Thank you for covering this, Carly. This event is very significant to me. I was there. I was 17 at the time, and was on I-55 around 3:30pm-ish when it was in proximity. I will never forget it. No photos or video exists but I have full footage in my mind. That tornado was charcoal black, and the sky everywhere else was a deep shade of pea soup green. You could feel and hear a very low/deep bass rumble from it in your insides, even while traveling in a vehicle. I've never seen anything like it before or since. This tornado is the reason I've become an NWS SkyWarn spotter, a chaser and ultimately the reason I watch your channel. Nice work on this. Thank you for your words to express how they dropped the ball. I've long since left IL and moved to WI in 2003. The face-saving they attempted to do is typical of IL PR, even back then! Luckily as far as weather awareness and tech these days, this is unlikely to happen again in such a brazenly blind manner, let's hope.
I would absolutely love to hear more about your experience if you are willing to share I grew up in this community in the aftermath of this storm and began my career as a firefighter in a nearby community
@@wow77777 Anyone in the area that day who looked in it's direction would have seen the coal black column I've described, whether they knew it was a tornado or not. You could not see a funnel, and you wouldn't anyway since it was a very wide wedge. I suspected at the time that it was a tornado, I'm sure many did if I did and I was only a 17 year old kid.
@@TechnoWolfTV I’m with Karly on being a angry with all the ppl saying it’s the fault of the ppl for not knowing.So then why have NOAA? Now me? I lived about 25 minutes from there but grew up a weather buff to go along with Sports.My parents & grandparents taught me & my siblings Watch or not Warning or not you see the sky like that you book it to the basement.They are all there smiling after such a horrible tragedy.
I've been born and raised not too far from Plainfield. I remember this day because my dad had laid me down with him on the couch to take a nap. When i woke up, it was pitch black. I shoved him awake and said, "Daddy we slept all day! It's night now!" I'll never forget how fast he jumped up. He called my mom and told her to stay at work and he carried me to the basement. It was actually 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
Timeline (as I remember it): - I was delivering papers with my brother in the neighborhood behind the high school (PCHS but it was just PHS back then) - My mom picked us up in her car because the weather was looking worse by the minute - A nice customer/neighbor let us stay at their house until she got there (wonderful people) There used to be a road heading north/south through the middle of the high school campus. We took it back to our house near the downtown area which is where we saw it approaching - It was like a wall of black clouds swirling violently and moving in from the NW. It was clear that it was NOT a "normal" thunderstorm - It didn't look like a funnel. You couldn't see the vortex or classic tornado shape ("rain-wrapped", as I've heard it called) - We got home, put the TV on and, shortly into the Muppet Babies intro, the power cut out (bogus) - There was no warning or siren. The sound of the tornado approaching *was* our warning - You could hear the sound of strong wind approaching and rumbling. The ground was trembling and the intensity was increasing - We were looking at each other, listening, knowing that's not a "normal" sound - My neighbor was at our house and correctly identified it, "It's a tornado!", then we ran into the basement - This was really intense (I describe the sound in detail further down) - We came up and everything was destroyed or damaged - My dad was at work and we were at home. I was so relieved when I saw his pickup truck coming down the street Great work on this video! Everything you said matches my experience. It was a normal day for late summer: hot, sunny, and clear. No indication of severe weather. We had a "storm advisory" or "severe weather watch" but no warning or siren. We have a lot of storms in the evening so that wasn't unusual but it got *really* cold suddenly-- that "scary fast" drop in temperature. It made us concerned and we're used to cold fronts The Sound: I remember the sound more vividly than anything. You could just *hear and feel* the immense power fueling it. There was the overwhelming sound of the tornado itself. "Sounded like a freight train" is accurate (sounded more like a a giant/sinister freight train). It wasn't just the train-style rumble, though. There was also the sound of a massive wind tunnel and you could *hear* the destruction. The chaotic sound of glass breaking, branches cracking, structures stressing and collapsing, trees falling over, power infrastructure failing, debris smacking into every surface and object. I was only 5 or 6 years old but I'll *never* forget that sound. It was surreal coming back to the surface and seeing your town basically destroyed. Everyone has seen the most iconic photos so I don't think I need to go into detail (dumpster wrapped around a tree like it's a soft metal, semi trucks thrown around, etc.) Our house was very close to the epicenter but it was largely spared. We had damage to our siding, fencing, and our camper was crushed by a fallen tree. A backyard gate was thrown down the block and several windows were broken by "missiles" that landed on the other end of the room (pieces of wood and debris). A perfect example of why windows are the last place you want to be during severe weather. I was intrigued by how random or "selective" the damage seemed. One side of a street would be in-tact and then the house next to it looked like a bomb levelled it. I collected roof shingles because they were strewn about everywhere and I was an odd kid, "Wow, this one has kind of a rainbow pattern to it", lol. I couldn't fully grasp the severity at that age but it sunk in over time and I went to counseling for it Long post but I wanted to share my personal experience. It's a potent memory and I really appreciate your video. I never thought I'd see a complete stranger "going to bat" for my town 30+ years after the disaster. The warnings were non-existent but we kind of chalked it up to, "nobody is perfect" or "shit happens", for lack of a better term. I never thought anything would happen regarding the (lack of) warnings or that anyone still cared about it
Long post, yes but very detailed and descriptive. I was age 25 on that fateful day and while I've been fascinated by tornadoes since adolescence and still am to this day I feel fortunate that I wasn't as close to the F4 that killed several people and injured many others in Venango county PA. I've been plagued by depression and anxiety most of my life and felt great empathy in your story especially when noting that you needed counseling to address the emotional and psychological impact of your experience. The only tornado I have actually witnessed was in the mid 2000's in the Catskills when during severe thunderstorms a dark cloud bank assumed a definite rotation which appeared to be making it's way toward the ground. Next day the NWS confirmed either an F0 or F1 had struck approx. 3 miles to the east.
@@telebob5983 I've been living with depression and anxiety my entire adult life so I can relate to that. I appreciate the empathy. I'm grateful me and my family were OK but, honestly, I also feel fortunate that I got to experience such a rare and powerful storm. It was a massive adrenaline rush. I'm saying this in hind-sight because it definitely affected me and could have been much worse. I'm glad you avoided that tornado in the Catskills. It's got to be unsettling seeing the vortex forming like that. It's terrifying when you suddenly realize just how close you were to a deadly storm. Take care!
@@ATeaDaze Seems you and I have more in common than tornadoes. In a little over a week I will be a 'boy' of 63 and have a pathology of depression and anxiety which first surfaced when in the 4th grade. That was 1968, when Non-Verbal Learning Disorder had yet to be clinically established--that's part of my pathology as well. Thanks for your reply and take good care yourself.
The aerial shots of the empty basements after the damage was creepy. Can you imagine being sucked out of a well built home’s basement during a tornado?
Luckily the neighborhood shown with empty basements was under construction at the time, many homes in the path there were recently poured basements or being framed up, it could've been so much worse.
It was VERY hot and humid. The 27th was my 13th birthday, we spent the day at a go-cart track on rt. 30 & in our backyard pool. If I remember correctly, that time period, but specifically the 26th, 27th & 28th of August 1990 were the hottest days of the summer. It remained exceptionally hot & humid on the 28th. As the storm clouds came rolling in, I'll never forget hearing my Dad say, "Hopefully it will cool things off, I'd like to turn the air (conditioner) off." I helped my Dad put the solar cover on our pool and JUST as we finished, all hell broke loose. There was dead silence afterward..it was eerily quiet. Everything was giving off steam, including exposed lumber, broken/collapsed wood fencing, road asphalt & in some places, even the sidewalks were steaming. The period of "eerie" silence ended rather quickly due to the sudden blast of screaming sirens from law enforcement and first responders. There were so many sirens & they continued for what seemed like an endless period of time. The cacophony of first responder sirens were like a 4th of July or Memorial day parade from hell. After a few minutes, with the sky already 100% cleared & the tornado sirens went off. i'll never forget any of it ...
Did you know that Tetsuya Theodore Fujita was almost a victim of the second atomic bomb. He was in Kokura, Japan on August 9, 1945 and Kokura was the primary target for the bomb, however the Bockscar crew was ordered not to drop the bomb if they didn't have visual on the target. It happened to be very cloudy over Kokura, so they flew to Nagasaki.
Wow, I had no idea. How horrifying. At some point I'd love to do more reading about his life and lasting career impacts, perhaps a video on some of the more notable figures in the weather enterprise!
@@Eric_Hutton.1980 a few days ago I was watching a video on the Jarrell tornado and I learned that the Jarrell tornado exposed how flawed the F scale was and because of the Jarrell tornado is what led to the EF scale. Also I learned that the bridge creek/Moore tornado did also exposed how the F scale was flawed. So the Jarrell and the bridge creek/Moore tornado led to the EF scale.
That’s insane. The forecasters should have been held accountable to some degree because they basically ignored the situation at hand and failed to warn the public. They have a sense of duty to warn people and they failed to do that
I am wondering how many people actually called emergency services to report the tornado. Did emergency services actually inform the NWS or were the calls ignored?
@@cecilhammerton8167It is the job of the weather service, with their radar, to keep up with the weather as it unfolds, and to do their job and TELL PEOPLE BEFORE PEOPLE ARE INJURED AND/OR KILLED when a tornado is on the way.
Tornadoes are horrific when the public is warned, but to have one sweep down upon you without any warning whatsoever, I can't even imagine. I'm glad you mentioned the irresponsibility of the media, they had no place commenting on the situation which sadly is all they seem to do.
48:26 Wow, I think that's my photo of the tornado memorial! I took a bunch of photos that day when I visited on August 28th 2011. I'm glad to see my photos are still being useful and helping people learn about this event.
I have friends that saw the tornado. The problem was that they could not see the tornado, just a wall of clouds. One friends uncle was a cop, and her father went to look for survivors. They came apon a child who had a large splinter through his chest that would moved with his heart-beat, he died at the hospital. That haunted both men for the rest of their lives.
That happened a few houses down from mine in the crystal lawn neighborhood, he was on my street when the sky turned dark and my nextdoor neighbor asked if he wanted to come inside but it didn't look like a tornado it just looked like a wall cloud and no sirens so he probably thought it was just a storm and tried to ride home. My mom was out with the search parties in the neighborhood when they found him she still cries about it. She told me the story of the officer who stayed with him and talked to him and comforted him because he was still conscious.
The 1953 Worcester Tornado definitely needs a more in-depth look. Also the Windsor Locks, CT, tornado would be interesting to read about, and the New Haven/Hamden, CT, tornado in 1989.
I was 10 years old and lived in Plainfield during the tornado. What a lot of people don't know is there were actually 3 tornadoes. I remember watching all 3 of them form near my farm house and move into town. I'll never forget that day and I am 41 years old. I still have a major fear of tornadoes. It's a day I'll never forget.
Incredible to have lived through that. It’s entirely possible that you were close enough to it to discern multiple vortices, as many of these huge, high end EF rated tornadoes have sub-vortices.
