The 1975 Omaha tornado was a violent tornado that hit the Omaha metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It was part of a two-day outbreak that struck the Midwest and Southern United States on May 6–7, 1975, ending in the very early hours of May 8 across Louisiana. South Dakota, Iowa, Texas, and Mississippi were also struck by several tornadoes. In total, 36 tornadoes touched down across 6 states. The outbreak killed three people, injured 137, and resulted in damages costing $250 million to $300 million.
Tornado struck the town of Magnet, damaging or destroying every building in town. Homes were leveled, cattle were killed, and vehicles were thrown over 200 yards and destroyed. Remarkably, only one person was injured.
Struck the town of Providence, where two homes were unroofed, and another was badly damaged. Many trees were downed, some of which landed on houses and roads. Two chicken houses were destroyed as well.
Four trailers and 6 homes were destroyed. One trailer was found deposited in a treetop. Many trees were snapped and uprooted and 3 people were injured.
During the early afternoon of Tuesday, May 6, 1975, a tornado watch was issued for much of eastern Nebraska. Initial tornado activity started in northeast Nebraska throughout the first half of the afternoon. At around 4:15 PM, a tornado warning was issued for the Omaha area and an F4tornado[4] touched down about 15 minutes later in Sarpy County, Nebraska. The storm then moved north-east, cutting into Douglas County crossing Interstate 80 (injuring several motorists) and through west-central sections of the city of Omaha. The tornado chopped a path across 10 miles (16 km) of streets and residences, crossing the city's busiest intersection at 72nd & Dodge. Extensive damage occurred along 72nd Street, with numerous homes and apartments severely damaged, along with Creighton Prep School and the United Methodist Church. The Westgate subdivision was devastated, with many homes leveled, and a few that were swept away. The nearby Westgate Elementary School was destroyed. Bergan Mercy Hospital, Lewis and Clark Junior High School, a motel, and several industrial buildings were severely damaged as well. The tornado later lifted in the Benson Park area at 4:58.[5]
In one remarkable instance, First United Methodist Church minister of music Mel Olson spotted the rolling clouds in the sky outside the windows of the room where he was rehearsing a children's choir. He led them to safety below the church building. The building, located at 70th and Cass Streets, was struck and heavily damaged by the twister. The room where the children had been practicing, with three walls of windows, was hit and the glass exploded.
Three people were killed and 133 others were injured. One of the fatalities was a woman who was thrown by the tornado from her home to a backyard four or five houses away.[6] Debris was found miles away. Over 4,000 buildings were damaged and 287 were destroyed. In terms of damage, it was the costliest tornado in American history to that date, with damages costing at least $250 million to $300 million (around $1.7 billion in 2015 dollars), and insurance costs estimated at up to $1.1 billion (in 1975). It was the third-costliest tornado, behind the Oklahoma City-area F5 tornado on May 3, 1999, and the Wichita Falls, Texas, tornadoes on April 10, 1979, until the Joplin, Missouri EF5 tornado on May 22, 2011. It is now currently the ninth-costliest tornado on record.
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Coordinates 41 15 N 96 00 W 41 25 N 96 W 41 25 96 The 1975 Omaha tornado was a violent tornado that hit the Omaha metropolitan area in the U S state of Nebraska It was part of a two day outbreak that struck the Midwest and Southern United States on May 6 7 1975 ending in the very early hours of May 8 across Louisiana South Dakota Iowa Texas and Mississippi were also struck by several tornadoes In total 36 tornadoes touched down across 6 states The outbreak killed three people injured 137 and resulted in damages costing 250 million to 300 million 1975 Omaha tornado outbreakTypeTornado outbreakDurationMay 6 7 1975Tornadoesconfirmed36Max rating1F4 tornadoDuration oftornado outbreak2 2 daysFatalities3 fatalities 137 injuredDamage 252 262 million 1975 USD 1 Areas affectedMidwestern and Southern United States1Most severe tornado damage see Fujita scale2Time from first tornado to last tornado Contents 1 Confirmed tornadoes 1 1 May 6 event 1 2 May 7 event 1 3 Omaha Nebraska 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksConfirmed tornadoes EditConfirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating FU F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 Total0 11 6 14 3 2 0 36May 6 event Edit F Location County Time UTC Path length DamageSouth DakotaF0 SW of Kimball Brule 1705 12 4 miles 20 0 km Barns and farm structures were destroyed on 4 separate farms Five cattle were killed F1 SW of Tabor Bon Homme 1946 0 1 miles 0 16 km Two barns were destroyed and a farmhouse was partially unroofed F0 SW of Tripp Bon Homme 2010 0 1 miles 0 16 km NebraskaF4 N of Pierce Pierce 1905 4 1 miles 6 6 km Tornado struck the town of Magnet damaging or destroying every building in town Homes were leveled cattle were killed and vehicles were thrown over 200 yards and destroyed Remarkably only one person was injured F3 E of Pierce to W of Menominee Pierce Cedar Knox 1915 44 8 miles 72 1 km Tornado destroyed barns and trailers and killed livestock Homes and vehicles were damaged on the west side of Pierce F0 SW of Bloomfield Knox 1930 5 4 miles 8 7 km F3 N of Stanton