Grand Rapids Michigan Tornado

[Despina838]

So hard to believe an F5 ever hit around this area. We never get tornadoes here in west Michigan. Anytime there are tornadoes in this state, they're usually brief F0 spinups.

[Trashfished]

I heard it hit the Westside and did millions of dollars woth of improvements.

[JulieNoWay]

Tornadoes, and hurricanes, were here before us. So we have to adapt to them. Cool clip. I love seeing things about tornadoes and hurricanes, yes i know their dangerous and destructive. I'm not saying I like that destructive part, but their cool to watch... i mean, they must be considering every time theres a storm of some sort people whip out there cameras and phones. lol.

[SHiiPoW]

Who ate 0:21! U EVIL NOOBS!

[MegaJohnnywadd]

I remember this tornado I was getting a blowjob from my girlfriend......I remember the tornado snuck up on us and picked up our house and we woke up somewhere in Kansas I believe??????

[maggot6639]

@MegaJohnnywadd lolololol xD

[AnimeAspieFanatic]

(I know, might be a dumb question but forgive me!) Was this the one that hit flint too? :(

[alanrdowney]

@AnimeAspieFanatic No - the one that hit Flint was on June 8, 1953 and was an F5. The same weather system that hit Flint on June 8 also caused the Worcester, MA tornado (a strong F4) the next day.

[NovProduction]

lol i live in grand blanc. idk why we have to be in the end of tornado valley :(

[pegasigirl2010]

I had an English teacher as a high school freshman who said she rode this tornado out as a young child and was absolutely terrified. Her family had to take cover underneath tables in a restaurant with many large picture windows. I'm glad we haven't had this kind of weather in Grand Rapids for a long time!

[Rainbowpinkcartoon]

I'm from Michigan,and there was a tornado when I lived there in either 1996-1997 that killed 8 people but I don't remember because I was a baby at the time.

[NoOdL3z18]

@Rainbowpinkcartoon I was in Jamestown elementary school around that time when a tornado almost made a touch down and ripped large patches out of the corn field next to the school. I remember the teachers moving us to the hallway and seeing hail outside the window, I was 7.

[drizzet98]

That is one freaky looking twister

[laura20022004]

That is awesome :D

[vlfb]

I have a pair of prints from a Grand Rapids artist. The tornado went down her street and took out the old barn across the street from her house. The first is a pen and ink sketch of the barn, the second of the same site after the tornado.

[zoocrewsk8er]

i live in Michigan and there is a storm going on right now. Who woulda think? Michigan...bad weather? NEVER!

[monkeynut000]

i live in michigan very very very close to grand rapids that was a close tornado

[xhorseluver12x]

damn...

[HauntedGhostLady]

Exactly 18 years before the Super Outbreak. Never heard of this one, but I knew about the one in Flint, which was a day before the one in Worcestor MA.

[JRCollinsfan]

Would any one happen to know how to get a hold on WOODTV 8's Tracking The Storm: 50 years later coverage? The scary part about this it there was no siren. Federal Signal (Then Federal Electric) was producing the Thunderbolt 1000T siren during that time, I wonder what happened?

[christof139]

F5 1954 Flint, Michigan tornado killed about 116 and injured over 900. It is still ranked as the USA's 9th deadliest tornado and the last one to kill 100 or more people. Three F2's (one went up to a F3 for awhile) ripped through Detroit and about 4 suburbs in 1997 annd caused a lot of damage. They passed not to far north of me, maybe 1 mile or so.

[elmo4777]

damn i member that night it was fucking crazy and scary

[stickbuddy1]

yeah this was a real freak storm Michigan never get that bad of tornados (knock on wood)

[bigredchnl20]

its not the middle of nowhere,jack ass.you must live in the middle of nowhere to never have heard of detroit.thank you BUH BY

[garHark]

omg

[playsmartplay]

dont live in the middle of nowhere and this wont happen

[Ub3rJ0hn]

lol, Grand Rapids is a very large city.

[buddyayres]

yeah GR isnt exactly the middle of nowhere

[JohnPaul1300]

This tornado killed 18 people and injured 340. Old people from Hudsonville MI, West of Grand Rapids still remember it. One of the deadliest tornados.

[Ub3rJ0hn]

Deadliest? Look up the Tristate Tornado.

[torahislife]

@JohnPaul1300 Yep. My mom and dad were out on a date and in the late afternoon the weather got bad. They saw this huge tornado come down around downtown Hudsonville. They drove onto Hudsonville's main street. Thery were one of the first people to arrive on the scene. Power lines down, businesses destroyed, people staggering around in a daze, asking for help. Said it was awful. Was one of the few F5s recorded in Michigan.

[eight6sevenfive3oh9]

This is the tornado that my grandma used to torment me with when I was a kid. It is as scary as I imagined. They remember going down in the basement and coming up the stairs to nothing. Crazy. We've been pretty lucky to not have anything hit here since.

[Trunks3789]

i hate tornadoes are there any in warren or sterling heights gulp....

[shalesemaria23]

looks like the tornado from wizard of oz

[Superbook4Eva]

I used to live in Macomb County and it doesn't seem like that part of metro Detroit gets as many tornadoes as in other areas. Now Livingston, Lenawee or Washtenaw (where I live now), that's a different story... seems like Livingston County gets a tornado warning every time it rains.