There are some eerie similarities with the fabled "Tri-State Tornado," not the least of which nobody really saw a distinct funnel, but rather "a wall of black." Several who were killed in the Tri-State cyclone were farmers who were very weather savvy; and yet as the storm approached they were unaware of what was coming because they just could not see it. It's not just that the funnel was "rain-wrapped" and obscured, but that the entire horizon was seemingly just blotted out with a monster lurking in the darkness. By the way, anyone else notice a young Lester Holt at 23:21?
Just happened upon your video, having personally lived through this almost 32 years ago. Absolutely excellent video. Having been involved in emergency management, law enforcement, and spotting in the Chicago area for over 20 years, it cannot be emphasized enough how much this event changed the forecasting and warning process, not only in N Illinois, but all over the US. Among several failures that day, the biggest one that stands out in my mind is lack of communication. Keep in mind in 1990, very very few had cell phones, the weather radar a WSR-74 was located in Marseilles, 80 miles SW of the Chicago NWS office, which was in Rosemont at the time. The radar operator was filling in that day and could not discern a hook echo amongst the ground clutter. The supercell itself was “very” HP and the actual Plainfield tornado was heavily rain wrapped. After all was said and done the first actual confirmed report of the tornado itself was made by the Crest Hill police chief on ISPERN (Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network) and relayed by ISP District 5 to the NWS. In those days it took about 5-7 minutes to type out the warning and send it via teletype, which by the time it was broadcast, the tornado have lifted in the vicinity of the Louis Joliet Mall. The city of Joliet wisely took it upon them selves to activate their sirens just prior to the warning and nearly every other town in Will and Kankakee Counties followed suit, but it was already too late. From a public safety standpoint, at least locally in Chicagoland, this lead to the creation of the Multi-County Severe Weather Warning System, spearheaded by DuPage County EMA, in cooperation with the NWS, which relocated to Romeoville a year later to an office onsite with the new WSR-88D. Additionally, the local NWS offices were consolidated into the WSFOs you see today. NWS Chicago is now regarded as one of the best in the nation and 23 counties in IL and IN under their purview have one of the best organized spotter networks. From a weather nerd perspective, that storm it still one of the most violent and fearsome looking storms I have ever witnessed (the 2004 Roanoke storm being a close 2nd)
I remember that day very well. I was home on maternity leave & my son was just 2 weeks old. I remember waking up from a nap & walking into the living room which faced west & saw how absolutely black the sky was out to the west. I was dumbstruck. I was able to see that the storm was not heading in my direction, thankfully, but I knew something really bad was happening somewhere west of us. We lived in Berwyn IL at the time which is about 30 miles northeast of Plainfield. It was very scary. I knew some people who were directly effected by the tornado & others who did witness it.
@@rbibbe34 I had 4 co-workers in various jobs I've had over the years who shared with me their experiences. One of my coworkers saw the tornado while she was a patient at one of the hospitals in Joliet IL who saw it from her hospital room. She said it absolutely did not look like the "classic" tornado. It just looked like an ugly looking black cloud rolling around on the ground & she really didn't realize it was a tornado when she witnessed it. Another coworker said he & his dad watched it go across the countryside. He said he & his dad were in his dad's garage & the my coworker was leaning against the wall of the garage & he feel the vibrations from the tornado as it passed in the distance. Another family friend's dad was actually in it. He & some friends of is were in his car as he was driving along the interstate on their way to go on a fishing trip when they crossed paths with this tornado. His car was hit & went end over end & one of his friends was ejected from the car & was killed , the other friend was killed in the car, & he sustained injuries that put his life in danger, but he did survive. My new boss at the time told me his mother's house had some damage from the winds, but it wasn't really very bad. It was an amazing event.
@@kitdoesstufflmao Thanks, Kit. Yes, he did recover from his injuries. I can't believe this happened over 30 years. We all still remember this day so well.
@@debzvideos thank you for this comment Debbie, I'm sorry to hear about the loss you heard of. I'm assuming it had to be right off 55 and 30. My parents still talk about this event in august , they helped the night of. I just hear stories and want to know more of it, thank you for sharing
This story is absolutely chilling. It is because I am afraid of something like this that I became a storm spotter. Ever since the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, when tornado season rolls around, I pay very close attention to the sky when it turns stormy, no matter what the NWS says or doesn't say. I find it inexcusable that there were all these signs that a dangerous weather event was about to occur and yet no warnings were issued until after it was over. Especially in such a highly populated area.
Dr. Theodore Fujita was also the one who first came out with the term "derecho". He also discovered the bow echo in the Independence Day Derecho of 1977.
@@ShaneRSR doubt the videos stay on TH-cam forever can once they're gone, they're gone for good unless they are archive in advance in general. I know cause TH-cam can remove ya whenever they want w no explanation whatsoever
I recommend you take a look at the May 31st 1985 tornado outbreak in Northwest Pennsylvania, Western NY, and Eastern Ohio. This event featured the fathest east an F5 has ever struck the United States to this day as well as being in a part of the country where tornadoes are not incredibly common.
Agree on your suggestion, especially since I lived through that historic outbreak myself. May 31 1985 was a rather balmy but extremely humid day late in the afternoon. The Severe Storms Forecast Center had issued a Tornado Watch earlier in the day. Then around 5 P.M. all hell suddenly broke loose with an F4 on the ground approaching a mobile home park where there were deaths and injuries just eight miles or so due north of my location. But the intense overcast sky without rain gave no clues as to what was happening. On June 1st, a co-worker at the radio station where I was employed mentioned the news director's name to get past the National Guard checkpoints (some friends of that fellow employee worked in Pittsburgh radio and had property near where the F4 hit in Venango county PA). About 3/4 mile east of the trailer park it was as though nature created a 1/8 mile wide power line right of way through thick hardwoods with only stumps and trunks left standing.
This makes me think of the 2020 Cookeville, TN EF-4 tornado so much. Absolutely zero warning. The gaslighting by some radio stations. It was so tragic and unexpected. I don’t know how much you can find, but it would be a good one too. Thank you for these! I watch them while I’m at work. I love your documentaries so much.
The tornado warning for that tornado was issued around the time that tornado touched down. It should've been issued sooner though, as the tornado intensified very quickly; but it wasn't as bad as Plainfield's totally preventable and unwarned disaster. And if those radio stations are of the type I'm thinking of, then I'm not surprised they'd gaslight the victims.
Hell, we got hit here in Knoxville TN with an EF-2 in early August and never got a warning either. I was admitted in the hospital and just happened to look out the window. I won't repeat what I said but I bolted for the bathroom with my IV pole. We were VERY lucky. No fatalities or serious injuries, just a mess to clean up. Even with all the tech we have now, no warning at all.
A couple points about the local news coverage. First, WBBM news anchor Bill Kurtis made a name for himself when he was a fill-in for the news during an F5 tornado that devastated Topeka, KS. Second, most of the personnel doing weather at the time for the Chicago TV stations weren't really professional meteorologists. WGN's Tom Skilling was something of an exception. So they really were very much dependent on the Chicago NWS. If I recall correctly, the Chicago area was just getting NEXRAD (Doppler) radar implemented at the time.
He was indeed. He was credited with saving many lives when few other media outlets were able to get word out: “For God’s sake, take cover!”There is a speech online he gave about his experience, and I think there is a documentary about it as well.I’m grateful that weather information and forecasting are greatly advanced from what they were in 1966.
My cousin attended Plainfield HS when this tornado went through--he was so lucky that he wasn't there. My dad was in the area for work and just happened to pull his semitruck over when the weather started to look particularly nasty and he managed to stay out of the path the tornado would take. Its something the people from this area definitely still talk about all the time
wow, thank you for sharing Kristina that's so powerful. Very thankful both your dad and cousin were okay! It was a blessing that the school was on break when it hit. Your dad has some good intuition
That is true my family moved to Plainfield in 1996 and I graduated from the New Plainfield high school in 2000 a lot of people talked about it then and still talk about it to this day.
I love how you stress mental wellness aspect. My daughter was 5 when tornado sirens went off in our town, Tullahoma Tennessee. We headed to bathroom with matteress. Remained calm but the siren is extremely loud and 2 houses down from our home. My daughter lost it. Crying and begging God to not let her die. Begging us to stop the noise. I'm crying now writing this, and she's 28 now. After the danger passed and no tornado near us but 20 miles away, my daughter ran to her bed and said dont touch me. Let me sleep. It was so freaky. We were beside ourselves wanting to hold her, but she was getting more upset. So we sat next to her bed all night and told her we would be there for her if she woke. That day changed her forever. We started counseling as her fear of death was extreme. She realized at 5 years old that her parents , who she thought could fix everything, could not save her. If anyone talked cancer or car accident she would stress out about what if that happens to me? It changed over the years but morphed into anorexia then OCD. Thought OCD. This is one most people aren't aware of but it's been unrecognized too long. Her ocd would tell her she's going to kill herself. She would be asking us if her mind can make her do this. We asked "Do you want to commit Suicide?" She would say No! But can it make me??. We found a name for her OCD after years of counselors who didn’t have a clue. My daughter actually got her Masters in psychology to answer her questions. She found many forms of OCD people dont know about and treatment is specific and if done wrong can make it worse. For thought OCD if a patient presents at hospital afraid her mind will make her commit suicide, many hospitals treat them as if they ARE suicidal and the treatment affirms yes your mind can make you do this even if you don't want it. The treatment is actually psychologist who understands thought OCD and helps them to understand their OCD cannot make them do anything. There are many tools and methods, and it's on going through life. My daughter still has ocd everyday but she is able to live with it. Not everyday is rosy but she has tools to cope. The issue for treatment is cost. Not covered by insurance, 110$ a session. 2 sessions a week to start and eventually 4x/ month to 2x/month with more if needed. We had several good years where she didn’t seem to need counseling. 8-14 years old. Then, thought OCD came on strong. Panic attacks. Many times we picked her up from college as panic attacks trying to drive home. I'm writing a book from a parent's perspective on how this started and our journey, and my daughter is going to help fill in what's going on from her perspective. It is not curable, but you can live with it. She still counsels monthly. 14 years with one psychologist and 5 with thought ocd specialist. The expense is enormous but we have made it priority. My daughter now wirks with children on the autism spectrum. She has such patience and knows her suffering has made her a better psychologist. I will never forget that day. I am so frustrated for all tge children and adults who are traumatized by weather events and more and cant afford counseling. Its a crime. Keep up the great work you do. You are a blessing. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I remember truckers reporting the tornado passing over us 30 and interstate 55. Few had cell phones, but truckers had CB radios and that’s how the word got out..too late. The sky was orange with black clouds. I will never ever forget that day.
Yeah no cell phones back then how unlucky they were all they had to get by on was CB radios Cell phones are great but they can also cause problems. Times have changed. Thanks Carly for mentioning the 1925 TRI STATE Tornado that one was still the worst in US History almost 800 dead thousands of injuries.
Carly, you’ve provided a voice to the victims of these storms but I hope you know you’ve provided much more than that. It is truly endearing how survivors from that day have felt so comfortable being vulnerable in sharing their stories in your comment section. I don’t read comments but I could skim yours for hours. You’ve provided a unique safe space for survivors.
