The F4 Belvidere Tornado, 54 Years Later (Video)

The F4 Belvidere Tornado, 54 Years Later (Video)

YouTube

97 ZOK logo
Get our free mobile app

The date was April 21st 1967, and Belvidere experienced the 6th deadliest weather related disaster in US history. This F4 twister had winds of 240mph and ripped through Belvidere, killing 24 and injuring hundreds.

This twister was a half mile wide, and just as school was letting out at 3:50pm all hell broke loose. This F4 affected a hospital, school buses, a grocery store and plenty of local Belvidere homes and businesses. The path of this incredibly destructive tornado was reported at 28 miles long.

The weather that afternoon was insane throughout Northern Illinois. Reports of eighteen different tornadoes were spotted in our area, but Belvidere got the worst of it.

From ABC7, there was little warned to the people of Belvidere as the sun vanished and the sky turned into a creepy green color.

"The bus driver - who was my bus driver since kindergarten - he stood up and said, 'There's a tornado. Get down, and then it started to roll, and it probably rolled for what seemed like an eternity. I'm sure it was seven, eight, nine times." - tornado survivor Teri Turner Keegan.
The destruction done to high school was like something out of a bad movie. The classroom doors were used as stretchers and the high school gym was a makeshift morgue.
A tornado watch was issued on that day, but it came approximately 15 minutes after the tornado had left it's deadly mark. Thankfully that technology has been dramatically upgraded.
I've heard the stories, spoke with people that reported on the Belvidere tornado of 1967, it is something this area will never forget.

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.
Categories: Articles

More From 97 ZOK