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Dayton Memories > Do you recall April 3,1974? Doing what when you he
Do you recall April 3,1974? Doing what when you he
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Marck1957
105 posts
Feb 23, 2010
9:25 PM
I was at my girlfriend's house in Centerville with my dad's brand new Monte Carlo (all black, 454). I was 16. It started to storm and it just got worse very fast. There were rolling black clouds and incredible hail and winds! The largest hail stones were about 3 inches around. We were worried that hail this large would damage dad's new car, and that I would have to answer for it. I thought that it would be cool to go out in the yard and get some of the hail stones. That's a mistake you only make once in lifetime! Getting struck by the hail stones was like getting hit with baseball bats! It hurt like hell! But, I got some stones and we saved them in the freezer for months. Being so young and naive, we didn't have a clue that those events were related to tornados, and there were no adults at home with us to tell us what to do. I never saw the tornado, and there was no damage to dad's car or my girlfriends house, but it was an unbelieveable storm, the likes of which I haven't seen since. We later heard on WING that Xenia had a terrible tornado and needed help badly. We didn't know what to do, and we wondered if another tornado might hit where we were, so we stayed inside, in the dark, for awhile. We innocently thought that the storm was great fun to start with, but were very frightened when we heard of the nightmare going on in Xenia.

Last Edited by on Feb 24, 2010 8:08 AM
JohnC
118 posts
Feb 24, 2010
4:41 AM
I was working in the Sporting Goods department at Elder Beerman Centerville. I remember going outside on break just about the time the tornado struck. I remember remarking to one of the people I worked with that it looked like something bad was about to happen. We walked back in the store to the TV department just in time to hear the warning for people in Xenia to take cover. The next day, a friend and I drove to Xenia and talked our way past the National Guard telling them we got a call from a friend who needed help digging out what was left of his life at his destroyed house. We didn't realize at the time how prophetic our little deception was. We spent the next 72 hours (without sleep or a break of any kind) digging people out and helping them salvage what they could. One lady's story stays with me to this day. Her three year old ran into the house screaming the field behind their house was on fire. She ran to the back door and looked out at the base of an F5 tornado that was close to a mile across. Not knowing what to do, she ran into the bathroom and curled up in the bathtub with her little boy. After it was all over, she opened the bathroom door to see that the tiny bathroom was ALL that was left on the foundation of the house. Miracles really do happen.
Keugene48
91 posts
Feb 24, 2010
11:43 AM
My first husband and I were in Texas at the time. He heard it on the radio and they must have really messed up the pronounciation of Xenia because he didn't know if that was the town or not. We were concerned because his grandmother lived there. We later found out that the nursing home where she was living was untouched; however her home was destroyed except for a cabinet where she kept her salt and pepper collection. It was intact, without a scratch and none of the pieces were broken. The next time I saw Xenia it did not look like the same town, so much was gone.
Bigmo
37 posts
Feb 24, 2010
1:14 PM
I was working at Top Value Enterprises home office on Woodman Drive. I had ridden my bicycle to work that day. I was in the store when the hail started coming down. The hail that fell looked and sounded like it would knock you unconscious if you walked into it. A short time later my mother came to pick me up since I couldn't ride home and she told me that Xenia was feared destroyed. I drove to the Arrowhead development one week later and it was as if no attempt had yet been made to clear any of the wreckage. I still have photos.
maxed out
145 posts
Feb 24, 2010
1:37 PM
My wife and myself lived in Xenia at that time. We lived in the Arrowhead subdivision that was mostly destroyed. I was an hour away doing business when someone came up to me and said he had heard that Xenia had a tornado. I really didn't think to much of it.I was think maybe some trees down. I left to go home and when I neared Xenia I could see the damage. Not being able to drive through town I parked and started walking to find my wife. I went to our home in Arrowhead. It was damaged but not like most homes. My wife was not there. So I took off and walked to my parents home which was quite a walk. They lived near the Xenia fairgrounds. She was not there. I took off again and went to her parents house in Laynewood. From the time I got into Xenia and started walking probably 6 hours had passed. I had seen all of the damage. When I got to her parents house, there she was I started crying and crying. She had scratches all over her face and her hair was in disarray. She was in her car on Rt.35 in Xenia and had the sense to get out and dive into a ditch. The tornado was over her but she was safe. Yes, I will never forger April 3rd, 1974, at 3:40 pm.
fishers1951
16 posts
Feb 24, 2010
6:27 PM
I was driving home from a meeting in Columbus and I had to stop under an overpass - might have been close to Springfield - but I could actually see the thing from a distance and it was definitely one of the scariest things I've seen. Sure dont miss tornados.
Daveman
3 posts
Feb 26, 2010
7:23 PM
I was a little boy, probably around 8. I remember cowering in the corner of the living room of my parents house watching the reports come in on TV, thinking the tornado was gonna sneak up and get me even though we were safe in Dayton many miles away.
JandyS
12 posts
Mar 04, 2010
9:52 AM
I was about 13 years old. My dad called me to our front porch (he loved storms) and we watched as the tornado touched down briefly in Bellbrook, and then noticed it was heady NE ... we were located NW, so dad said we were safe. He and I hoped in the car and headed for my piano lessons ... heading East on 35 and noticed firetrucks heading West.