The memorial to honor the victims was beautiful. The high school I graduated from has a memorial to the victims of the F4 tornado that hit it in 1967. It hit the parking lot of the school as the kids were boarding the buses and many buses were overturned and crushed. There was no warning. You can see it if you search "EF4 Tornado Memorial in Belvidere, Illinois". The memorial is in the shape of a tornado and was built well after I graduated.
I’ve lived in Plainfield since 1998 (moved from justice when I was 4) . Being from there you will always know someone directly affected by the tornado or that knows someone directly affected. My boyfriends dad was directly affected. His apartment building was the only one destroyed by the tornado. Tom skilling is an awesome meteorologist, he went over higher ups heads and told people to get to cover.
You’ve done it again! So informative, and wow…I was not aware of what happened in Plainfield and it angers me to no end! I recognized that one anchorman, Hugh Down and I believe he made it to the national news level, ughhhh! Love it how the first responders kept it real. I really feel for all that were impacted by this. Carly! You really need to consider doing this full time! You have a great way about yourself, very calming, but at the same time very factual and interesting. I hope, hope, hope you do more! You are awesome!!! Forget Ryan Hall girl, you got this on your own. Consider me a fan, a follower, and someone who truly wishes you the best!
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your kind words! I am working hard to make this happen full time and how to make the best content for you all! :) I Hope you look forward to it
Oh most definitely, her delivery is very genuine, sincere, compassionate and knowledgeable. There are many words that could be used to describe the incomprehensible failures of the anchors but we managed to keep it classy lol. Love and abundance to us all.
Cali, you're right!! That's Hugh Down, I believe Debra Norville...and the legendary Bill Kurtis..all WGN alumni, & I was SHOCKED 😳to hear him go on like that... esp since HE was the Weather Man for Topeka some years earlier, & credited with saving lives in a similar situation there?! Lester Holt was earlier in the vid, in front of the apartments... so yeah, all national level folks in the coming years...& can't believe what I heard 🤷♂️ Unless I missed it, I would've loved to see Tom Skilling (WGN's Weather Man... still to this day), the NWS be damned, tell folks to seek shelter immediately.
Hey! Thank you for shedding light on this largely unnoticed storm (and, unfortunately, the accompanying tragedy) especially all the queasy and condescending media personalities mass-gaslighting the public. Anywho, you make thorough and compassionate videos. Great job 👍
I don't mean this in any manner; but I'm from the area and I don't understand why gaslighting is now a popular term for everything that is wrong. They made a mistake, and they did there best to not allow it to happen again. Isnt gaslighting to make others seem crazy while the guilty one is doing it? Lmao that doesn't make sense here
It's because the media had an objective to insulate any pushback about the failure to recognize the danger by the nws ahead of time, thus they very overtly, in my opinion, an opinion also shared by the creator of the video, spread misinformation and in a controlled manner to circumvent any rational complaints by those directly affected by the great negligence delivered to them by those that should have been safeguarding them. Thus, yes, gaslighting, although on a much larger stage than what is normally observed. It isn't any wonder some people aren't aware of it. "You can't see the forest from the trees." Seems unfortunately apt here.
One finds these days that the very first news about any given event is not always _correct_ news. Many commenters were and are more concerned about saying something immediately, and much less about accurately informing the public.
I was 11 when this happened and i remember taking shelter in Joliet east side basement, in order to get to basement I had to go through outside and i remember seeing the outside look sage green and gray and thought this doesn't look good. But you're research made me see the whole picture because I don't remember news footage or anything else. Great job your cat is the cutest.
As a lifelong Illinoisan and weather enthusiast, I want to thank you for the work you put into this video and shedding light on this topic. I had no idea the level of neglect and, dare I say, cover up that took place as a result of that event. If there is no justice, awareness I suppose is the next best thing and you have provided that. So again, thank you.
This thing just struck out of absolutely nowhere. It is scary how tornadoes can strike with zero warning and just eat everything in their path. It's a wake-up call to realize how lucky we are to hear sirens when there is time enough for them to go off.
Thank you for this story. It was my 15th bday that day. My sister had a job interview in the suburbs that would have taken her thru there at the time it hit. Thankfully it got cancelled before she left home in Central Illinois. Definitely a blessing from God. We drove thru there a week or so after. All I remember is the church that got hit. I truly love all that you, Ryan, Andy and the team are doing to bring awareness to our ever changing weather. God Bless you all!!
I have family that lived in Plainfield during that time. My cousins were due to go to Plainfield HS the following day. They probably would not have been alive today had that tornado happened a day later. My uncle was a Plainfield volunteer fireman who got the call to respond to “wind damage” while at work. No one knew that that a tornado had come through until it was already passed. He said he couldn’t describe accurately in words what he saw when he arrived on scene. Fortunately for my relatives, the tornado missed their neighborhood by about a mile. They still live in Plainfield today, and my aunt still says she gets very uneasy every time severe weather is forecasted in their area
The newscaster, Bill Kurtis actually was a weather forecaster in the 1960s which eventually pleaded with viewers to take cover before a tornado destroyed the area. I can't recall which storm this happened either Wichita Falls or in Kansas. It's been a while since I reviewed that particular storm. When seeing this, it struck me as odd that he said something like that on the Plainview, Illinois tornado in 1990.
@@dianefarley37 My post was just trying to tell the person who wasn’t positive the 1966 Bill Kurtis tornado was in Topeka that he or she was right. I didn’t say anything about the Illinois tornado.
Thank goodness for storm chasers. Obviously chasing wasn't as big of a thing in 1990 as it is now but when the appropriate people and agencies fail to do their job these days, there are, thankfully, storm chasers who make every effort to warn people. I personally don't think Joplin would have sounded the sirens if not for Jeff Pietrowski communicating with authorities about what he's seen and last year I just happened to be looking at Facebook on my phone and saw Reed Timmer post about a tornado about 30 minutes from me. National Weather Service was still at severe thunderstorm warning. If it hadn't been for Reed, none of us would have been prepared, as this was late at night and everyone was asleep but me. Thank you for making this video. Forgive me though, as I got angry and shut it off before the end. Honestly, the BS from not only the NWS and the court system but also the media, is astounding. I feel like they should all have lost their jobs.
Thank you so much for all these videos. Your genuine respect for all the victims and 1st responders is evident and sets you apart from other content creators. ❤️
Yes, I too enjoyed this video and learned a lot. I grew up in tornado alley Ks. In 1966 Topeka had a wild storm and I recall a churning low cloud right over my home. I was in the yard trying to get neighbors to shelter in my storm cellar. The cloud had a machine engine sound & was so freaky that I can't ever forget it. We did have siren alarm sounds plus newscast alerts but no damage where I was living. A cousin and other relatives living in Texas don't even have basements, just advice to go to a center room. Hah! At least Ks homes have basements available especially new homes. To me anyone who lives in "the zones" will need a community storm shelter especially for mobile homes. I won't visit anyone living in "the zones" during the spring or early summer months. I'm glad the ppl of Plainsfield, Illinois and surrounding area were able to rebuild their lives after such tragic weather & the consequences of not warning the community ahead of this storm. I hope the weather service will learn from their mistakes that cost so many lives. I watch your videos and enjoy how calming your Blaze is in the background. Thank you for enlightening us TH-cam R's. ✌️
This reminds me of the 1998 Nashville tornado. While it was in Nashville it really didn't look like a tornado until it went by Nashville. Bill Kurtis warned citizens during the 1966 Topeka tornado, so I don't see how he did not let that meteorologist know he should issue a tornado warning, especially with him saying he as well as the meteorologist was watching to red and green colors. I think the lesson is to stay in a safe place in any severe thunderstorm. Your cat is such a cute boy. Just subbed to your channel.
Because the TV station's weatherman--assuming he actually *is* a meteorologist and not just a TV anchor--isn't at the National Weather Service and can't issue a tornado warning. *ONLY* the NWS can issue warnings, and if a local station's weatherman starts issuing anything, they massively open themselves up to legal liability if they make the wrong call.
This was an excellent well researched video as always and an emotional one given the lack of accountability after this happened. The thing that really upset me was the conscious decision that was made to leave the tornado warning out of the statement that was reissued! That's not just negligence, that's gross negligence. Adding insult to injury the gaslighting that took place on the TV stations was so offensive. I think I would have to quit that job rather than do that. Rest in peace to the victims of the plainville tornado. Carly, I'm so glad you called it an unwarned tornado over and over again during this video. You're helping to right the wrong of the misinformation that's been put out there.
Carly, thanks for this in-depth, multifaceted video -- I'm really impressed by all of your content. I grew up fascinated by and frightened of tornadoes because of an unwarned storm that happened 17 miles north of my family's house before I turned 4, the West Bend anticyclonic F4 that happened in the early morning hours of 4/4/81 (which was also assessed by Dr. Fujita, I believe). Three years later, another early morning monster hit Wisconsin, the Barneveld F5 tornado on 6/8/84, and left terrifying images in my mind of the town's water tower being the only thing standing. During COVID, I stumbled on Skip Talbot's videos and since then, have been fascinated by the footage and analysis that you, he, and other storm chasers/youtube hosts in this community offer the public and the scientific community. Weather is terrifying and beautiful, but there's always a societal backdrop in which these events happen and I really appreciate how you brought that POV into this piece on Plainfield. One other tornado outbreak I've heard about that seems really anomalous is the Grand Island, NE outbreak of 1980, which was the subject of the children's book (and apparently a later TV movie) called "Night of the Twisters." Which, of course, I got from Scholastic and read in the mid 80s. The wikipedia entry says, "The resulting [Grand Island 1980] outbreak was one of the most unusual in United States history: The supercells moved over the city at only 8 mph (13 km/h); of the seven tornadoes, three of them were anticyclonic; and the tornadoes did not move in a straight line, with most looping back over their own path at least once." I haven't been able to find out much about this one other than that it was the basis of that book. Again, thanks for your work and I look forward to more of your content!
Just found your videos. While I wasn't born yet, I live in Plainfield and drive past Wheatland Plains multiple times a week. It's eerie to think that 33 years ago, many of these homes were destroyed or sustained damage. Had my friends house been built back then, it would have been in the path near Wheatland Plains. My wife's parents house, had it been built, would have been just south of the tornado by less than a mile as it destroyed St. Mary.
The first Tuesday of each month at ten am Illinois does a warning siren test, not sure about other states but here in Illinois we do, thanks for covering this.
So a government entity screws the pooch and, Go figure no accountability. I recently came across your channel, I really enjoy the way you do your videos. Great content, very well explained, while also imploring the viewer to dig deeper and formulate their own opinion.
