Submitted by Doris Holik Kelly
It was beautiful and hot the afternoon we left Niles to go to Grandma's for my 16th birthday dinner. The sky was bright blue and filled with puffy clouds like little round balls. Grandpa and Grandma Hunsberger lived on Indiana Avenue, about a half-mile from 19, between the US 20, the Central tracks, and the St. Joseph river.
The day went from gorgeous to overcast and we heard about storms coming but didn't think much about it. Later the sky turned green and it rained and blew so hard that the trees bent sideways.
My parents and grandparents sent us six kids to the basement but they stayed upstairs We sneaked out onto the porch when it turned so dark and blackish-green and looked southeast and saw the double tornado filling the sky not very far away. You could hear the roar, like all the trains on the tracks were moving. It was so scary. We watched until it rose up into the air and disappeared and the sky lightened back to pea green.
Grandpa left for his job at the Labour company but had to come back home because he couldn't get through the traffic to the factory. We went home to Niles after 8:00 at night and we were stopped by police at least twice to make sure we were going where we were supposed to go. It was a birthday to remember. One I'm sure many people would like to forget.
I'll always remember how calm my parents and grandparents were. ( Except for my 3 brothers and 2 sisters that is. We were all running around like crazy people.) But maybe that was because they were huddled next to the radio and didn't say much. Maybe they were more nervous than I thought.
It was beautiful and hot the afternoon we left Niles to go to Grandma's for my 16th birthday dinner. The sky was bright blue and filled with puffy clouds like little round balls. Grandpa and Grandma Hunsberger lived on Indiana Avenue, about a half-mile from 19, between the US 20, the Central tracks, and the St. Joseph river.The day went from gorgeous to overcast and we heard about storms coming but didn't think much about it. Later the sky turned green and it rained and blew so hard that the trees bent sideways.
My parents and grandparents sent us six kids to the basement but they stayed upstairs We sneaked out onto the porch when it turned so dark and blackish-green and looked southeast and saw the double tornado filling the sky not very far away. You could hear the roar, like all the trains on the tracks were moving. It was so scary. We watched until it rose up into the air and disappeared and the sky lightened back to pea green.
Grandpa left for his job at the Labour company but had to come back home because he couldn't get through the traffic to the factory. We went home to Niles after 8:00 at night and we were stopped by police at least twice to make sure we were going where we were supposed to go. It was a birthday to remember. One I'm sure many people would like to forget.I'll always remember how calm my parents and grandparents were. ( Except for my 3 brothers and 2 sisters that is. We were all running around like crazy people.) But maybe that was because they were huddled next to the radio and didn't say much. Maybe they were more nervous than I thought.