Stanton Wayne 1945 15 9 miles 25 6 km F0 SE of Colon Saunders 2100 3 4 miles 5 5 km F0 S of Waterbury Dixon 2130 3 miles 4 8 km F4 Omaha area Sarpy Douglas 2133 8 miles 13 km 3 deaths See section on this tornadoIowaF2 NE of Crescent Pottawattamie Harrison 2200 12 8 miles 20 6 km F2 W of Beebeetown Pottawattamie Harrison 2220 10 6 miles 17 1 km Source Tornado History Project Storm Data for May 6 1975 Grazulis 1975 May 7 event Edit F Location County Time UTC Path length DamageMississippiF3 W of New Hope Lowndes 1145 0 2 miles 0 32 km Trees down and light house damage F0 Biloxi area Harrison 1710 0 2 miles 0 32 km Sign twisted F2 NE of Smyrna Copiah 1750 9 7 miles 15 6 km F1 S of Eaton Forrest Jones 1930 5 4 miles 8 7 km Struck the town of Providence where two homes were unroofed and another was badly damaged Many trees were downed some of which landed on houses and roads Two chicken houses were destroyed as well South DakotaF0 N of Manchester to SE of Caprey Kingsbury 1655 0 1 miles 0 16 km F1 E of Wendte Stanley 1800 0 1 miles 0 16 km F0 W of Onida Sully 1955 0 1 miles 0 16 km F0 SW of Onida Sully 2130 0 1 miles 0 16 km F0 N of Mission Ridge Sully 2220 0 1 miles 0 16 km TexasF2 NE of Kingsland Travis 2200 0 1 miles 0 16 km F1 N of Leander Williamson 2300 1 mile 1 6 km F2 NW of Nolanville Bell 2300 0 1 miles 0 16 km IowaF2 SE of Manteno Crawford 2330 0 1 miles 0 16 km F2 NW of Jacksonville Shelby 0000 9 9 miles 15 9 km F0 Creston area Union 0015 0 1 miles 0 16 km F2 SW of Van Wert Decatur 0100 0 1 miles 0 16 km A barn and two hog houses were destroyed F2 Osceola area Clarke 0130 10 miles 16 km Six farms were damaged in the area where barns and sheds were destroyed The roof and doors were ripped from one house LouisianaF2 W of Clare Sabine 0400 0 1 miles 0 16 km F2 Welsh area Jefferson Davis Parish 0605 1 mile 1 6 km Four trailers and 6 homes were destroyed One trailer was found deposited in a treetop Many trees were snapped and uprooted and 3 people were injured F1 Mansfield area De Soto 0615 0 7 miles 1 1 km F2 SW of Estherwood Acadia 0700 0 5 miles 0 80 km F1 S of Duson Lafayette 0730 0 5 miles 0 80 km F2 Baton Rouge East Baton Rouge 0730 6 2 miles 10 0 km F2 NW of Jack St Helena 0800 05 08 0 1 miles 0 16 km Source Tornado History Project Storm Data for May 7 1975 Tornado History Project Storm Data for May 8 1975 Grazulis 1975 Omaha Nebraska Edit Omaha NebraskaF4 tornadoMax rating1F4 tornadoFatalities3 fatalities 133 injuriesDamage 250 25 million 2 3 1Most severe tornado damage see Fujita scaleDuring the early afternoon of Tuesday May 6 1975 a tornado watch was issued for much of eastern Nebraska Initial tornado activity started in northeast Nebraska throughout the first half of the afternoon At around 4 15 PM a tornado warning was issued for the Omaha area and an F4 tornado 4 touched down about 15 minutes later in Sarpy County Nebraska The storm then moved north east cutting into Douglas County crossing Interstate 80 injuring several motorists and through west central sections of the city of Omaha The tornado chopped a path across 10 miles 16 km of streets and residences crossing the city s busiest intersection at 72nd amp Dodge Extensive damage occurred along 72nd Street with numerous homes and apartments severely damaged along with Creighton Prep School and the United Methodist Church The Westgate subdivision was devastated with many homes leveled and a few that were swept away The nearby Westgate Elementary School was destroyed Bergan Mercy Hospital Lewis and Clark Junior High School a motel and several industrial buildings were severely damaged as well The tornado later lifted in the Benson Park area at 4 58 5 In one remarkable instance First United Methodist Church minister of music Mel Olson spotted the rolling clouds in the sky outside the windows of the room where he was rehearsing a children s choir He led them to safety below the church building The building located at 70th and Cass Streets was struck and heavily damaged by the twister The room where the children had been practicing with three walls of windows was hit and the glass exploded Three people were killed and 133 others were injured One of the fatalities was a woman who was thrown by the tornado from her home to a backyard four or five houses away 6 Debris was found miles away Over 4 000 buildings were damaged and 287 were destroyed In terms of damage it was the costliest tornado in American history to that date with damages costing at least 250 million to 300 million around 1 7 billion in 2015 dollars and insurance costs estimated at up to 1 1 billion in 1975 It was the third costliest tornado behind the Oklahoma City area F5 tornado on May 3 1999 and the Wichita Falls Texas tornadoes on April 10 1979 until the Joplin Missouri EF5 tornado on May 22 2011 It is now currently the ninth costliest tornado on record See also EditList of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaksReferences Edit Tornado Reports May 6 7 1975 NOAA Nebraska Event Report F4 Tornadoes NOAA Nebraska Event Report F4 Tornado NWS Storm Summary and Damage Survey May 1975 Omaha Tornado Damage Photos from the 75 Omaha Tornado NWS Omaha NWS Omaha Retrieved 9 October 2013 Omaha 5 6 75 Archived from the original on 2008 02 19 Retrieved 2008 02 27 External links EditBlack Tuesday May 6 1975 Archived December 20 2013 at the Wayback MachinePreceded byLubbock Tx 1970 Costliest U S tornadoes on RecordMay 6 1975 Succeeded byWichita Falls Tx 1979 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1975 Omaha tornado outbreak amp oldid 1126694887, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