Carly, I'm writing this with your beginning paused. I was in downtown Rockford IL and that storm system began just over the Wisconsin line and it produced an F-0 tornado that touched down across the Highway from Illinois State Police Headquarters District 16 in Pecatonica. I was with a local Fire Rescue at the time. A Tornado Warning was issued for Winnebago County. The government building I was in, had us all go to the parking garage. We were under the same Severe Thunderstorm Watch that covered Plainfield. My main question in the call I made to the NWS was, while I understand the watch box designation was for severe thunderstorms. And that conditions weren't right for tornadoes. And that severe thunderstorms can and do produce tornadoes...understanding all of that. When a system does produce a tornado, in the thunderstorm watch box, why not immediately re-designate the watch box as tornado, seeing as their must be conditions you aren't able to measure. Never got a good answer. Had that F-0 tornado around 1200-1230 I recall, changed the box, as that storm exploded moving towards Plainfield, at least the public and emergency services would have been on a different footing in the few hours it took to get there. *Now, on to your video 23 minutes in.....you nailed it and my memory was off by an hour. Just finished it. Attention viewers: This young lady did her homework, and pinned the tail right on the donkey's arse.... Well Done Carly Good work. Love your info
Amazing that there is no photo of this. Rain wrapped or not, I have seen plenty of photos of tornadoes that were rain wrapped. Usually someone simply has an angle to get a good shot. I mean an f5 in 1990 with no picture smh
@@Sj430 Right but we got photos of the Niles/Wheatland, Jordan, Iowa, Xenia, Sayler Park, hell even 64 Wichita Falls. All were f5's and no photo from 1990. I guess it just proves how unexpected this storm was.
@@zjdubya22 It was described as a giant wall of heavy rain with a violent tornado embedded in it by those who saw the supercell around Rockford where it produced a weaker tornado.
It's sad that we don't have photos of the tornado, but it's understandable: in 1990 we didn't have cell phones with cameras, the tornado had no warning and it was rain wrapped, totally the opposite of Andover
I’m a Plainfield resident and my mom has lived in Plainfield for her entire life. She remembers it like it was yesterday. What’s crazy is just like the city whose Metro Area it’s in rebuilt the world’s most beautiful skyline after it burned, Plainfield recovered and is now one of the fastest growing towns in America and the fastest growing town in the Chicago metro area. It has gone from a small town of 5K people with 3 elementary schools, 1 junior high and 1 high school to a town of 50K with over a dozen grade schools 7 junior highs and 4 high schools. Amazing how communities can rebound and rebuild after tragedies
This reminds me of the 1988 tornado in Raleigh. It was an F-4 and went through at midnight the Sunday after Thanksgiving. So it happened when it "shouldn't" have and there was no warning system. My parents heard the storm blow while they were watching TV, but no warning. In fact, my mom said she the lights flickered, but since there were no warnings it wasn't a big deal, so she turned off the TV and went to sleep. The storm was a total surprise and conditions changed rapidly. My parents woke up to people calling to see if they were okay as the storm made the national news. The tornado passed within a mile of their house. I don't know if the Triangle area has a warning system now, but the didn't the last time I was there.
Plainfield, and its surrounding area, is SO much more populated now. Can you imagine if this tornado happened now, even with warnings? Casualties would be in the hundreds, potentially even in the thousands. Parts of Oswego, Naperville, crystal lawns, crest hill, Joliet… would have been hammered too. I shudder to think what the damage would look like today. Not to mention - school was supposed to begin the next day so very few people were in the building compared to what it could’ve been
i grew up 10 miles from plainfield and people always talked about this tornado but nobody *ever* talked about the way the NWS fumbled the ball on this one- gosh now I'm mad, too.
I know it isn't much, but I just wanted to say thank you as always for your great work that you put in to these videos. It was clear from the start that this was going to be heavy, but my goodness this was heartbreaking and sickening the there was such a screw-up from the NWS. I have the links bookmarked for reading.
This is by far my favorite tornado coverage you have documented. Your delivery of the important content was on point and your personal opinions on the matter are completely worthy for people to lend credence to. I especially respected your critique of the viewing area of Plainfield’s news stations setting up their own narrative to cover their own failures. Talk about fake news that capitalized off human misery.
This was my first thought. He did have some basic knowledge from Topeka and saved countless lives there. He is the type of person to take immediate action. He was also in law school at the time of the Topeka tornado before choosing to switch to broadcasting, I think that was also in his mind. Carly, I know you watch weatherbrains…he had his own episode not that long ago, might give some insight.
I’d always liked him during his later career (American Justice, etc) and had been surprised to see his coverage of the 1966 Topeka tornado, but this completely changes my opinion of him. No job is worth the sacrifice of ethics and it’s all the more sickening that he’d been through it and feared for the lives of his family in 1966.
I've been watching your videos on my overnight shifts the last 3 nights and I gotta say. Be proud of yourself these are wonderfully put together beautifully edited and wonderfully scripted. I've learned so much and been on emotional rollercoasters with you cause some of the facts and stories you cover are heart breaking.. anyways great work and keep it up be proud of what you have done here it's wonderful
Unfortunately, in the 20 years since this horrific event, we've become very accustomed to this type of cover-up behavior from the media...almost expect it. Shameful. Especially a slap in the face to the mother whose 4 month old baby was found in the corn field.
THE tornado that terrified me the most because it was so unusual und 'unexpected'. In fact, I even had nightmares about it. The Storm Stories episode about the Plainsfield Tornado left a huge impression on me. Witnesses describing the "terrifying green sky" prior the tornado was like straight out of a horror movie. Thank you for picking up that horrifying event. great video
I am a survivor from the 1990 Plainfield tornado. Our home was totally blown away as my two children and I made it to the bottom of the basement stairs just in the nick of time. No warnings at all.
Hey there, Carly. Awesome information as usual. I grew up in southern Iowa. I am now 69 years old now. I noted that this storm was moving ESE to SE. My experience and weather researchers have noted that historically. tornadic storms in July and August in the upper Midwest tend to move in some direction of SE. Thunderstorms earlier than July and August and then later in the year tend to move NE. I remember this storm but I was not aware that the storm went unwarned. I had not realized that many people died. People remarked that they did not hear a tornado siren. It is so hard to make people responsible for their own safety. Sirens often fail due to preceding events. You may not hear them due to high winds or heavy rain or hail. A weather radio or having your cell phone (not available to people during that time in history). It is important to keep an eye on the weather and not wait for a warning to take cover. When I was growing up, the only time that my mother screamed for us to get into the basement was during a severe thunderstorm with winds that may well have been a tornadic storm by the path of damage. My mother had been keeping a weather eye out. Florida, where my husband and I now live, has more tornadoes per square mile than any place in the country but they tend to be small tornadoes that pull up someone's screen lanai and blow a tree down and scatter the garbage can. BUT, we do sometimes get large, damaging tornadoes here primarily in the winter due to the same combinations of warm weather with both warm fronts and cold fronts just like they do up north. I had never heard a tornado siren test here as we did in Iowa. I called to ask the county where the nearest tornado siren was, the county worker said," You must be from up north. We do not have tornado sirens as they would be going off all the time"! My husband and I had to take shelter here in an interior closet here in Florida at 4:00 AM because of the weather. This was during the Storm of the Century in March 1993. There was a warning on the weather radio that woke us up from a sound sleep. We had some roof and lanai damage from 100 mph winds as well as hail damage. I bought my best friend a weather radio as he lives on the coast. They had a tornado in their area in the middle of the night, and I asked him if they took shelter. He told me that they turn the weather radio off at night because it bothers them." That was the whole point! Today, your cell phone can be set with weather warnings that may give you some lead time especially at night or if you are in a building without exterior vision. Again, thanks for the great presentation.
I was born and raised in Plainfield. I was 12 and in junior high. It happened the day before school was supposed to start. My older brothers were supposed to be at the high school, but, luckily, they decided to hang with friends around the mall in Joliet. My neighborhood was less then a quarter mile away. I remember it like yesterday. Thank you for doing this.
As a new mother of a 19 mo old and expecting a second, every time I hear of infant or child fatalities in particular in these situations, I just feel so utterly heartbroken. I can only imagine how devastated the parents would be and it makes me want to do more, for future generations to have more and more reliable warnings, protection, resources and structural security.. I don't even live in an tornado prone area but I feel like there has to be more that can be done to protect people. In the meantime, I share info and learn..
I had a college professor who went through this disaster. She was in high school at the time, and from what she told me, here's the key parts that I remember from her telling me: - Her house was destroyed, and she had to *walk* home to find that out because there wasn't any way to find out. -She had to graduate later if I recall correctly because of this tornado. -When applying for college, she had to go through several hoops because the records at her high school had been destroyed. My dad told me that at the time of the storm, he'd been doing deliveries as a semi-truck driver, and had seen the storm developing. He called to report how intense it was becoming but they blew him off. Shortly after, the tornado happened.
That was not the problem tho. They had all the information necessary to call it, they just didn't. They tracked the supercell the entire time, they saw it drop multiple tornadoes. It was complete negligence.
I remember this day like it was yesterday. I was living in Rockford at the time about an hour northeast off Des Plaines and that line of storms passed over use thankfully. I remember standing in my yard on what is easily the muggiest day I think I've ever experienced and I'm a southern raised native. I was watching these dark greenish low clouds race overhead. We had high wind and hail but luckily no tornado. I will never forget how as I watched the clouds travel off to the southeast the entire sky and I mean there entire field of view looked like water swirling down a drain. Having experienced a couple tornados in the past I knew someone was going to get smacked and sure enough it wasn't 30 minutes when reports started coming out that indeed several communities had been devastated by a strong tornado.
I know this event took place in 1990 but even the 1999 tornado outbreak in my area was covered live like a damn formula one race, I’m glad we learned from this event and apply the knowledge and tech we have now to protect people in the path of these storms. 90% of people are oblivious to bad weather and pay zero attention to storms until they get a notification on their phone these days.
I remember this. I was 6 months pregnant on bed rest. I was watching WGN 9 on TV. I remember Tom Skilling breaking in to announce this storm. The storm just popped out of no where. This storm did not affect where I lived at but watched the coverage all evening. It was horrible.
jesus christ. Tom Skilling was on wgn way back in 1990? Crazy how long he's been working at the same station. (Tom Skilling is a national Chicagoland treasure and the best weather man)
I remember learning about in school today as it's the anniversary of this horrible event. My school was one of the places that was destroyed due to the tornado and it truly affected the town and still does to this day
here in the city of Chicago, I remember that day very well. it was a hot, and sticky day. that same storm system that brought that destructive Tornado to Plainfield. brought darkness across the city. but thank God, NO tornadoes...Illinois is in what they call Tornado Alley, being in the Middle of the Country.
Just saw this. I am surprised to hear Bill Curtis …. He has a GREAT reputation … and got his start watching the Topeka area hit where he lived. He had to fill in on local tv station and was so shocked by what had happened and turned his career into journalism and reporting. It is stunning to hear him in this instance. ???? Something is very strange. We lived in that area for over 25 years prior to 1990 … there were always warnings & sirens. Very strange indeed.
Forgive me if this seems a little flippant given the gravity of the events described in this video, but I do have to say that I get chuckles from your cat moving around in the background. The "hmmm, should I lay here and sun myself? Why, yes, absolutely" thought process represents a welcome bit of light-hearted comic relief from the heavy subject matter. Well done, Carly's cat. :-) Also well done, Carly, on the thorough treatment of the Plainfield tornado.
Also I want to say thank you for covering it,, It is often greatly overlooked, And the real reality is It happened A-day before school started backup and it destroyed our high school, If it hit just A-day later it could have been but I've been the deadliest tornado, If it hit Today in the same path on a school day it would a 100% be the deadliest tornado maybe even one of the deadliest disasters
I actually never heard of this twister until I listened to this video and I live not very far from this town. I asked my mother about and found out that her uncle apparently lost his entire company during this event. I love your videos, keep up the good work!
