ohio on the 8th.
Worcester, ma tornado 1953 national weather museum. June 79, 1953 the flint worcester outbreak stormstalker. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due. This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1953, primarily in the united states. Rare footage taken from the inside the worcester wedge of 1953, the mile wide wedge tornado carved a path through the northeastern parts of a massachusetts t. The nws presentation denotes that a frozen mattress was found in massachusetts bay near weymouth. Within massachusetts, there have been 152 tornadoes recorded. Jun 06, 2019 on june 9, 1953, a powerful tornado roared through the region. Earlier that in the spring, a tornado ripped through waco, tx, killing 114 and injuring 597. May 24, 2011 the infamous june 9, 1953, worcester county tornado has been replaced in the record books by sunday nights devastating twister in joplin, mo.
Jun 09, 20 for the survivors of the june 9, 1953, worcester county tornado there is one common denominator. A total of 46 tornadoes occurred over the three day period, including a powerful, f5 tornado in flint, michigan on the 8th. As the storm moved eastward at approximately 35 mph, it hit the towns of rutland and holden, where 11 people were killed. Remembering the deadly f4 tornado that ravaged worcester. The 1953 worcester tornado was an extremely powerful tornado that struck the city and surrounding area of worcester, massachusetts on tuesday, june 9. Theyre interesting stories but calling this a book is wildly misleading. This weather system would continue eastward spawning another tornado that would become the deadliest new england twister on record. The book, written in 1993 and still available through amazon, is an. It is an eyewitness account of the worcester tornado.
It moved eastward at an estimated 35 mph, growing to 1mile wide as it hit the city of worcester. Contact and book john today references the great worcester tornado description. On june 9, 1953, a devastatingly powerful tornado hit the city of worcester and the surrounding areas. The worst tornado was a large and extremely longtracked f3 tornado that traveled 156. The worst tornado in new england history strikes worcester, mass. Heritage zen photos from the worcester tornado, june 9, 1953. Tornado rutland ruth lowe discusses the great worcester. This article is within the scope of wikiproject severe weather, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of severe weather on wikipedia.
This is part 2 of this special film made on the aftermath of one of the worst tornado events in new englands history. Massachusetts, as william chittick described in his 2003 book on the event. A single stormsystem spawns 46 tornadoes of various sizes, in 10 states from colorado to massachusetts, over 3 days, killing 246. Worcester, massachusetts, usa history, photos, stories, news. A youtube video by user crownbaker has color footage from the. From there it moved through shrewsbury and westborough.
This ef4 tornado was yards wide, traveled 46miles, killed about 94 people. For 90 minutes it stayed on the ground, traveling 48 miles from petersham. The worcester tornado of 1953 struck without warning and cut a swath of destruction, at times a mile wide, through a halfdozen towns. Photo collection captures destruction of 1953 tornado news. Worcester residents recall devastating june 1953 tornado. Jun 09, 2019 the storm system that helped form the worcester county tornado had already caused damage. An f4 tornado killed 10 members of a family in arcadia, nebraska, on june 7, 1953, and several tornadoes hit central michigan the following day, including an f5 that struck flint and beecher.
If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. Rutland resident ruth lowe recalls the day of june 9, 1953 when the great tornado hit rutland, ma. Jul 17, 2016 surely anyone who experienced the tornado of june 9, 1953, in greater worcester needs no reminding. The june 9, 1953 worcester tornado killed 94 people and injured more than 1,250. The record for highest winds stood until the oklahoma. Youtube moviemagg check out the video below from youtube channel moviemagg for a glimpse at the aftermath of this deadly storm. See more ideas about worcester, tornado, worcester massachusetts. The worcester, massachusetts tornado of june 9, 1953, was the final event from a threeday tornado sequence. Rare extreme footage from the worcester tornado of 1953 youtube. It set down just before dinner time and close enough to quabbin reservoir that boaters saw it form from.
It was part of the flint worcester tornado outbreak sequence, which occurred over a threeday period from june 69, 1953. Jun 09, 2012 the tornado then proceeded to pass through a farm field, where it struck a farmhouse and killed two people. Books on how to begin researching your family history. Debris from this tornado was found in the boston area and on cape cod over 100 miles away. The 1953 worcester tornado was an extremely powerful tornado that struck the city and surrounding area of worcester, massachusetts on tuesday, june 9, 1953. Moms account of the june 8, 1953, flintbeecher tornado lisa hedger 682016 in 1953, my mother, mary cowell, lived on north dort highway in beecher, michigan, in a twostory farmhouse with her three young children. On june 8th, an f5 hit flint, michigan and on june 9th, an f4 struck worcester massachusetts. Springfield 2011 tornado, worcester 1953 tornado leave a comment.
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