It wasn't until a little later that we found out what happened. My cousin was born that night, in a bathtub in their Xenia home.

A few days after, my dad flew over the destruction ... and then we went to help our cousins with their home. Creepy!! Roof was gone, living room destroyed, bedroom dresser exactly as it was ... with paper and brush on the beautiful top.

It is a reminder that there is much in this world we have no control over huh?
Auslander
3 posts
Jun 04, 2010
1:11 AM
I was walking to work after school. I remember to this day swearing out loud As I was being pelted by hail the size I've never seen again. It was my second day on the job. (Colonel Sanders at Far Hills and Whipp.I worked as a fry cook. This location was chosen to provide disaster relief food. I cooked every piece of chicken we had and waited as more was delivered. around 10pm I remember my father driving up to the store to check why I was not home. After I told him what I was doing, he came back and picked me up around 1am on the 4th. That was the hardest $1.20 an hour I've ever earned.
roge
25 posts
Jun 04, 2010
6:24 AM
I was listening to an old Regency scanner when I heard the Green County dispatcher say ......THIS PLACE IS HOTTER THEN HELL I NEED HELP FROM A 50 MILE RADIUS.......
delcodude
3 posts
Jul 12, 2010
10:26 PM
We'd recently moved from Lanewood back to Dayton, but on 4/3/74 we were actually headed to Xenia. We stopped in Wicke's Lumber then decided to come back home. I seriously remember the sky "over the hill" being this ugly shade of green. An hour later all hell broke loose....
Jonelle Shadowens
3 posts
Jul 15, 2010
2:59 PM
We were moving things into an apartment in the southern-most parts of Kettering when the sky got that awful greenish-yellow I've never seen again, thank God. When the hail got its largest, I grabbed one of the stones off my patio and put it in the freezer because I thought no one would believe me otherwise because it was the size of a baseball. Later that night when we visited our in-laws in Centerville to check on them, I told them about my hail stone, and my mother-in-law produced her SOFTBALL-sized hail stone from HER freezer.
HENRYR10
5 posts
Jul 19, 2010
9:00 PM
I had just gotten to school at Wright State after a day of working construction when I heard the news.
I had driven my work truck w/ welding and other equipment.
Took some classmates, who were nurses from the base, up there to help.
Stayed 3 days to help in SAR, mostly downtown.
Didn't see Arrowhead until day 2.
Monicat71
1 post
Jul 20, 2010
5:45 PM
I lived in Kettering, my sister, her husband & 2 small children lived in Xenia. She worked at Kennedy Corners in the beauty salon. She said she saw the tornado coming and got all the ladies in the back room, after the tornado was over they walked out and everything was gone. She said they all would have been dead if she had not looked out and seen the tornado coming. She ended and the Blue Moon with her husband looking for her on horseback. He thought she was dead. There house in Arrowhead was not destroyed to bad, just shook off the foundation. They ended up having the house rebuilt and moved to Michigan. They were on the National Geographic Documentary about the Xenia tornado. Thank God they were saved from the awful tornado. I feel for all the people that lost there lives, and the devastion in Xenia. I live in Xenia now and there have been a couple more up here.

