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Tornado number 43, the Sayler Park F5, is the only tornado I ever personally witnessed. I was in third grade. Map by Dr. T. Fujita, University of Chicago
April 3 is an infamous day in Cincinnati, Xenia, Louisville, and many other locations in the United States. On this date in 1974 one of the largest tornado outbreaks in US history rampaged across the eastern US.
There were six F5 tornadoes that day, more than in any one day in any outbreak in US history. The US can go several years between F5, or now EF5, tornadoes. Two of the F5 tornadoes hit Xenia, OH, and the west side of Cincinnati.
The Xenia tornado was thought to be one of the strongest ever to hit the US. The west side Cincinnati tornado was actually a tri-state tornado, first touching down near Rising Sun, Indiana, then crossing the Ohio River and moving through Boone County, Kentucky, then crossing the Ohio River again and tearing the heart out of Sayler Park, then moving along South Road in Green Township before roping out and lifting in Dent.
The Sayler Park tornado was the only tornado I ever personally witnessed, viewing it from my family’s house in Westwood. The devastation on that day was sobering. Nobody who lived through it will ever forget that day.
More information and multiple photos here>>>