What a shame,I remember reading about this after it happened.I use that radar scope app and am always watching for rotation when severe storms are in the area.Good thing to have just in case something is missed or something changes rapidly.
Hey! I’ve had an interest in tornadoes since I first heard about them. I’ve never been in one but I’ve been in Tornado Warnings before and it is scary. I think its interesting how tornadoes form, but the destruction they can cause is very sad. We’re in hurricane season now and sometimes tornadoes get spawned out of hurricanes.
Where I live, eastern North Carolina, we have many years where we get more tornadoes from tropical systems or their remnants than we get from rotating thunderstorms. Fortunately, we don't get many twisters here, but we do get hurricanes.
I was 9 years old at the time and living in the far south side of Chicago. I definitely remember that day, the first time a tornado hit so close to my house in my very young memory. Even in my part of Chicago the skies were horrible that day. There was a greenish tint at one point. I also remember being a little afraid of going to school in the fall (CPS started after Labor Day) and afraid of my older brother going back to school due to the high school being hit.
The wonderful Bill Curtis. Did you know he got his start as a journalist when Topeka was hit by a tornado and nearly lost his family. This happened in the 60s.
Moved to Plainfield in 2000 as a kid. My childhood home would have been right in the path of the tornado. Always surreal to watch stuff like this. Plainfield Central eventually got rebuilt, but there was always the story of the old school.
The same thing happened with Joplin. The media said they did not heed the warning. I can say it's not the peoples fault for what happened in Joplin. What could go wrong with the Joplin tornado did go wrong.
@@Sj430 that’s so sad that a narrative that evil has happened once, much less more than that. I can’t imagine going to such lengths as essentially calling victims ‘dumb’ instead of just owning up and being better
I had just moved to the area when this tornado hit. While there were no sirens ahead of the storm, we heard constant sirens from ambulances and other emergency vehicles for the rest of the night. After seeing the destruction afterwards, I was terrified of storms for years and still watch weather very closely. I will never forget how terrifying it was.
Yes, absolutely. I want to give a little more time for the "dust to settle" on that event. There are still pending investigations and lawsuits I'd like to see have some conclusion and I will absolutely do an in-depth video there. Thank you for asking!
First I want to say I can tell by how the light in the window went from bright sun to darkness that you put a lot of time just filming this let alone all the research and clip finding and editing that needed to be done. You are amazing for working so hard. Second I was 6 living south of Joliet but my dad worked in Plainfield. When the sirens went off I was worried about my dad because I knew he usually got home around 4 so he would be driving at the time the warning happened. I had no idea that by that time it was already nearly over. I was so relieved when he came home. He said he never saw the tornado but saw a semi or parts of a semi in a ditch and other debris all over so he went a different way home. I now understand why they have the sirens go off on bad storms when there's not actually a tornado yet. After watching this video I told my mom about how it wasn't warned until it was nearly over. She had no idea either.
It is crazy to me that I live in this area, drive on all of the roads seen in the video, frequent the areas devastated and never even knew about this occurring. Great video, I’m definitely going to ask some older family members if they remember this day and have any stories from it!
Hi Carly. While it is true that the NWS and SPC does do great work, they did drop the ball on that fateful day. It's is also my opinion that the lawsuit should have given a green light. I don't think it's right to give a sort of "Qualified Immunity" to these organizations when they get things wrong. And the Plainfield tragedy was so wrong. I also think the tornado warning given 21 minutes after Plainfield was the ultimate kick in the n*ts after the fact for Plainfield residents. It was like, "You wanted a warning? Here's your warning. Better late than never, right?" I think I'm as angry as you are and I don't even live there!
Thank you for your comment, and I completely agree with you. It was really frustrating to watch this whole thing unfold, and perhaps the most frustrating part of all for me was watching the media coverage after the event. Thankfully, warning systems have improved ten-fold, but I really hate that this event even had to happen in the first place.
@@carlyannawx I think the concern with allowing these types of lawsuits would result in getting tornado watches and warnings so often to the point they would be ignored and useless. Good work on the documentary.
"Qualified Immunity" as a whole is a terrible idea. No individual or organization should be immune from lawsuits just because they might be providing a public service.
Thank you for covering this, Carly. This event is very significant to me. I was there. I was 17 at the time, and was on I-55 around 3:30pm-ish when it was in proximity. I will never forget it. No photos or video exists but I have full footage in my mind. That tornado was charcoal black, and the sky everywhere else was a deep shade of pea soup green. You could feel and hear a very low/deep bass rumble from it in your insides, even while traveling in a vehicle. I've never seen anything like it before or since. This tornado is the reason I've become an NWS SkyWarn spotter, a chaser and ultimately the reason I watch your channel. Nice work on this. Thank you for your words to express how they dropped the ball. I've long since left IL and moved to WI in 2003. The face-saving they attempted to do is typical of IL PR, even back then! Luckily as far as weather awareness and tech these days, this is unlikely to happen again in such a brazenly blind manner, let's hope.
I would absolutely love to hear more about your experience if you are willing to share I grew up in this community in the aftermath of this storm and began my career as a firefighter in a nearby community
My father was actually a first responder to this incident
It was rain rapped so nobody knew it was a tornado until it was too late
@@wow77777 Anyone in the area that day who looked in it's direction would have seen the coal black column I've described, whether they knew it was a tornado or not. You could not see a funnel, and you wouldn't anyway since it was a very wide wedge. I suspected at the time that it was a tornado, I'm sure many did if I did and I was only a 17 year old kid.
@@TechnoWolfTV I’m with Karly on being a angry with all the ppl saying it’s the fault of the ppl for not knowing.So then why have NOAA? Now me? I lived about 25 minutes from there but grew up a weather buff to go along with Sports.My parents & grandparents taught me & my siblings Watch or not Warning or not you see the sky like that you book it to the basement.They are all there smiling after such a horrible tragedy.
I've been born and raised not too far from Plainfield. I remember this day because my dad had laid me down with him on the couch to take a nap. When i woke up, it was pitch black. I shoved him awake and said, "Daddy we slept all day! It's night now!" I'll never forget how fast he jumped up. He called my mom and told her to stay at work and he carried me to the basement. It was actually 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
that’s stuff of nightmares oh my god
I’m glad to have you on my instagram but it’s extremely annoying you limit your comments
Wow ...talk about blessed
Timeline (as I remember it):
- I was delivering papers with my brother in the neighborhood behind the high school (PCHS but it was just PHS back then)
- My mom picked us up in her car because the weather was looking worse by the minute
- A nice customer/neighbor let us stay at their house until she got there (wonderful people)
There used to be a road heading north/south through the middle of the high school campus. We took it back to our house near the downtown area which is where we saw it approaching
- It was like a wall of black clouds swirling violently and moving in from the NW. It was clear that it was NOT a "normal" thunderstorm
- It didn't look like a funnel. You couldn't see the vortex or classic tornado shape ("rain-wrapped", as I've heard it called)
- We got home, put the TV on and, shortly into the Muppet Babies intro, the power cut out (bogus)
- There was no warning or siren. The sound of the tornado approaching *was* our warning
- You could hear the sound of strong wind approaching and rumbling. The ground was trembling and the intensity was increasing
- We were looking at each other, listening, knowing that's not a "normal" sound
- My neighbor was at our house and correctly identified it, "It's a tornado!", then we ran into the basement
- This was really intense (I describe the sound in detail further down)
- We came up and everything was destroyed or damaged
- My dad was at work and we were at home. I was so relieved when I saw his pickup truck coming down the street
Great work on this video! Everything you said matches my experience. It was a normal day for late summer: hot, sunny, and clear. No indication of severe weather. We had a "storm advisory" or "severe weather watch" but no warning or siren. We have a lot of storms in the evening so that wasn't unusual but it got *really* cold suddenly-- that "scary fast" drop in temperature. It made us concerned and we're used to cold fronts
The Sound:
I remember the sound more vividly than anything. You could just *hear and feel* the immense power fueling it. There was the overwhelming sound of the tornado itself. "Sounded like a freight train" is accurate (sounded more like a a giant/sinister freight train). It wasn't just the train-style rumble, though. There was also the sound of a massive wind tunnel and you could *hear* the destruction. The chaotic sound of glass breaking, branches cracking, structures stressing and collapsing, trees falling over, power infrastructure failing, debris smacking into every surface and object. I was only 5 or 6 years old but I'll *never* forget that sound. It was surreal coming back to the surface and seeing your town basically destroyed. Everyone has seen the most iconic photos so I don't think I need to go into detail (dumpster wrapped around a tree like it's a soft metal, semi trucks thrown around, etc.)
Our house was very close to the epicenter but it was largely spared. We had damage to our siding, fencing, and our camper was crushed by a fallen tree. A backyard gate was thrown down the block and several windows were broken by "missiles" that landed on the other end of the room (pieces of wood and debris). A perfect example of why windows are the last place you want to be during severe weather. I was intrigued by how random or "selective" the damage seemed. One side of a street would be in-tact and then the house next to it looked like a bomb levelled it. I collected roof shingles because they were strewn about everywhere and I was an odd kid, "Wow, this one has kind of a rainbow pattern to it", lol. I couldn't fully grasp the severity at that age but it sunk in over time and I went to counseling for it
Long post but I wanted to share my personal experience. It's a potent memory and I really appreciate your video. I never thought I'd see a complete stranger "going to bat" for my town 30+ years after the disaster. The warnings were non-existent but we kind of chalked it up to, "nobody is perfect" or "shit happens", for lack of a better term. I never thought anything would happen regarding the (lack of) warnings or that anyone still cared about it
Thank you for your story!
@@donnaguy9057 I'm happy to share my experience. It's helped me process it over the years. Thank you for listening (:
Long post, yes but very detailed and descriptive. I was age 25 on that fateful day and while I've been fascinated by tornadoes since adolescence and still am to this day I feel fortunate that I wasn't as close to the F4 that killed several people and injured many others in Venango county PA. I've been plagued by depression and anxiety most of my life and felt great empathy in your story especially when noting that you needed counseling to address the emotional and psychological impact of your experience. The only tornado I have actually witnessed was in the mid 2000's in the Catskills when during severe thunderstorms a dark cloud bank assumed a definite rotation which appeared to be making it's way toward the ground. Next day the NWS confirmed either an F0 or F1 had struck approx. 3 miles to the east.
@@telebob5983 I've been living with depression and anxiety my entire adult life so I can relate to that. I appreciate the empathy. I'm grateful me and my family were OK but, honestly, I also feel fortunate that I got to experience such a rare and powerful storm. It was a massive adrenaline rush. I'm saying this in hind-sight because it definitely affected me and could have been much worse. I'm glad you avoided that tornado in the Catskills. It's got to be unsettling seeing the vortex forming like that. It's terrifying when you suddenly realize just how close you were to a deadly storm. Take care!
@@ATeaDaze Seems you and I have more in common than tornadoes. In a little over a week I will be a 'boy' of 63 and have a pathology of depression and anxiety which first surfaced when in the 4th grade. That was 1968, when Non-Verbal Learning Disorder had yet to be clinically established--that's part of my pathology as well. Thanks for your reply and take good care yourself.