Last Edited by on Jul 20, 2010 5:47 PM
RIVERDALE RAT
435 posts
Aug 14, 2010
5:57 AM
I was driving back home to visit my Father, I missed the biggest part of the storm and was hunkered down in a house in Riverdale. I really never knew anything had happened till later that night when I heard about it on the car radio. I remember heavy rain and hail and some high winds, but I can't recall having been that concerned that it was anything except a bad rainstorm. a few weeks later, I spoke with a guy that said one of his co-workers lost his Girlfriend that day, she was killed at a A&W Root Beer Stand. (if memory serves)
UnChained!
6 posts
Jan 24, 2011
6:47 AM
I can't believe that I hadn't seen this thread until now...

Also strange to see accounts from centerville & Woodman drive in the first few posts. We lived in the Woodman Park Apts. at Rte 35 & Woodman Drive. I had just turned 6. We weren't home at the time, we were in Centerville visiting some family friends. They lived on Sheldon Drive. I too remember the orange sized hail that literally left divots throughout their yard. We saved some in the freezer as well. When we heard what happened on Channel 7 (I think Gil Whitney) we headed home. Some signs of hail but it seemed less than what was at our friends house. We headed east on 35 a few days later to take a look. The damage was too much for me to understand. I just remember my Mom explaining what a tornado was and that we should be thankful for our safety. That whole day is a reference point for me regarding Tornados and Hail to this day.
FAITH
13 posts
Jan 24, 2011
7:53 AM
We lived in Arrowhead on Kansas Dr. I was a month from my 10th birthday and recall it like it happened yesterday. Walking home from the schoolbus stop I noticed that the sky looked different than other days, that green-gray color. My mom was pregnant and spring cleaning, washing walls and such. Dad had not been home long from getting her some more cleaning supplies when he looked out the patio door and asked if she had ever seen a tornado. She then looked and there were 3 smaller funnels that became one. About that time, Gil Whitney came on and we saw that infamous radar picture. Quickly we cleaned out the closet under the steps of our 1 1/2 story home and my sister,I, mom and dad crouched as low as we could with couch cushions over us and prayed aloud for our safety. I distinctly remember hearing the plastic stays on the drapery pulls slapping against the wall as the wind went overhead. Afterward we emerged, safe, our house virtually untouched, but 3 streets over, total devastation. My father left us for a short while to help, but was back within an hour, as having moved some of the dead was more than even he could handle. As we drove into Dayton to let relatives know we were okay, the sun was shining as brightly as I have ever seen. Truly a touchstone in my life...
delcodude
81 posts
Jan 26, 2011
2:48 AM
^^^Faith, that's awesome^^^
There are some great accounts here. This is one of the best threads on DHBO as I have vivid memories too. Though I'm sorry it brings back painful memories for those who suffered. God bless.
I recall a make-shift museum in Xenia near Kmart in the mid 80s that had some pretty amazing evidence of the devastation.

Last Edited by on Jan 26, 2011 2:54 AM
Hugha
8 posts
Jan 29, 2011
8:02 AM
I was a child living in Centerville and remember going into the yard to get a hail stone. I think my dad was out of town on work so we saved the hail stone to show him when he got home.

In 1991 I lived in Kansas when the Andover tornado hit. The famous newsclip is the TV crew hiding under a bridge when the tornado passed.

