I lived in Yellow Springs about 8 miles away..softball size hail there. 2 days later went to Xenia to distribute food. Looked like bombed out WW2 city. Later worked with a man who was the manager at McDonalds. He took all customers to basement. They were not injured, but were trapped in for awhile.
In Yellow Springs we had more tornado sirens later that night...slept in unfinished cellar for safety.
I was 23 and living in Yellow Springs... just a few miles North of Xenia. I'll never forget the sky color, and the softball-sized hail stones! A very tragic, scary day... and so much damage.
My mom was in this, working in a hair salon in the middle of town. Said the weather got really bad outside, so everyone went into the back room. There was a woman with her two small kids who wanted to look out the giant plate glass windows of the salon at the weather. Everyone tried to make her come in, but she wouldn't listen. After everything passed they came out of the back room and the woman and kids were gone and the windows shattered. As the story goes.
I was 12 years old and lived on Center St. in Xenia when this tornado came through. It was a horrible day for all Xenia residents and for our entire city! Xenia has never fully recovered.
@RhondaClark61 My Father was caught in the tornado. his house was torn to shreds. he talks about how he lost everything in the tornado. it must have been extremely scary.
We were about 5 miles west waiting in our cars for another team to show up for a soccer game. I remember the sky darkening to the south, and the sky near us turned yellowish. I can't remember if there was rain, but we got some hail.
Soccer is an "all-weather" sport. We didn't know about the tornado warnings so when the other team didn't show up we thought they were wimps. We gave up waiting and on the way home is when I heard the sirens and radio announcement that a large tornado hit Xenia.
Based on the description and some of the video show it doesn't sound so much like multiple tornadoes merging but the formation of a single multivortex tornado.
Great video. I'm not normally a fan of "picture videos" but this one stands apart from the others because of the 1974 audio track and the formation video at the end. Thanks for sharing.
I relocated to Dayton for a couple of years in May 1977. I recall all the damage had been removed. But I was amazed to see so much vacant land as far as the eyes could see, where buildings once stood. I could not imagine what the residents of Xenia must have gone through. I was back to visit in August of 2008 and saw how much the city has been rebuilt and it looks great.
I remember this day like it was yesterday. The tornado took the roof off my school in Bellbrook. We drove though Xenia after it happened. I remember seeing downed trees, houses and a distroyed McDonalds stands out in my mind. I remember seeing pictures of Arrowhead on TV. So sad. Thanks for the video.
@Pbarrr4 HEY! I went to Bellbrook, Class of 08. My parents lived in Kettering at the time of this though. I swear Xenia is honestly cursed as the urban legend goes. Seriously how many tornadoes have formed in Greene County and only affected Xenia??? If you haven't seen the movie "Gummo" look it up....all about the aftermath of this tornado. Reason why Xenia is Garbage, no offense to any family you know there lol.
That is one day I will not forget. I lived on the outskirts of Hamilton & I remember the clouds being dark real dark. Thank you for douing this & am glad you guys lived threw it
My God Homer. Seeing it on the documentary when I was a kid was one thing, but you lived it. In that footage, I counted about 3 vortexes rotating within that funnel base. My God.
my grandmother& i watched "When weather Changed history and she had lived 5 miles away from Xenia, Ohio she said her and my papaw went through Xenia that next day and there was nothing left she said the next day she told papaw that she was coming back to kentucky so she packed up with my papaw my uncles one was 6 another was 5 and my mom was 2 1/2 when she told me that she started crying i haven't seen her cry sence 2003 when papaw died.
my dad was 13 when this happened and he lived in beavercreek, ohio. and i have lived in xenia my whole life and im 16 and the xenia tornado stories still scare me
I lived in riverside at that time...across the street from the USAF Museum...i was 7...ill never forget that day...the distruction was stunning...i had friends in xenia....and got to see the distruction afterwards...
yea my dad was like 4 or 5 when this happend..he lived in park paylne at the time and said when he looked up all he seen as a bright green sky and my drandpa and grandad told him to come inside and he did and they turned on the news and watched all that stuff and what not
my grandad was working there on a church and said if he was there when it happend he said he would of hopped in the big baptise tub or whatever and they found that tub 5 miles away out in a field :s
@rambhg was you really in this tornado? i heard it was so powerfull that it sucked up asphault from the ground. everytime xenia tornado is mentioned around me i get goosebumps and i only live 20-25 miles away from xenia in montgomery county so this event is close to home.