The aerial shots of the empty basements after the damage was creepy. Can you imagine being sucked out of a well built home’s basement during a tornado?
The finger of god
Luckily the neighborhood shown with empty basements was under construction at the time, many homes in the path there were recently poured basements or being framed up, it could've been so much worse.
It was VERY hot and humid. The 27th was my 13th birthday, we spent the day at a go-cart track on rt. 30 & in our backyard pool. If I remember correctly, that time period, but specifically the 26th, 27th & 28th of August 1990 were the hottest days of the summer. It remained exceptionally hot & humid on the 28th. As the storm clouds came rolling in, I'll never forget hearing my Dad say, "Hopefully it will cool things off, I'd like to turn the air (conditioner) off." I helped my Dad put the solar cover on our pool and JUST as we finished, all hell broke loose.
There was dead silence afterward..it was eerily quiet. Everything was giving off steam, including exposed lumber, broken/collapsed wood fencing, road asphalt & in some places, even the sidewalks were steaming. The period of "eerie" silence ended rather quickly due to the sudden blast of screaming sirens from law enforcement and first responders. There were so many sirens & they continued for what seemed like an endless period of time. The cacophony of first responder sirens were like a 4th of July or Memorial day parade from hell.
After a few minutes, with the sky already 100% cleared & the tornado sirens went off.
i'll never forget any of it ...
Did you know that Tetsuya Theodore Fujita was almost a victim of the second atomic bomb. He was in Kokura, Japan on August 9, 1945 and Kokura was the primary target for the bomb, however the Bockscar crew was ordered not to drop the bomb if they didn't have visual on the target. It happened to be very cloudy over Kokura, so they flew to Nagasaki.
Wow, I had no idea. How horrifying. At some point I'd love to do more reading about his life and lasting career impacts, perhaps a video on some of the more notable figures in the weather enterprise!
@@carlyannawx We both get to learn something new today. When you stop learning you stop growing.
@@Eric_Hutton.1980 a few days ago I was watching a video on the Jarrell tornado and I learned that the Jarrell tornado exposed how flawed the F scale was and because of the Jarrell tornado is what led to the EF scale. Also I learned that the bridge creek/Moore tornado did also exposed how the F scale was flawed. So the Jarrell and the bridge creek/Moore tornado led to the EF scale.
@@carlyannawx pbs has a documentary called mr tornado that talks about what Fujita did
Clouds saved one of the world's best meteorologist how interesting
That’s insane. The forecasters should have been held accountable to some degree because they basically ignored the situation at hand and failed to warn the public. They have a sense of duty to warn people and they failed to do that
I am wondering how many people actually called emergency services to report the tornado. Did emergency services actually inform the NWS or were the calls ignored?
We always learn the hard way.
@@cecilhammerton8167It is the job of the weather service, with their radar, to keep up with the weather as it unfolds, and to do their job and TELL PEOPLE BEFORE PEOPLE ARE INJURED AND/OR KILLED when a tornado is on the way.
Tornadoes are horrific when the public is warned, but to have one sweep down upon you without any warning whatsoever, I can't even imagine. I'm glad you mentioned the irresponsibility of the media, they had no place commenting on the situation which sadly is all they seem to do.
48:26 Wow, I think that's my photo of the tornado memorial! I took a bunch of photos that day when I visited on August 28th 2011. I'm glad to see my photos are still being useful and helping people learn about this event.
I have friends that saw the tornado. The problem was that they could not see the tornado, just a wall of clouds. One friends uncle was a cop, and her father went to look for survivors. They came apon a child who had a large splinter through his chest that would moved with his heart-beat, he died at the hospital. That haunted both men for the rest of their lives.
My god
That happened a few houses down from mine in the crystal lawn neighborhood, he was on my street when the sky turned dark and my nextdoor neighbor asked if he wanted to come inside but it didn't look like a tornado it just looked like a wall cloud and no sirens so he probably thought it was just a storm and tried to ride home. My mom was out with the search parties in the neighborhood when they found him she still cries about it. She told me the story of the officer who stayed with him and talked to him and comforted him because he was still conscious.
@@zenjen1295Jesus , what streets got hit that hard in crystal lawns? The stories of Plainfield are harrowing; my families from new Lenox
@@rbibbe34dear God!!! That's horrific!!
Great content, as always! Some tornadoes I would like to see on the channel:
- 2013 Moore tornado
- 1974 Xenia tornado
- 1925 Tri-state tornado
- 1953 Flint and Worcester tornadoes
- 1936 Tupelo and Gainesville tornadoes
- 1953 Waco tornado
- 2011 Smithville tornado
- 1955 Blackwell and Udall tornadoes
- 2021 Mayfield tornado
- 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado
- 1987 Edmonton tornado
- 1974 Tanner Double event
- 1973 San Justo tornado
- 1947 Glazier-Higgins-Woodward Tornado
The 1953 Worcester Tornado definitely needs a more in-depth look. Also the Windsor Locks, CT, tornado would be interesting to read about, and the New Haven/Hamden, CT, tornado in 1989.
What about Barneveld,WI tornado?
The rochelle tornado would be cool
@@susanwahl6322 Yes it wiped out 90% of the tiny village. I saw the aftermath. It dug a groove in the ground where it traveled.
easter sunday outbreak in 1913?
I was 10 years old and lived in Plainfield during the tornado. What a lot of people don't know is there were actually 3 tornadoes. I remember watching all 3 of them form near my farm house and move into town. I'll never forget that day and I am 41 years old. I still have a major fear of tornadoes. It's a day I'll never forget.
Where at? I thought most damage was found by 59 and it was just one funnel?
It was just one tornado not 3
@@rbibbe34it was just one tornado
Incredible to have lived through that. It’s entirely possible that you were close enough to it to discern multiple vortices, as many of these huge, high end EF rated tornadoes have sub-vortices.
There are some eerie similarities with the fabled "Tri-State Tornado," not the least of which nobody really saw a distinct funnel, but rather "a wall of black." Several who were killed in the Tri-State cyclone were farmers who were very weather savvy; and yet as the storm approached they were unaware of what was coming because they just could not see it. It's not just that the funnel was "rain-wrapped" and obscured, but that the entire horizon was seemingly just blotted out with a monster lurking in the darkness.
By the way, anyone else notice a young Lester Holt at 23:21?
Just happened upon your video, having personally lived through this almost 32 years ago. Absolutely excellent video. Having been involved in emergency management, law enforcement, and spotting in the Chicago area for over 20 years, it cannot be emphasized enough how much this event changed the forecasting and warning process, not only in N Illinois, but all over the US. Among several failures that day, the biggest one that stands out in my mind is lack of communication. Keep in mind in 1990, very very few had cell phones, the weather radar a WSR-74 was located in Marseilles, 80 miles SW of the Chicago NWS office, which was in Rosemont at the time. The radar operator was filling in that day and could not discern a hook echo amongst the ground clutter. The supercell itself was “very” HP and the actual Plainfield tornado was heavily rain wrapped. After all was said and done the first actual confirmed report of the tornado itself was made by the Crest Hill police chief on ISPERN (Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network) and relayed by ISP District 5 to the NWS. In those days it took about 5-7 minutes to type out the warning and send it via teletype, which by the time it was broadcast, the tornado have lifted in the vicinity of the Louis Joliet Mall. The city of Joliet wisely took it upon them selves to activate their sirens just prior to the warning and nearly every other town in Will and Kankakee Counties followed suit, but it was already too late. From a public safety standpoint, at least locally in Chicagoland, this lead to the creation of the Multi-County Severe Weather Warning System, spearheaded by DuPage County EMA, in cooperation with the NWS, which relocated to Romeoville a year later to an office onsite with the new WSR-88D. Additionally, the local NWS offices were consolidated into the WSFOs you see today. NWS Chicago is now regarded as one of the best in the nation and 23 counties in IL and IN under their purview have one of the best organized spotter networks. From a weather nerd perspective, that storm it still one of the most violent and fearsome looking storms I have ever witnessed (the 2004 Roanoke storm being a close 2nd)
Thanks for this update. Glad to know.
I remember that day very well. I was home on maternity leave & my son was just 2 weeks old. I remember waking up from a nap & walking into the living room which faced west & saw how absolutely black the sky was out to the west. I was dumbstruck. I was able to see that the storm was not heading in my direction, thankfully, but I knew something really bad was happening somewhere west of us. We lived in Berwyn IL at the time which is about 30 miles northeast of Plainfield. It was very scary. I knew some people who were directly effected by the tornado & others who did witness it.
Can you speak of those who witnessed it? I'm from the area and that tornado is infamous; do they remember when it hit?
@@rbibbe34 I had 4 co-workers in various jobs I've had over the years who shared with me their experiences. One of my coworkers saw the tornado while she was a patient at one of the hospitals in Joliet IL who saw it from her hospital room. She said it absolutely did not look like the "classic" tornado. It just looked like an ugly looking black cloud rolling around on the ground & she really didn't realize it was a tornado when she witnessed it. Another coworker said he & his dad watched it go across the countryside. He said he & his dad were in his dad's garage & the my coworker was leaning against the wall of the garage & he feel the vibrations from the tornado as it passed in the distance. Another family friend's dad was actually in it. He & some friends of is were in his car as he was driving along the interstate on their way to go on a fishing trip when they crossed paths with this tornado. His car was hit & went end over end & one of his friends was ejected from the car & was killed , the other friend was killed in the car, & he sustained injuries that put his life in danger, but he did survive. My new boss at the time told me his mother's house had some damage from the winds, but it wasn't really very bad. It was an amazing event.
@@debzvideos I am extremely sorry that you're dad's friend got hit by that tornado. I hope that they're doing better
@@kitdoesstufflmao Thanks, Kit. Yes, he did recover from his injuries. I can't believe this happened over 30 years. We all still remember this day so well.
@@debzvideos thank you for this comment Debbie, I'm sorry to hear about the loss you heard of. I'm assuming it had to be right off 55 and 30. My parents still talk about this event in august , they helped the night of. I just hear stories and want to know more of it, thank you for sharing
This story is absolutely chilling. It is because I am afraid of something like this that I became a storm spotter. Ever since the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, when tornado season rolls around, I pay very close attention to the sky when it turns stormy, no matter what the NWS says or doesn't say. I find it inexcusable that there were all these signs that a dangerous weather event was about to occur and yet no warnings were issued until after it was over. Especially in such a highly populated area.
Dr. Theodore Fujita was also the one who first came out with the term "derecho". He also discovered the bow echo in the Independence Day Derecho of 1977.
These videos deserve more recognition a lot of effort put into these
It will come. The videos will stay on TH-cam forever. It will be a mather of time before her videos will be picked up 👌
@@ShaneRSR doubt the videos stay on TH-cam forever can once they're gone, they're gone for good unless they are archive in advance in general. I know cause TH-cam can remove ya whenever they want w no explanation whatsoever
I recommend you take a look at the May 31st 1985 tornado outbreak in Northwest Pennsylvania, Western NY, and Eastern Ohio. This event featured the fathest east an F5 has ever struck the United States to this day as well as being in a part of the country where tornadoes are not incredibly common.
