Devastation Strikes Belvidere: The Story Of The 1967 Tornado
Discover the tragic events of the 1967 Belvidere, Illinois tornado, a devastating natural disaster that claimed the lives of 24 people, including 17 children.
The 1967 Belvidere Tornado
A total of ten different tornadoes touched down around northern Illinois on that day. The most devastating of the ten was the tornado that touched down in the town of Belvidere, Illinois.
Mike Doyle, author of the book, The 1967 Belvidere Tornado, while speaking with wrex.com, said,
“if you wanted to draw a map and say, ‘okay this is the worst possible path you can take,’ this is the path this tornado took.”
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Belvidere Tornado Took Worst Possible Path
In Belvidere on that Friday afternoon, the bell had rung, and the weekend had arrived. Students filled with 'end-of-the-schoool-week' excitement were getting on their buses to head home.
This is the moment the tornado struck.
A total of 16 buses were in the parking lot when it touched down tossing many of them across the parking lot and turning some over.
The tornado took 24 lives that day, 17 of them were children.
Remembering the 1967 Belvidere Tornado Facebook group described the aftermath
The tornado first struck at 3:50 PM two miles southeast of Cherry Valley. The tornado passed the Chrysler plant near I-90 where 300 new cars and 100 employee cars were destroyed. The tornado continued east-northeast through the southeast side of Belvidere. One hundred twenty-seven homes were destroyed, and hundreds more were damaged.
The most notable and horrific part of this tornado was the mayhem at the Belvidere High School. Buses had already picked up the elementary school children and were loading the high school students when the tornado struck. Twelve buses were rolled over. Students were flung like leaves into the muddy field. Thirteen of the 24 fatalities and 300 of the 500 injuries in this tornado occurred at the high school.
The EF4 tornado caused $22 million in damages.
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Watch Video Below
Recently retired Chicago TV meteorologist Tom Skilling sat down with 3 survivors of that horrible day on the 50th anniversary in 2017.
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Devastation Strikes Belvidere, Illinois: The Story Of The 1967 Tornado
Gallery Credit: Steve Shannon
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Gallery Credit: JB Love
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