The movie Gummo is fictional teen angst/dysfunction and has nothing to do with Xenia. It was filmed in Nashville and even the tornado footage isn't from Xenia74. Writer/director Corine chose it as a fictional backdrop to a fictional story. My bad, Corine doesn't like plots, Gummo hasn't got one and doesn't tell a story.
Homer, one of the best montages of still photos of this tornado was published on the front page of the Dayton Journal Herald a year later(4/75). I think it was shot by an amatuer photographer off Rte 68 on the SE side of Xenia. I lost my copy. Do you know where I can find it? If you have it I'd love to see it here. Thanks.
Thanks for this excellent montage, Homer. Includes both known audio recordings and Bruce Boyd's super8mm. When I first saw it from Alpha, I thought it was a fork-tailed funnel, but it was just forming up, and I saw a third funnel join up after the first two were on the ground. Saw other rope funnels look like they got sucked in, too or maybe they were circling, which is Fujita's theory. Then it hit Arrowhead and I could see the debris of houses.
Too true. I don't know if it's legend, but the local Shawnee tribe referred to Xenia as "the place of the devil winds" and would not settle there. Funny thing is that one of the largest Shawnee villages was located a few miles N of Xenia where Oldtown is today. Does a few miles make that much difference?
There were no leaves on the trees at the time. It was too early in spring, just two weeks after the calendar end of winter. I still remember how warm and humid it was that day for so early in the season. We usually don't see leaves on the trees till late April or early May.
i'm less than an hour from xenia. my uncle lives there, and lived to tell us about it. my parents also have a book with some rare photos of the tornado.
I lived in Yellow Springs about 8 miles away..softball size hail there. 2 days later went to Xenia to distribute food. Looked like bombed out WW2 city. Later worked with a man who was the manager at McDonalds. He took all customers to basement. They were not injured, but were trapped in for awhile.
In Yellow Springs we had more tornado sirens later that night...slept in unfinished cellar for safety.
davnic19 5 months ago
At 2:55 it looked like two funnels. Was it ever confirmed it was a single large tornado or two?
meddetect10 7 months ago
@meddetect10 two small tornadoes that emerged into a half-mile wide tornado. yes two that emerged into one
usgitmo33 4 months ago
OH GOD!!!!!! im glad i was in Portage County!
joeboxer0424 7 months ago
I was 23 and living in Yellow Springs... just a few miles North of Xenia. I'll never forget the sky color, and the softball-sized hail stones! A very tragic, scary day... and so much damage.
AugustAngst50 9 months ago
My mom was in this, working in a hair salon in the middle of town. Said the weather got really bad outside, so everyone went into the back room. There was a woman with her two small kids who wanted to look out the giant plate glass windows of the salon at the weather. Everyone tried to make her come in, but she wouldn't listen. After everything passed they came out of the back room and the woman and kids were gone and the windows shattered. As the story goes.
JDCoolMan21 10 months ago
I was 12 years old and lived on Center St. in Xenia when this tornado came through. It was a horrible day for all Xenia residents and for our entire city! Xenia has never fully recovered.
RhondaClark61 10 months ago
@RhondaClark61 My Father was caught in the tornado. his house was torn to shreds. he talks about how he lost everything in the tornado. it must have been extremely scary.
MawaRenee 10 months ago
We were about 5 miles west waiting in our cars for another team to show up for a soccer game. I remember the sky darkening to the south, and the sky near us turned yellowish. I can't remember if there was rain, but we got some hail.
Soccer is an "all-weather" sport. We didn't know about the tornado warnings so when the other team didn't show up we thought they were wimps. We gave up waiting and on the way home is when I heard the sirens and radio announcement that a large tornado hit Xenia.
Binabik56 1 year ago
I was 7 and hid under the couch in the hall!!!!
ledaohio 1 year ago
when my mom was a kid she lived in fairborn and she said it was heading for there but switched and went to xenia.
