Remembering the Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak of 1965

Also, I provided an excerpt from Ohio History Central...
Click here.

The infamous twin twisters from the photograph above occurred in Dunlap, IN. I found a reference from the South Bend Tribune that includes a riveting, yet sad report of what transpired that day.

One of the famous quotes came from a weather observer from the U.S. Weather Bureau in South Bend when he said, "Reports of tornadoes and funnel clouds have become so numerous that it is impossible to keep track of them."

Read more from this reference here.

From the NCDC Storm Publication comes this excerpt from Ohio, in Lorain and Cuyahoga Counties....

This tornado was one of the most destructive of those occurring on Palm Sunday because it passed through a more populous section. It first touched down a short distance west of Pittsfield where it completely obliterated this crossroads community. Four people were killed in the ruins. It then proceeded east-northeastward just north of La Grange over the southern edge of Grafton and through Columbia Station and Strongsville. In each of these places there were additional fatalities bringing the total to 18. Property damage to homes, barns, and other structures ran into the millions. For example, 18 homes were leveled in Strongsville and 50 more were badly damaged along with two churches and a school building.

The arrival of the tornado occurred here shortly after 11pm, yes, a nightfall event. In fact, all 57 (according to NCDC Storm Publication) deaths in Ohio occurred after 9pm as these tornadoes pummeled the landscape.

The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965 will always be remembered, not just in Ohio, but the other 5 Midwest states as well, including Indiana who suffered the most loss of life that day than the other affected states.

MS