I’d also like the 1990s outbreak of tornados in eastern PA seeing how Far East it was for a outbreak and the 2021 PA/NJ outbreak and the CT EF4
Agree on your suggestion, especially since I lived through that historic outbreak myself. May 31 1985 was a rather balmy but extremely humid day late in the afternoon. The Severe Storms Forecast Center had issued a Tornado Watch earlier in the day. Then around 5 P.M. all hell suddenly broke loose with an F4 on the ground approaching a mobile home park where there were deaths and injuries just eight miles or so due north of my location. But the intense overcast sky without rain gave no clues as to what was happening. On June 1st, a co-worker at the radio station where I was employed mentioned the news director's name to get past the National Guard checkpoints (some friends of that fellow employee worked in Pittsburgh radio and had property near where the F4 hit in Venango county PA). About 3/4 mile east of the trailer park it was as though nature created a 1/8 mile wide power line right of way through thick hardwoods with only stumps and trunks left standing.
One of my best friends grandparents were killed in this event when thier Pennsylvania farm was hit.
Weatherbox is another great severe weather channel. He's got a video on the May 31, 1985 US/CA Outbreak.
This makes me think of the 2020 Cookeville, TN EF-4 tornado so much. Absolutely zero warning. The gaslighting by some radio stations. It was so tragic and unexpected. I don’t know how much you can find, but it would be a good one too. Thank you for these! I watch them while I’m at work. I love your documentaries so much.
The tornado warning for that tornado was issued around the time that tornado touched down. It should've been issued sooner though, as the tornado intensified very quickly; but it wasn't as bad as Plainfield's totally preventable and unwarned disaster. And if those radio stations are of the type I'm thinking of, then I'm not surprised they'd gaslight the victims.
Hell, we got hit here in Knoxville TN with an EF-2 in early August and never got a warning either. I was admitted in the hospital and just happened to look out the window. I won't repeat what I said but I bolted for the bathroom with my IV pole.
We were VERY lucky. No fatalities or serious injuries, just a mess to clean up.
Even with all the tech we have now, no warning at all.
A couple points about the local news coverage.
First, WBBM news anchor Bill Kurtis made a name for himself when he was a fill-in for the news during an F5 tornado that devastated Topeka, KS.
Second, most of the personnel doing weather at the time for the Chicago TV stations weren't really professional meteorologists. WGN's Tom Skilling was something of an exception.
So they really were very much dependent on the Chicago NWS. If I recall correctly, the Chicago area was just getting NEXRAD (Doppler) radar implemented at the time.
He was indeed. He was credited with saving many lives when few other media outlets were able to get word out: “For God’s sake, take cover!”There is a speech online he gave about his experience, and I think there is a documentary about it as well.I’m grateful that weather information and forecasting are greatly advanced from what they were in 1966.
My cousin attended Plainfield HS when this tornado went through--he was so lucky that he wasn't there. My dad was in the area for work and just happened to pull his semitruck over when the weather started to look particularly nasty and he managed to stay out of the path the tornado would take. Its something the people from this area definitely still talk about all the time
wow, thank you for sharing Kristina that's so powerful. Very thankful both your dad and cousin were okay! It was a blessing that the school was on break when it hit. Your dad has some good intuition
That is true my family moved to Plainfield in 1996 and I graduated from the New Plainfield high school in 2000 a lot of people talked about it then and still talk about it to this day.
I love how you stress mental wellness aspect. My daughter was 5 when tornado sirens went off in our town, Tullahoma Tennessee. We headed to bathroom with matteress. Remained calm but the siren is extremely loud and 2 houses down from our home. My daughter lost it. Crying and begging God to not let her die. Begging us to stop the noise. I'm crying now writing this, and she's 28 now. After the danger passed and no tornado near us but 20 miles away, my daughter ran to her bed and said dont touch me. Let me sleep. It was so freaky. We were beside ourselves wanting to hold her, but she was getting more upset.
So we sat next to her bed all night and told her we would be there for her if she woke.
That day changed her forever. We started counseling as her fear of death was extreme. She realized at 5 years old that her parents , who she thought could fix everything, could not save her. If anyone talked cancer or car accident she would stress out about what if that happens to me?
It changed over the years but morphed into anorexia then OCD. Thought OCD. This is one most people aren't aware of but it's been unrecognized too long.
Her ocd would tell her she's going to kill herself. She would be asking us if her mind can make her do this. We asked "Do you want to commit Suicide?"
She would say No! But can it make me??. We found a name for her OCD after years of counselors who didn’t have a clue.
My daughter actually got her Masters in psychology to answer her questions.
She found many forms of OCD people dont know about and treatment is specific and if done wrong can make it worse. For thought OCD if a patient presents at hospital afraid her mind will make her commit suicide, many hospitals treat them as if they ARE suicidal and the treatment affirms yes your mind can make you do this even if you don't want it. The treatment is actually psychologist who understands thought OCD and helps them to understand their OCD cannot make them do anything. There are many tools and methods, and it's on going through life.
My daughter still has ocd everyday but she is able to live with it. Not everyday is rosy but she has tools to cope. The issue for treatment is cost. Not covered by insurance, 110$ a session. 2 sessions a week to start and eventually 4x/ month to 2x/month with more if needed. We had several good years where she didn’t seem to need counseling. 8-14 years old.
Then, thought OCD came on strong. Panic attacks.
Many times we picked her up from college as panic attacks trying to drive home. I'm writing a book from a parent's perspective on how this started and our journey, and my daughter is going to help fill in what's going on from her perspective.
It is not curable, but you can live with it. She still counsels monthly. 14 years with one psychologist and 5 with thought ocd specialist.
The expense is enormous but we have made it priority. My daughter now wirks with children on the autism spectrum. She has such patience and knows her suffering has made her a better psychologist. I will never forget that day. I am so frustrated for all tge children and adults who are traumatized by weather events and more and cant afford counseling. Its a crime. Keep up the great work you do. You are a blessing.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I remember truckers reporting the tornado passing over us 30 and interstate 55. Few had cell phones, but truckers had CB radios and that’s how the word got out..too late. The sky was orange with black clouds. I will never ever forget that day.
Yeah no cell phones back then how unlucky they were all they had to get by on was CB radios Cell phones are great but they can also cause problems. Times have changed. Thanks Carly for mentioning the 1925 TRI STATE Tornado that one was still the worst in US History almost 800 dead thousands of injuries.
Carly, you’ve provided a voice to the victims of these storms but I hope you know you’ve provided much more than that.
It is truly endearing how survivors from that day have felt so comfortable being vulnerable in sharing their stories in your comment section. I don’t read comments but I could skim yours for hours. You’ve provided a unique safe space for survivors.
The memorial to honor the victims was beautiful. The high school I graduated from has a memorial to the victims of the F4 tornado that hit it in 1967. It hit the parking lot of the school as the kids were boarding the buses and many buses were overturned and crushed. There was no warning. You can see it if you search "EF4 Tornado Memorial in Belvidere, Illinois". The memorial is in the shape of a tornado and was built well after I graduated.
I’ve lived in Plainfield since 1998 (moved from justice when I was 4) . Being from there you will always know someone directly affected by the tornado or that knows someone directly affected. My boyfriends dad was directly affected. His apartment building was the only one destroyed by the tornado. Tom skilling is an awesome meteorologist, he went over higher ups heads and told people to get to cover.
You’ve done it again! So informative, and wow…I was not aware of what happened in Plainfield and it angers me to no end! I recognized that one anchorman, Hugh Down and I believe he made it to the national news level, ughhhh! Love it how the first responders kept it real. I really feel for all that were impacted by this.
Carly! You really need to consider doing this full time! You have a great way about yourself, very calming, but at the same time very factual and interesting. I hope, hope, hope you do more! You are awesome!!! Forget Ryan Hall girl, you got this on your own. Consider me a fan, a follower, and someone who truly wishes you the best!
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your kind words! I am working hard to make this happen full time and how to make the best content for you all! :) I Hope you look forward to it
It wasnt Hugh Downs. It was Bill Kurtis. And he did make it to the big time...CBS News.
Oh most definitely, her delivery is very genuine, sincere, compassionate and knowledgeable. There are many words that could be used to describe the incomprehensible failures of the anchors but we managed to keep it classy lol.
Love and abundance to us all.
Cali, you're right!! That's Hugh Down, I believe Debra Norville...and the legendary Bill Kurtis..all WGN alumni, & I was SHOCKED 😳to hear him go on like that... esp since HE was the Weather Man for Topeka some years earlier, & credited with saving lives in a similar situation there?!
Lester Holt was earlier in the vid, in front of the apartments... so yeah, all national level folks in the coming years...& can't believe what I heard 🤷♂️
Unless I missed it, I would've loved to see Tom Skilling (WGN's Weather Man... still to this day), the NWS be damned, tell folks to seek shelter immediately.
It was Bill Kurtis,Linda McClennan, John Coughlin and Lester Holt was out in Crest Hill.
Hey! Thank you for shedding light on this largely unnoticed storm (and, unfortunately, the accompanying tragedy) especially all the queasy and condescending media personalities mass-gaslighting the public. Anywho, you make thorough and compassionate videos. Great job 👍
I don't mean this in any manner; but I'm from the area and I don't understand why gaslighting is now a popular term for everything that is wrong.
They made a mistake, and they did there best to not allow it to happen again. Isnt gaslighting to make others seem crazy while the guilty one is doing it? Lmao that doesn't make sense here
It's because the media had an objective to insulate any pushback about the failure to recognize the danger by the nws ahead of time, thus they very overtly, in my opinion, an opinion also shared by the creator of the video, spread misinformation and in a controlled manner to circumvent any rational complaints by those directly affected by the great negligence delivered to them by those that should have been safeguarding them. Thus, yes, gaslighting, although on a much larger stage than what is normally observed. It isn't any wonder some people aren't aware of it. "You can't see the forest from the trees." Seems unfortunately apt here.
@@rbibbe34 a lot of people misuse genuine psychological terms, especially recently. happened with the word "triggered" as well.
One finds these days that the very first news about any given event is not always _correct_ news.
Many commenters were and are more concerned about saying something immediately, and much less about accurately informing the public.
I was 11 when this happened and i remember taking shelter in Joliet east side basement, in order to get to basement I had to go through outside and i remember seeing the outside look sage green and gray and thought this doesn't look good. But you're research made me see the whole picture because I don't remember news footage or anything else. Great job your cat is the cutest.
As a lifelong Illinoisan and weather enthusiast, I want to thank you for the work you put into this video and shedding light on this topic.
I had no idea the level of neglect and, dare I say, cover up that took place as a result of that event. If there is no justice, awareness I suppose is the next best thing and you have provided that. So again, thank you.
This thing just struck out of absolutely nowhere. It is scary how tornadoes can strike with zero warning and just eat everything in their path. It's a wake-up call to realize how lucky we are to hear sirens when there is time enough for them to go off.
Thank you for this story. It was my 15th bday that day. My sister had a job interview in the suburbs that would have taken her thru there at the time it hit. Thankfully it got cancelled before she left home in Central Illinois. Definitely a blessing from God. We drove thru there a week or so after. All I remember is the church that got hit. I truly love all that you, Ryan, Andy and the team are doing to bring awareness to our ever changing weather. God Bless you all!!