My drive home was along the path of the tornado. I apparently was driving home a few minutes before the tornado.

In 1997, now living in Austin, my wife called me at work to say she saw a tornado, what should she do? The phone then went dead and I feared the worst. I remember driving about 80 mph in a 40 zone to get home. Our house was untouched. A couple blocks over, not so lucky. I was so jacked up on adrenaline that I went over there to help. Since I am an engineer in construction, the police took me to the Albertson's grocery store that was demolished. They wanted me to let them know what parts of the store were safe to be in. I got home the next day.

Texas A&M had a unit trained for such emergencies. They called them tunnel rats. These guys would worm their way through rubble looking for survivors. Fortunately, no one was injured. Teh store manager got everyone to go between the freezers. Those things were so stout that they supported the weight of the roof that was now on top of them. Smart manager.

In 2001, this same crew of tunnel rats went to NYC to help out at the World Trade Center. Very brave people, these guys.
JN
24 posts
Jan 29, 2011
11:05 AM
My Story.....On that day in 1974,I had worked the back shift at D.T. & R. and was at home in bed when my wife awaken me and told me that she just heard on the radio that a bad storm was heading for Xenia and I best be getting up and dressed. I hurried to the back door of our home on Arizona Court for a look, alonly to find that the storm was already there, for the roofs of the homes west of us on Texas Court were then being torn off. We quickly got into the hall closet under the stairs and waited for the storm to hit. The wait was short. It felt like it would never end. Later we found ourselfs under the debris of our home. I my self couldn't move but the other menbers of my family had only small cuts and bruises. I spent five days at Good Samaritan Hospital for my injuries. The storm was like a ride on a carnival caroused, that goes around and around where you are pushed up against the wall of it and can't move because of the pressure ofit spinning so fast. After the storm passed, it was all quiet, not a sound was heard. At first I though that I had lost my hearing, but were in a vacuum, because the barometer was so low. After the barometer came back up, it started to rain.
iceman7969
3 posts
Feb 04, 2011
12:51 PM
I was working that night at Imperial Foodtown grocers off of Stroop and Marshall. Worked 10 PM until 6 AM. I know the wind was kicking but since we were locked into the store at night (Night Stock) I didn't realize the extent of damage until the next morning.
Bob45
7 posts
Feb 08, 2011
10:51 AM
I remember it well. We were at my mothers as it was her birthday. We stepped out in the back yard which faced Rt. 35 and watched the tornado travel down 35 heading towards Xenia. My mom lived in Beavercreek behind Lofinos. The next day my ex and I went out to Xenia to survey the damage as he was an agent with Prudential and had alot of clients that lived there.
Perry401
8 posts
Feb 21, 2011
8:19 PM
I was working on the staff at Wright State University at the time. The university was growing, and needed to move some of their business offices and research programs off-site in order to make space in the main buildings on campus for more classrooms. I remember walking across the quad that afternoon and meeting a friend who confirmed my observations that the weather was very strange and especially the sky which churned in random patterns of sun shine and ominous clouds.

I was scheduled to visit an off-campus rental property in downtown Xenia that afternoon to evaluate it's potential as a site where Wright State could relocate a research project's offices and laboratory. Those of us who were going to the meeting decided to drive seperately, since we all intended to drive from Xenia home after the meeting.

Fortunately, I was delayed in leaving campus by some other on-campus issues, and left about 30 minutes late. On the drive down 235 towards Xenia I was amazed at how dark -- actually black -- the sky was above Xenia. About this time, the radio station was interupted by a statement that the Greene County Sheriff had just announced that a tornado had hit Xenia and there were multiple deaths.

Had I been on time, I would have been right in the center of the tornado when it hit. There was a volunteer blocking traffic southbound on US 68 where 235 came in, so I back-tracked towards Fairborn and then back home.