BeardedDragonFan1 1 year ago
Tornado warning today , scary me.
hugHide 1 year ago
My dad saw this...
bananas1and2 1 year ago
@bananas1and2 what was that squealing sound in the video?
thescootercooter 1 year ago
this is not the full video its the its a loop of one little section of the video
xxcurnuxx 1 year ago
Based on the description and some of the video show it doesn't sound so much like multiple tornadoes merging but the formation of a single multivortex tornado.
dragonridley 1 year ago
yah i heard one of our conrail engines was blown straight off the tracks.
ripjump12 1 year ago
Great video. I'm not normally a fan of "picture videos" but this one stands apart from the others because of the 1974 audio track and the formation video at the end. Thanks for sharing.
ohioqueer 1 year ago
this is not the entire clip of the Xenia tornado
this is the same 3 seconds looping over and over but the full clip is just over a minute long
xxcurnuxx 1 year ago
I relocated to Dayton for a couple of years in May 1977. I recall all the damage had been removed. But I was amazed to see so much vacant land as far as the eyes could see, where buildings once stood. I could not imagine what the residents of Xenia must have gone through. I was back to visit in August of 2008 and saw how much the city has been rebuilt and it looks great.
zaidrim 2 years ago
I thought Xenia was said that they couldn't rebuild from such disaster.
Nathanrailfan 2 years ago
When you come east on Hwy. 35 into Xenia, you could see the reconstruction on the west side where the tornado struck.
zaidrim 2 years ago
85% of homes were rebuilt within a year of the tornado.
Federal disaster aid, you know.
longlakeshore 2 years ago
@Nathanrailfan couldn't wasn't in there vocabulary then.
wCRONUSw 1 year ago
@zaidrim Alot of people are syaing that Xenia is becoming a ghost town.
wCRONUSw 1 year ago
I remember this day like it was yesterday. The tornado took the roof off my school in Bellbrook. We drove though Xenia after it happened. I remember seeing downed trees, houses and a distroyed McDonalds stands out in my mind. I remember seeing pictures of Arrowhead on TV. So sad. Thanks for the video.
Pbarrr4 2 years ago
@Pbarrr4 HEY! I went to Bellbrook, Class of 08. My parents lived in Kettering at the time of this though. I swear Xenia is honestly cursed as the urban legend goes. Seriously how many tornadoes have formed in Greene County and only affected Xenia??? If you haven't seen the movie "Gummo" look it up....all about the aftermath of this tornado. Reason why Xenia is Garbage, no offense to any family you know there lol.
dc89dc 1 year ago
@dc89dc I have no family in Xenia, thank God. I'll look up the movie. Thanks!
Pbarrr4 1 year ago
it destoryed my dads house he lived in the states in xenia
nintendo1987 2 years ago
@nintendo1987 I lived in the east end. not when this happened but in 1992.
wCRONUSw 1 year ago
That is one day I will not forget. I lived on the outskirts of Hamilton & I remember the clouds being dark real dark. Thank you for douing this & am glad you guys lived threw it
becca197234 2 years ago
My God Homer. Seeing it on the documentary when I was a kid was one thing, but you lived it. In that footage, I counted about 3 vortexes rotating within that funnel base. My God.
CosmicFunkOSMOSIS 2 years ago
my grandmother& i watched "When weather Changed history and she had lived 5 miles away from Xenia, Ohio she said her and my papaw went through Xenia that next day and there was nothing left she said the next day she told papaw that she was coming back to kentucky so she packed up with my papaw my uncles one was 6 another was 5 and my mom was 2 1/2 when she told me that she started crying i haven't seen her cry sence 2003 when papaw died.
beauiful1990 2 years ago
i live in Waynesville. My papaw talks about that day all the time. I'm glad i wasn't born yet, it sounded frightening.
kawaiisanosuke 2 years ago
i live in xenia and theres tornado warnings all the time but luckly we only have had 2 horrible ones but i still
hate being in xenia during a storm
maddenman116 2 years ago
my dad was 13 when this happened and he lived in beavercreek, ohio. and i have lived in xenia my whole life and im 16 and the xenia tornado stories still scare me
jennwright76 2 years ago
I lived in xenia when the tornado went through. I was 10 and went to our basement under a mattress. It was horrifying and still a very vivid memory.
penrod1991 2 years ago
I lived in riverside at that time...across the street from the USAF Museum...i was 7...ill never forget that day...the distruction was stunning...i had friends in xenia....and got to see the distruction afterwards...