Holy shit, is this video scary. I will probably have nightmares about this now...

[kimera7790]

I live in Mount Clemens. We rarely even get warnings. Maybe 1 time a year. I'm 18 never seen one, and the oldest person in the house is 58 and never seen one.

[SuketoKetchi]

Tornadoes can hit anywhere.

[lynmch]

hey was that the sun in the clouds or fire?

[dustinsnaughtygirl]

cool video. i'm actually looking for a video of the tornado that catooosa oklahoma in 1993. if you have any ideas or footage that you would like to share that would be helpful. thank you.

[NNNatedog]

holy god

[fliparmy]

I live in this city and have never seen anything like this! Incredible!

[Thesorrowofemo]

yea that is crazy the old video iv ever seen too

[AlonsoLegend]

This is an invaluable upload don't lose it! Vintage footage! This will be a big help for an upcoming music video, I will keep you posted! =)

[Panther95]

Yar this was the last F5 in Michigan I think or at least in grand rapids. One has never happened after this one.

[ErnestoDelMundo]

There is actually a color version of this clip. You can find it if you google "1956 tornado" and click the first entry then look for the link at the bottom that says "Tornado Video".

[CobraKing619]

there are more rare tornado videos than people might think, I had no idea that the first film of a tornado was not the Corn, OK tornado in 1951 but of a tornado that hit Cuba in 1933 and who knows somebody might stumble upon some even rarer films of tornadoes

[Anticyclonic]

Oh hell yeah, there are tons of vids out there that have been rarely seen. I have footage of the Worcester tornado, and I KNOW I have the Cuba clip somewhere. One of these days I'm gonna have to brave the mountain of old VHS tapes I have (lots of which contain footage from old TV documentaries I taped over a decade ago) but it's such a pain in the ass.

[CobraKing619]

I've seen pictures of the Worcester tornado but I've never seen the film, and I have video of the Tulsa-Catoosa tornado where you can see clearly see the tornado before it later was wrapped in rain and dust. I also have footage of the Wichita Falls F5 on 1964, it was shot during a live newscast and has sound.

[Anticyclonic]

Cool! The 1964 Wichita F5 I do NOT think I have, I'm just trying to remember...no, I think the one I'm thinking of is from Geary, OK in either '61 or '63. I'll have to post that one. And I have a shitty 3-sec snippet of Lubbock 1970 that I wouldn't mind seeing more of. :o(

[CobraKing619]

The actual Lubbock Tornado wow I would love to see that, the Wichita Falls film I have is from TVC I.

[AJTwister97]

@Anticyclonic u have footage of the Worchester tornado?!?!? why wont you upload it!?!?! plz for the love of all that is tornadoes PLZ UPLOAD IT!

[ricub1]

@Anticyclonic Is the Worcester Tornado footage you have the one taken in Southborough as the barn collapses over the filmer's head? (the Ray Davis film). Or is it the one taken from Rtes 9/20 at Northborough/Shrewsbury line? (the Resch film) - would be curious to see the latter - I have 2 stills from it but have never seen the film itself. Thanks -

[Rapappport]

@CobraKing619 This tornado was the only one in recorded history that came near downtown Grand Rapids 4/3/1956. How did you film this, Anticyclonic?

[RufusClancy]

I saw this monster first hand when I was 8 years old. I hope I never see another F5.

[KapnKoolio]

That old 8mm footage somehow makes it seem even scarier!

[stoopidrat]

im from gr and it never looked like that it looks to calm its ghetto where im at u got ppl thtreatning to shank ur ass so they say but anways i never knew there was a tornadoe

[matt7361]

No, that 1980 tornado you're thinking of went through Kalamazoo in 1980, it killed 5 people, I believe. I'm in Florida now and you haven't seen anything until you've experienced a hurricane.

[Anticyclonic]

I bet it's really crap-in-the-pants inducing to experience a hurricane. I saw this video a while ago where this family was hunkered down in their home and they taped the entire thing through the night. I think the guy's wife was in the hospital ready to give birth to their new baby.

What hurricanes have you been through?

[RufusClancy]

I agree. I went through hurricane Katrina and Wilma but for sheer nerve rattling power and destruction nothing compares to an F5

[Metallocity]

@matt7361 well I've experienced a few so far lol

[TEKNOSAPIENDuran]

Wasn't there also a tornado that went right through the downtown area back in 1980 os so? I was like 9 years old and remember seeing the video of all the blown out glass in the buildings.

[darrin924]

kalamazoo...killed 5 , and did 50 MILLION in damage...check '1980 kalamazoo tornado'  on wikipedia

[skylarthompson]

wow that is ascary looking tornado would not like it comeing towards my house!!

[BillBrd1]

This was part of an outbreak during the evening of April 3rd, 1956. This F5 tornado left 18 dead and 340 injured.

[AVtornado74]

Wouldn't want to see it coming towards my house!

[spongobong12]

i live in grand rapids and i thought there were never tornadoes there

[jennifer611]

I'm from Grand Rapids too.. there was a couple small tornado's not long ago..

[wxnut]

wicked footage!

[bwlfp]

Good stuff thanks