Many phone lines in Xenia and Green County were down, and it took a day or two to find out that the others who I worked with who were suppose to be in Xenia at the same time had also been delayed for one reason or another, and nobody involved in the Wright State project was hurt or even in town when the tornado hit.

I remember that the night after the tornado hit, the Red Cross set up a place for the public to give blood at Wright Patterson, and shortly after opening, they needed to turn hundreds of potential blood donors away -- the community had immediately pulled together to help those injured.

After the tornado, building supplies and labor were very hard to find due to the needs fir these materials in Xenia, and the lumber stores at the time stopped sales to anyone not needing materials for storm damage repair.

I remember the first night they first turned the lights on inside the courthouse clock tower after they were put out by the tornado. Some of the windows were gone, and the clock had stopped at the time of the tornado, but the light was like a signal to me and others that the town was coming back.

I also remember one of the first restaurants to re-open after the tornatdo was the Friendly's restaurant on Detroit St. (North US 68). They were near the path of the tornado, but I don't think the building had been seriously damamged. It was a new store, and if I remember right had not even opened when the tornado went through. When they did open, they stayed open really late each night -- perhaps all night -- to service the needs of those working around the clock to get Xenia back on it's feet.
F16 1UB
10 posts
Mar 17, 2011
7:41 AM
Remember it like yesterday. I was sitting at home in a bean bag chair watching Gil Whitney on WHIO. Later that evening my phone rang & I was called to active duty with the Air National Guard in Springfield. I was sent to Arrowhead in Xenia for search, rescue, patrolling. I remember escorting a family to their residence that was destroyed. The lady broke down.

At the time I worked for Montgomery County Water Dept on Lamme Rd. I told my supervisor I was more useful turning off water to destroyed homes. I later gave a list to Xenia officials that were greatful.

