Belvidere Tornado Outbreak

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The Belvidere Tornado Outbreak was the tornado outbreak that occurred on April 21, 1967 across the Upper Midwest, in particular the Chicago area including the suburbs of Belvidere and Oak Lawn, Illinois. It was the most notable tornado of 1967 and one of the most notable to occur in the Chicago area.

1 Synopsis
2 Belvidere High School
3 Palos Hills - Oak Lawn - Chicago
4 Other tornadoes
5 2 days later...
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Synopsis

The 21st of April was a warm Friday afternoon in northern Illinois. It was the first warm day of the year. A warm front part of a very deep storm system had been marching through Illinois all day. By 3 P.M., more than 12 tornadoes had already been spawned from the storm system.

[edit] Belvidere High School

At 3:50 P.M., a violent tornado rated F4 on the Fujita scale, raked through the town, damaging the high school and overturning buses. Twenty-four people were killed and another 410 injured. 127 homes were destroyed and 379 damaged. The storm continued into McHenry County, spawning another tornado in Woodstock. The two tornadoes covered a 25-mile swath. Thirteen of the 24 people killed in Belvidere were killed at the school, making this tornado the 6th deadliest ever to hit a school [1]. The Belvidere Tornado was especially devastating because it hit the school just as students were getting on the buses to go home. These buses were already filled with elementary school and middle school students. Shortly after the passing of the tornado, faculty and some of the stronger students used the fireproof doors of the high school as stretchers to carry the injured into the gymnasium.

[edit] Palos Hills - Oak Lawn - Chicago

At 5:30 P.M., another strong, later F4-estimated, tornado touched down near Palos Hills. It strengthened and in the space of six minutes, tore a 16.2-mile (65 mph ground speed) swath of destruction through Oak Lawn, Hometown, Evergreen Park, and devastated the south side of Chicago before moving offshore to Lake Michigan as people were stuck in traffic during Friday rush hour. For that reason, this tornado ended up being the deadliest in the outbreak. Thirty-three people were killed and 1000 were injured, including 16 deaths alone at the intersection of Southwest Highway and W. 95th St. in Oak Lawn. It destroyed 152 homes and damaged 900, causing $50 million in damage.

[edit] Other tornadoes

These tornadoes were a part of a tornado outbreak which also affected parts of Illinois, northern Missouri, southeast Iowa, and southern lower Michigan. There were a total of 19 tornadoes in Illinois. The entire outbreak killed 58 people.

[edit] 2 days later...

Two days later on Sunday, April 23, 1967, two inches of snow fell on Belvidere, which only exacerbated the cleanup from Friday's tornadoes. In fact, many cities and towns in the Midwest broke record overnight lows on April 24 and 25. A state of emergency was declared for Boone County, and the reserves came to assist in the cleanup effort. Senator Charles Percy and Illinois Governor Otto Kemer visited to speak with victims and thank the recovery volunteers.