We Were Building a House

Submitted by Dave Hach

I wasn't yet 2 yrs old when my parents and I were tossed out of our trailer by one of those pairs. I always thought this picture was of the pair over Dunlap, my parents told me about watching it go by after crawling out of their wreckage at Midway. We were in the middle of the park and only got rolled over, some friends lost their trailer on the back row while they were out of town. We were building a house just south of town and my dad was kicking himself for not moving the trailer out there. It was many years before I could enjoy green skies and the EBS signal. Your story makes this picture much more personal. I remember the Arab sign but I thought it was closer to Green Rd. My folks have a notebook full of photos from a newspaper photog but I don't remember who it is/was.

Photo: Tornado Damage to Midway Trailer Court near Goshen, Indiana
Source: Fujita, et al, Monthly Weather Review, 1970

"Death Out Of Darkness" is a public safety documentary about the deadly tornadoes of the 11-April-1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, which affected portions of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The film primarily focuses on the devastation across Northern and Central Indiana. Produced in 1966 by the Indiana State Police and WISH-TV in Indianapolis, narrated by Lt. Dave Levendoski. Video from visualarchivist on YouTube. There were 47 tornadoes in less than 12 hours. This was the 3rd deadliest tornado swarm in U.S. history. See Also: Ted Fujita

Most of the posts on this blog are submitted by people who lived through the Palm Sunday tornados. If you want to submit your own story you can send them HERE.