Last Edited by on Mar 17, 2011 7:57 AM
marty58
4 posts
Mar 25, 2011
4:34 PM
marck1957, smiles i too remember my mother grabbing those HUGE hailballs. somewhat of a role reversal there:-). we kept them in the basement freezer for quite a long time. i remember seing one funnel cloud dipping in the sky up and down heading towards the east. the rest is history..although i have never forgot the green color of the sky. i still find myself checking the color of the sky when a storm warning is issued.
lonebear
1 post
Mar 27, 2011
7:53 PM
I was working at MegaCity Warehouse when all of a sudden fire trucks, sirens blasting, and a whole lot of emergency vehicles went blasting east on 35, went on for quite a while. We all went over to the doors, and watched. Soon after, we were told a tornado had hit Xenia, some of the guys I worked with lived there, and left immediately to go check on their families. Some didn't come back to work for several days.
PaulH
3 posts
Apr 16, 2011
10:20 PM
I was stationed at WPAFB and living in an apartment on the east side of Fairborn. We culd hear the roaring sound and looked outside to a pitch black sky. Later, we could hear sirens most of the night moving back and forth on the roads. The next day the extent of the damage was just beginning to hit home.
rinspd1
2 posts
Sep 28, 2011
6:43 PM
Like iceman7969, I too was working at the Imperial Foodtown at Stroop and Marshall. I was a carryout/ bagboy, working from 4 til 9. I was taking a customer's groceries to their car as it was starting to hail. The hail seemed to be as big as my fist.
joeferrara
23 posts
Sep 29, 2011
6:16 PM
Was living in Fairborn at the time, didn't understand why all the hail was coming down. Soon found out. Spent the next 2 weeks in Xenia on active duty with the Ohio National Guard and I will NEVER forget some of the terrible things I saw.
maxed out
317 posts
Sep 30, 2011
9:09 AM
I have posted this before, but it was the most horrible time of my life. I was an hour away from Xenia heading home to my home in Arrowhead. My wife was heading home from Kettering on US 35. She just arrived in Xenia and saw the tornado. She had the sense to get out of her car and get into a ditch near 35 and Allison Ave. in front of the Frisch's. Her face had been "sand-blasted" from the dirt and sand but nothing too serious. I arrived in Xenia and was told I could not enter. I wanted to find my wife. I parked and continued to walk. My first stop was our home in Arrowhead. Damage to the house but no wife. I continued to my parents home near the fairgrounds. Not too much damage but no wife.. I went to my wife's home in Laynewood... She was there battered but safe... I cried for hours... Worst day ever, and best day ever, all in one day.
DebiS
1 post
Nov 01, 2011
7:47 PM
I was working at my first job, Burger Chef on Salem Ave. making $1.65 an hour. I remember the sky was the strangest color I had ever seen. Everyone went outside to see the sky. Of course, at the time we didn't have the up to the minute news we have today, and we didn't know why the sky was so different. It also was the first time I had ever heard of Xenia.
DayViewer
5 posts
Nov 28, 2011
8:35 AM
How could I forget it! I was a student at WSU and had my first "date" with a fellow student walking around Glen Helen. He was a great guy!
Brian Hobbs
2 posts
Feb 15, 2012
4:21 AM
Yes I remember that day, Xenia was removed from the map, I was very young, had gotten home from school, and was not allowed to play outside, was storming in Kettering where we lived.
Dan1956
3 posts
Sep 22, 2012
8:06 PM
Looking up from the parking lot of the Airway Dairy Queen where I worked, we could see three funnel clouds dancing about well above us. I had never seen anything like this in my life. Me and two or three co-workers were told to get into the walk-in freezer. After a few minutes passed and nothing obviously touched down where we were at, we went back to work. A little while later, we heard on the radio the news of destruction in Xenia and the call for blood donations at the WPAFB hospital. After work, I headed that way only to see a long line of traffic backed up on Col. Glenn Hwy. back to the Page Manor shopping center. It was wonderful to see how people responded that night. My brother-in-law was in the Ohio National Guard and served for a week there. I never saw the destruction first hand -- only photos.
tlturbo
396 posts
Sep 23, 2012
5:56 AM
JeffN - you said you live in the Lake Cumberland area? Are you familiar with the lake? I ran around with the Dayton ski club and we would go to Cumberland several times a year in 69-71. We had a favorite place that was a several mile long channel that ended with a cliff about 50 ft high with a beautiful waterfall coming over it. We would run a rope across the cove about 50 ft out from the waterfall and tie the boats up and spend the night and ski during the day. It was way down toward the dam I believeoff to the right? Got any ideas?
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joey m
21 posts
Sep 27, 2012
11:48 AM
tlturbo was it grider hill dock
Happy to Be
9 posts
Oct 05, 2012
6:14 PM
My aunt and uncle lived in Arrowhead and their home had minor damage compared to 3 housed down that was leveled. I remember hearing how one of their neighbors had just gone out to bring in their mail and saw the storm coming. He put his mail on top of the tv and got his family and took cover. After the storm passed, most of their home was destroyed, but the mail remained untouched ontop of the tv.

Another story was how a filling station attendant gathered all of the customers into his small area of where customers paid (tiny in size, similar to the now Kroger cashier booths). Back then they were made from cynder block, and after the tornado, and the customers were able to get out of the small room, the room collapsed. Deciding that the customers were so jammed in there that they literally held the building together.
greelywinger
3 posts
Oct 30, 2012
6:43 PM
I was about 7.
I remember my Dad driving us through town not long after.
I remember a restaurant had their sign smashed into the front of the building.
Can't recall if it was Burger Chef or Red Barn.
Mark1984
5 posts
Nov 03, 2012
2:18 PM
I was almost 8 years old. Remember it clearly. Being scared half to death! We lived in Trotwood. The sky was like one I had never seen before and haven't seen since. We had heavy storms there. But nothing like what Xenia got with! We drove through weeks later. It was surreal seeing the damage. The only thing left of houses was the foundation. I remember Gil Whitney breaking in on TV to warn people. Prior to that, TV weather people just didn't do that. Who knows how many lives he saved.