centervilletn 2 years ago
yea my dad was like 4 or 5 when this happend..he lived in park paylne at the time and said when he looked up all he seen as a bright green sky and my drandpa and grandad told him to come inside and he did and they turned on the news and watched all that stuff and what not
my grandad was working there on a church and said if he was there when it happend he said he would of hopped in the big baptise tub or whatever and they found that tub 5 miles away out in a field :s
great video
tater199595 3 years ago
I lived in xenia when this happened it was bad
themeaningoflife38 3 years ago
This happend way before I was born, But I live just a few hours away from where it all happend...Quite a storm
Theguyof93 3 years ago
My brother's family used to live in Xenia but it wasn't back when this tornado happened.
larry2612 3 years ago
Comment removed
ilovetogofast88 3 years ago
NO, I didn't see it derail, I saw it derailed after the tornado came thru
rambhg 3 years ago
@rambhg was you really in this tornado? i heard it was so powerfull that it sucked up asphault from the ground. everytime xenia tornado is mentioned around me i get goosebumps and i only live 20-25 miles away from xenia in montgomery county so this event is close to home.
thescootercooter 1 year ago
At 2:33 is the train that came thru Xenia, Going thru Xenia to their fire staion, I saw the train derailed...Homer
rambhg 3 years ago
guuuuuummmmmmmooooooooooooo. very harsh though. terrible thing to have happen.
foreverywitchburned 3 years ago
The movie Gummo is fictional teen angst/dysfunction and has nothing to do with Xenia. It was filmed in Nashville and even the tornado footage isn't from Xenia74. Writer/director Corine chose it as a fictional backdrop to a fictional story. My bad, Corine doesn't like plots, Gummo hasn't got one and doesn't tell a story.
longlakeshore 3 years ago
Homer, one of the best montages of still photos of this tornado was published on the front page of the Dayton Journal Herald a year later(4/75). I think it was shot by an amatuer photographer off Rte 68 on the SE side of Xenia. I lost my copy. Do you know where I can find it? If you have it I'd love to see it here. Thanks.
longlakeshore 3 years ago
Thanks for this excellent montage, Homer. Includes both known audio recordings and Bruce Boyd's super8mm. When I first saw it from Alpha, I thought it was a fork-tailed funnel, but it was just forming up, and I saw a third funnel join up after the first two were on the ground. Saw other rope funnels look like they got sucked in, too or maybe they were circling, which is Fujita's theory. Then it hit Arrowhead and I could see the debris of houses.
longlakeshore 3 years ago
woo thats where i live. this place sucks when it comes to tornados.
StArSaNgElWiNgS 3 years ago
Too true. I don't know if it's legend, but the local Shawnee tribe referred to Xenia as "the place of the devil winds" and would not settle there. Funny thing is that one of the largest Shawnee villages was located a few miles N of Xenia where Oldtown is today. Does a few miles make that much difference?
longlakeshore 3 years ago
yes it does. they decided to settle there because the land was higher and the wind wasnt as devilish
born2ball21 3 years ago
I'd like to see the weather data to prove any real difference between downtown Xenia and Oldtown.
longlakeshore 3 years ago
I heard that. I dont live in Xenia but I live close. And they do get the worst of it when it comes to storms.
Ktbug426 2 years ago
Wow, what distruction. It was April so, the trees should have had leaves. I wonder how fast the wind has to blow to rip every leaf off of a tree?
ztwntyn8 3 years ago
There were no leaves on the trees at the time. It was too early in spring, just two weeks after the calendar end of winter. I still remember how warm and humid it was that day for so early in the season. We usually don't see leaves on the trees till late April or early May.
longlakeshore 3 years ago
i'm less than an hour from xenia. my uncle lives there, and lived to tell us about it. my parents also have a book with some rare photos of the tornado.
sebring31482 4 years ago
@sebring31482 Any chance you could scan them and put them up on the Xenia Tornado facebook page? That would be something! :)
gymnastmike 1 year ago
Well, howdy Homer! I love your site. That is Mr. Brokeshoulder's tape of the tornado, correct. Thanks for posting.
Yarndt 4 years ago
wow really does sound like a freight train
seamusdog420 4 years ago
i remember this lived 100 miles away it was too close for comfort wiped out the town was very sad
seamusdog420 4 years ago