The best way to see what's on the page is to view the newspaper page. Beecher Tornado of 1953 - My City Magazine Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. The 1953 Worcester tornado was an extremely powerful tornado that struck the city and surrounding area of Worcester, Massachusetts on June 9, 1953. He always tells us about the area after the tornado, as my daugher, his granddaughter, graduated from Anna Maria. There were reports of telephone poles flying through the air like missiles and piercing buildings, giant 200-year-old trees uprooted and rolling down the street, and manhole covers whirling past. I was 7 yrs old and remember it like it happened yesterday. On June 9, 1953, a devastatingly powerful tornado hit the city of Worcester and the surrounding areas. When it hit the county seat of Worcesterthe second most populated city in Massachusetts and home to over 200,000 people at the timethe storm was a mile wide. Worcester demanded a response from the government, but meteorologists quickly disproved the theory, and Congressman Van Zandt later retracted his statement. Thanks for your help! It now stands as the 21st deadliest tornado in the United States. "A huge black funnel with incredible white sky on both sides.". Talking Politics: Should a new government agency protect the coastline from climate change? After Van Zandts atomic bomb theory was disproved, the meteorological synopsis was released. Weve updated the security on the site. Worcester County, My Mom was there. (PDF) The management of weather disasters is an UNFINISHED PROJECT OF 1953-6-8 Flint-Worcester Outbreak | Stormtrack The infamous 1953 Worcester Tornado was the worst during the outbreak sequence for a number of reasons. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. Then the cold air moved eastward to the New York/New England area. Your memories of the 1953 Waco tornado - Houston Chronicle The funnel was a full mile wide. Worcester County, The Blizzard of '78 dropped between two and four feet of snow on the Bay State over the course On this day in 1888, ordinary life in Massachusetts came to a standstill. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Finally it petered out over Framingham,having gobbled up everything in its way. Please reset your password. Furthermore, the tornados meteorological explanation was due after the event; many wondered how such a storm was possible in the New England region. The city made plans to restructure buildings and properties that were damaged. A film on the Worcester Tornado, June 9, 1953. . Damage was phenomenal in Worcester (second-largest city in Massachusetts) and in some areas equaled the worst damage in any U.S. At 5:08 p.m. the tornado entered Worcester, growing to a width of about 1 mile. It was the worst tornado in New England history, and one of the 25 worst tornadoes in U.S. history. New Englands worst tornado destroyed 4,000 buildings. At the Brookside Home Farm, a dairy, six men were killed and the herd of 80 Holstein cows wiped out. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. ------------------------- Together, we can create a more connected and informed world. The Worcester Tornados greatest effect on the nation was its being the principal catalyst for the Storm Prediction Centers reorganization on June 17, 1953, as well as the use of a nationwide radar/storm spotter system. 44 cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Today at QCC, there is a memorial for all those who died on June 9, 1953. The tornadoes are linked together in the public mind because, for a brief period following the Worcester tornado, it was debated in Congress whether recent atomic bomb testing in the upper atmosphere had caused the tornadoes. Please reset your password. "I think the fact that he gave the Red Cross the $7,500 is testament to how much it meant to him," the son said. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. But what happened in Worcester, was truly devastating. This high-pressure air mass collided with a low-pressure mass that was centered over Nebraska, which made favorable conditions for severe thunderstorm development. Please try again later. Ponds were sucked dry. I remember this..was in my yard and saw clouds coming with debris flying in the air and this was in Dorchester, mass. I lived on Holden St. Holden. USA, Templeton, picked him up before he made it and hurled him to his death in a field, 60 people killed in in the city by the tornado, The Cold Friday of 1810 - New England Historical Society, New England's Strongest and Deadliest Tornado Devastated Worcester In 1953 | Weather Concierge, The Wallingford Tornado of 1878 Unleashes Terror on an Unsuspecting Town - New England Historical Society. "Theres a story of a woman who went to her front door and she said she saw cows floating by. June 9, 1953: The Great Worcester Tornado killed 94 and injured more than 1,200 as it cut across central Massachusetts. Vermont, But it was the first year the NWS forecast tornadoes, and the forecasters feared telling the public lest they cause panic. [], [] Worcester tornado of 1953, one of the 25 worst tornadoes in U.S. history, killed 90 people in a 90-minute terror []. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Their little boys were there visiting. Some features of the squall line situation of June 9, 1953 and accompanying tornadoes in central and eastern Massachusetts are discussed. The tally of 10,000 homeless stood unchallenged for 26 years until the '79 Wichita Falls storm. The Worcester community will never forget this disaster as part of the citys long and proud history. The warm front extended southeast across New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and over the course of the day moved northeast, bringing warm, moist, unstable air into the New England area, including Massachusetts. Houses and bodies were blown into Lake Quinsigamond. The Weather Bureau in Boston announced a high of 103.6. The deadly twister belonged to an outbreak of tornadoes over the northern United States for three days, from June 6-9. Do you remember the Worcester Tornado of 1953? - My Southborough People at first thought the Soviet Union had launched an attack on Massachusetts or maybe it was a side effect of the nuclear testing in the Southwest. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. The storm then passed through Worcester, where it destroyed Assumption College and several other buildings, killing 60. It grabbed bodies and entire houses and tossed them intoLake Quinsigamond. Updated: 6:19 PM EDT Jun 9, 2019. The destruction was overwhelming. Because of the nature of the OCR technology, sometimes the language can appear to be nonsensical. It's like everyone knowing where they were when Kennedy was shot.". Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. His older sister June survived, having been thrown through the air on a door and fallen back to earth safely. It's really very little," he said at a ceremony at the organization's new Worcester headquarters. And when we saw what had happened, we were sure it had.". The tornado lasted 84 minutes, mowing a path about 45 miles long from Petersham to Southborough. Resend Activation Email. 1953 tornado: Search Result | eBay The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts on July 26, 1953 62 Newspapers.com. But 94 other people did. In total, 94 people were killed, making it the 21st deadliest tornado in the history of the United States,[2] and the deadliest in the history of New England. On this day in 1953, Worcester County was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit New England. The Tornado first touched down west of Worcester And then the monster got loose. . People were hunkered down in their basements and once it got over and they looked up, theyd see the sky. Slideshow. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. 44 cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Activity 1: Panel Discussion/Debate: Integration v. Segregation? June 7, 2022 . 1953 Worcester Tornado Victims: a Virtual Cemetery - Find a Grave If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. "They put mattresses on the back of pickup trucks to get people to the hospital, tried to dig people out," Conroy said. Tornado Devastates Worcester - Mass Moments Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. At the Nashua and Lawrence stations, it registered 106. National Weather Service forecasters in Boston knew a tornado was likely. based on information from your browser. Airborne debris was strewn eastward, reaching the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory 35mi (56km) away, and even out over Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. People witnessed terrifying sights windows and doors exploded, rooms full of furniture, even sofas and pianos, were sucked out into the maelstrom. Mothers were holding children in their arms, covered with blood. The black storm cloud grew to a mile wide by the time it slammed into Worcester. USA, Southborough, Someone found a wedding dress in Worcester hanging from a telephone wire in Natick.