Last Edited by on Nov 03, 2012 2:19 PM
greelywinger
7 posts
Nov 06, 2012
3:01 AM
That's the other thing I remember are house foundations.
hunt69
439 posts
Apr 19, 2013
12:14 PM
It's hard to believe it was 39 years ago.We will observe 40th anniversary next year.
WOW,being 23 doesn't seem that long ago.
supersix
130 posts
Apr 19, 2013
1:39 PM
I was working second shift at Brown & Kroger Printing Co. on E. Third Street in Dayton. We had thunderstorms that evening and heard on radio that a tornado had hit Xenia.
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Billd1952
57 posts
Apr 19, 2013
6:19 PM
We had just dropped a heart attack victim at Kettering Hospital, when the storm was passing over the Kettering area. We were on our way back to our headquarters when the tone dropped, we were advised to head to Xenia..I ndever expected that kind of damage. The damage done in the 69' tornado was what I expected to see.....
BeaverDavid
7 posts
Apr 26, 2013
8:37 PM
I remember too....I was visiting my folks home in Beavercreek, and the back porches faced towards Bellbrook. We could see the storm as it pass through that area and headed towards Xenia, my Mom all the while screaming for us to get into the basement. As others have already said, hail the size I had never seen before and never want to see again, the sky an ugly pea soup color that was so ominous. Only days later did we travel to Xenia and it truly was devastating and heart-wrenching to see. I still wonder if there is any truth to the old story about the Indians who used to inhabit this area calling the Xenia area the home of the "Devil Winds" from long ago...has anyone else heard that story?
Tomco
15 posts
May 19, 2013
8:31 AM
I lived in Randolph TWP. at that time and recall seeing ominous clouds to the ESE and within minutes hearing a radio report about the tornado hitting Xenia.
hunt69
538 posts
Dec 13, 2014
1:13 PM
Recollections of April 3 1974
stelizabeth
1 post
Jan 10, 2015
8:34 PM
I was 9 years old on Cruxten Drive in Huber heights. I remember seeing the sky in that sickening shade of green and clouds that looked like the bottom of an egg carton. The clouds were thick and scary, so I was heading home through the front yard when my mom appeared at the front door. In a voice that scared me, she said, "In the house now." She didn't need to tell me twice. I do not remember anything else that afternoon other than fear. It was some time later that my dad drove us into Xenia. We were surprised there were still clothes and strips of cloth in what was left of some trees. It was a horrible sight of flattened neighborhood houses. I later lived in Kansas and now in Iowa and tornadoes do not necessarily frighten me, but in all these years of living in the Midwest, I have never seen a sky like that.
donm
39 posts
Jan 12, 2015
12:27 PM
I was in the Army, stationed at Fort Hood Texas when I heard that Xenia had been hit by a devastating tornado. My older brother lived in Xenia at the time. I turned on the news and watched hoping I wouldn't see anyone I knew. It was frustrating and frightening knowing my brother and his family were right there as I watched the tv. Fortunately everyone was safe, although you couldn't say the same for their house. Tornados are incredible things. Hope I never get that close to one.
strayrider
1 post
Jan 26, 2015
1:40 AM
Lived in Bellbrook at the time. Was babysitting my younger brother and sister. Heard the warnings on 7. Looked out the window facing east and saw a couple of "rat tails" whipping around in the sky. The main funnel came down about five miles away and started churning in the direction of Xenia. Called my mom at work (she worked at the Town and Country J. C. Penny in Kettering) and told her that there was a tornado happening. She didn't believe me...
luv my dayton
819 posts
Jan 26, 2015
5:25 AM
Hi Stray was your mother's name Jan? My mother worked there well over 20 yrs and possibly with your mom. I remember year of the blizzard mom said when dad dropped her off at work there were actually people waiting for the store to open!

Last Edited by luv my dayton on Jan 26, 2015 5:26 AM


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