Xenia, Ohio

On April 4, 1974 a tornado destroyed Xenia, Ohio.  Absolutely flattened the town.

42 years later, I still vividly remember that day.

My Dad was stationed at Wright Patterson AFB, and we lived north of Fairborn.  Xenia was not all that far from our house.  That had been a particularly wicked couple of days for weather, with several tornado drills in the school. I remember sitting on the floor in the downstairs hallway, with the entire school, sheltered with our knees up and our hands behind our heads.  (*note here - this was the LAST day I ever wore a dress to school, or anywhere else.  Dresses in the 70's were short.)

School let out at 3:00, and I remember walking home with friends, looking at the odd color of the sky.  The clouds were weird, too, chasing each other around in circles as things looked more and more ominous.  We moved home faster than we'd ever moved home before, and stood outside for a while, watching the clouds.  Suddenly, Moms everywhere popped out of houses and started screaming at us to get inside.  "RUN HOME NOW" was the predominant theme as the clouds began forming funnels. 

I ran inside and turned on the television.  I remember watching the footage of the "hook" on the radar, as the weather guy attempted to pinpoint where this thing was going next.  It was frightening to an 8 year old. 

Word quickly came out that Xenia had been destroyed.  People had been killed.  We drove through town over the weekend - and I remember the devastation.  It was horrific.

What made the devastation even worse was that there was no real advance warning on these storms.  A tornado warning meant that someone had spotted a funnel cloud in your area.  No tornado sirens, no weather alerts, nothing.

Our town installed tornado sirens that summer.  Fundraisers were held throughout May and June - picnics, bingo, and people just going door to door in order to get the money together to install tornado sirens.  I remember when the siren went in next to the fire station down the street from us.  I'm sure it's been replaced several times over since 1974, but there is still a siren on the pole next to that fire station.  (I last drove by there in 2012.) 

I have a weather app on my phone that belts out an alarm whenever serious weather approaches.  It's tied into the National Weather Service, and it helps me to sleep on nights when I know that severe weather is approaching.

With the volatile spring weather pattern beginning to build, I wanted to put this reminder out there.  Spring storms can be deadly.  Be prepared for a storm, and designate a safe spot in your house as a retreat should the weather take a deadly turn.  Make certain it's stacked with some blankets and a few emergency supplies. 

For your own peace of mind, consider investing in a weather radio, or pick up an APP for your smart phone that will alert you when wicked weather is headed your way.