I have family that lived in Plainfield during that time. My cousins were due to go to Plainfield HS the following day. They probably would not have been alive today had that tornado happened a day later. My uncle was a Plainfield volunteer fireman who got the call to respond to “wind damage” while at work. No one knew that that a tornado had come through until it was already passed. He said he couldn’t describe accurately in words what he saw when he arrived on scene. Fortunately for my relatives, the tornado missed their neighborhood by about a mile. They still live in Plainfield today, and my aunt still says she gets very uneasy every time severe weather is forecasted in their area
The newscaster, Bill Kurtis actually was a weather forecaster in the 1960s which eventually pleaded with viewers to take cover before a tornado destroyed the area. I can't recall which storm this happened either Wichita Falls or in Kansas. It's been a while since I reviewed that particular storm. When seeing this, it struck me as odd that he said something like that on the Plainview, Illinois tornado in 1990.
Topeka Kansas tornado in 1966(IIRC)
*Plainfield*
It was Topeka. He was going to Washburn University Law School and working part time at the TV station and was filling in for a friend.
@@jamesmelcher9355 I was correcting the person who called the town "Plainview". It's Plainfield.
@@dianefarley37 My post was just trying to tell the person who wasn’t positive the 1966 Bill Kurtis tornado was in Topeka that he or she was right. I didn’t say anything about the Illinois tornado.
I am surprised that the death toll was under 30. Considering no tornado warning and being a F5.
Had it been a day later, the high school would have been full of students. It also missed a mall by about a quarter mile.
@@davidschaefer1981 I did hear the next day school would start for the kids.
Thank goodness for storm chasers. Obviously chasing wasn't as big of a thing in 1990 as it is now but when the appropriate people and agencies fail to do their job these days, there are, thankfully, storm chasers who make every effort to warn people. I personally don't think Joplin would have sounded the sirens if not for Jeff Pietrowski communicating with authorities about what he's seen and last year I just happened to be looking at Facebook on my phone and saw Reed Timmer post about a tornado about 30 minutes from me. National Weather Service was still at severe thunderstorm warning. If it hadn't been for Reed, none of us would have been prepared, as this was late at night and everyone was asleep but me. Thank you for making this video. Forgive me though, as I got angry and shut it off before the end. Honestly, the BS from not only the NWS and the court system but also the media, is astounding. I feel like they should all have lost their jobs.
Thank you so much for all these videos. Your genuine respect for all the victims and 1st responders is evident and sets you apart from other content creators. ❤️
Yes, I too enjoyed this video and learned a lot. I grew up in tornado alley Ks. In 1966 Topeka had a wild storm and I recall a churning low cloud right over my home. I was in the yard trying to get neighbors to shelter in my storm cellar. The cloud had a machine engine sound & was so freaky that I can't ever forget it. We did have siren alarm sounds plus newscast alerts but no damage where I was living. A cousin and other relatives living in Texas don't even have basements, just advice to go to a center room. Hah! At least Ks homes have basements available especially new homes. To me anyone who lives in "the zones" will need a community storm shelter especially for mobile homes. I won't visit anyone living in "the zones" during the spring or early summer months.
I'm glad the ppl of Plainsfield, Illinois and surrounding area were able to rebuild their lives after such tragic weather & the consequences of not warning the community ahead of this storm. I hope the weather service will learn from their mistakes that cost so many lives.
I watch your videos and enjoy how calming your Blaze is in the background.
Thank you for enlightening us TH-cam R's. ✌️
Gosh I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to live in a time before tornado warning systems existed
This reminds me of the 1998 Nashville tornado. While it was in Nashville it really didn't look like a tornado until it went by Nashville. Bill Kurtis warned citizens during the 1966 Topeka tornado, so I don't see how he did not let that meteorologist know he should issue a tornado warning, especially with him saying he as well as the meteorologist was watching to red and green colors. I think the lesson is to stay in a safe place in any severe thunderstorm. Your cat is such a cute boy. Just subbed to your channel.
Because the TV station's weatherman--assuming he actually *is* a meteorologist and not just a TV anchor--isn't at the National Weather Service and can't issue a tornado warning. *ONLY* the NWS can issue warnings, and if a local station's weatherman starts issuing anything, they massively open themselves up to legal liability if they make the wrong call.
This was an excellent well researched video as always and an emotional one given the lack of accountability after this happened. The thing that really upset me was the conscious decision that was made to leave the tornado warning out of the statement that was reissued! That's not just negligence, that's gross negligence.
Adding insult to injury the gaslighting that took place on the TV stations was so offensive. I think I would have to quit that job rather than do that.
Rest in peace to the victims of the plainville tornado. Carly, I'm so glad you called it an unwarned tornado over and over again during this video. You're helping to right the wrong of the misinformation that's been put out there.
Carly, thanks for this in-depth, multifaceted video -- I'm really impressed by all of your content. I grew up fascinated by and frightened of tornadoes because of an unwarned storm that happened 17 miles north of my family's house before I turned 4, the West Bend anticyclonic F4 that happened in the early morning hours of 4/4/81 (which was also assessed by Dr. Fujita, I believe). Three years later, another early morning monster hit Wisconsin, the Barneveld F5 tornado on 6/8/84, and left terrifying images in my mind of the town's water tower being the only thing standing. During COVID, I stumbled on Skip Talbot's videos and since then, have been fascinated by the footage and analysis that you, he, and other storm chasers/youtube hosts in this community offer the public and the scientific community. Weather is terrifying and beautiful, but there's always a societal backdrop in which these events happen and I really appreciate how you brought that POV into this piece on Plainfield.
One other tornado outbreak I've heard about that seems really anomalous is the Grand Island, NE outbreak of 1980, which was the subject of the children's book (and apparently a later TV movie) called "Night of the Twisters." Which, of course, I got from Scholastic and read in the mid 80s. The wikipedia entry says, "The resulting [Grand Island 1980] outbreak was one of the most unusual in United States history: The supercells moved over the city at only 8 mph (13 km/h); of the seven tornadoes, three of them were anticyclonic; and the tornadoes did not move in a straight line, with most looping back over their own path at least once." I haven't been able to find out much about this one other than that it was the basis of that book. Again, thanks for your work and I look forward to more of your content!
Just found your videos. While I wasn't born yet, I live in Plainfield and drive past Wheatland Plains multiple times a week. It's eerie to think that 33 years ago, many of these homes were destroyed or sustained damage. Had my friends house been built back then, it would have been in the path near Wheatland Plains. My wife's parents house, had it been built, would have been just south of the tornado by less than a mile as it destroyed St. Mary.
The first Tuesday of each month at ten am Illinois does a warning siren test, not sure about other states but here in Illinois we do, thanks for covering this.
Every first Wednesday at noon my town does a siren test. I live a half of a block from it and it's loud as hell but comforting to know its working.
Minnesota does it the first Wednesday of every month
OMG?? IS THIS WHY THEY DO THAT???
So a government entity screws the pooch and, Go figure no accountability. I recently came across your channel, I really enjoy the way you do your videos. Great content, very well explained, while also imploring the viewer to dig deeper and formulate their own opinion.
Carly, I'm writing this with your beginning paused. I was in downtown Rockford IL and that storm system began just over the Wisconsin line and it produced an F-0 tornado that touched down across the Highway from Illinois State Police Headquarters District 16 in Pecatonica. I was with a local Fire Rescue at the time. A Tornado Warning was issued for Winnebago County. The government building I was in, had us all go to the parking garage.
We were under the same Severe Thunderstorm Watch that covered Plainfield.
My main question in the call I made to the NWS was, while I understand the watch box designation was for severe thunderstorms. And that conditions weren't right for tornadoes. And that severe thunderstorms can and do produce tornadoes...understanding all of that. When a system does produce a tornado, in the thunderstorm watch box, why not immediately re-designate the watch box as tornado, seeing as their must be conditions you aren't able to measure.
Never got a good answer. Had that F-0 tornado around 1200-1230 I recall, changed the box, as that storm exploded moving towards Plainfield, at least the public and emergency services would have been on a different footing in the few hours it took to get there.
*Now, on to your video
23 minutes in.....you nailed it and my memory was off by an hour.
Just finished it. Attention viewers: This young lady did her homework, and pinned the tail right on the donkey's arse....
Well Done Carly
Good work. Love your info
Great video! I can tell a lot of passion was put into this. I know 5k subs is a lot, but I'd argue you're criminally underrated. Keep it up!
Amazing that there is no photo of this. Rain wrapped or not, I have seen plenty of photos of tornadoes that were rain wrapped. Usually someone simply has an angle to get a good shot. I mean an f5 in 1990 with no picture smh
The Andover tornado on April 26 1991 was the most captured on film for that time. I wish there was some for this tornado.
@@Sj430 Right but we got photos of the Niles/Wheatland, Jordan, Iowa, Xenia, Sayler Park, hell even 64 Wichita Falls. All were f5's and no photo from 1990. I guess it just proves how unexpected this storm was.
@@zjdubya22 I agree.
@@zjdubya22 It was described as a giant wall of heavy rain with a violent tornado embedded in it by those who saw the supercell around Rockford where it produced a weaker tornado.
It's sad that we don't have photos of the tornado, but it's understandable: in 1990 we didn't have cell phones with cameras, the tornado had no warning and it was rain wrapped, totally the opposite of Andover
Great historical research and presentation once again. Very thorough with acknowledgment of limitations.
I’m a Plainfield resident and my mom has lived in Plainfield for her entire life. She remembers it like it was yesterday. What’s crazy is just like the city whose Metro Area it’s in rebuilt the world’s most beautiful skyline after it burned, Plainfield recovered and is now one of the fastest growing towns in America and the fastest growing town in the Chicago metro area. It has gone from a small town of 5K people with 3 elementary schools, 1 junior high and 1 high school to a town of 50K with over a dozen grade schools 7 junior highs and 4 high schools. Amazing how communities can rebound and rebuild after tragedies
This reminds me of the 1988 tornado in Raleigh. It was an F-4 and went through at midnight the Sunday after Thanksgiving. So it happened when it "shouldn't" have and there was no warning system. My parents heard the storm blow while they were watching TV, but no warning. In fact, my mom said she the lights flickered, but since there were no warnings it wasn't a big deal, so she turned off the TV and went to sleep. The storm was a total surprise and conditions changed rapidly. My parents woke up to people calling to see if they were okay as the storm made the national news. The tornado passed within a mile of their house. I don't know if the Triangle area has a warning system now, but the didn't the last time I was there.
Plainfield, and its surrounding area, is SO much more populated now. Can you imagine if this tornado happened now, even with warnings? Casualties would be in the hundreds, potentially even in the thousands. Parts of Oswego, Naperville, crystal lawns, crest hill, Joliet… would have been hammered too. I shudder to think what the damage would look like today. Not to mention - school was supposed to begin the next day so very few people were in the building compared to what it could’ve been
i grew up 10 miles from plainfield and people always talked about this tornado but nobody *ever* talked about the way the NWS fumbled the ball on this one- gosh now I'm mad, too.
I know it isn't much, but I just wanted to say thank you as always for your great work that you put in to these videos. It was clear from the start that this was going to be heavy, but my goodness this was heartbreaking and sickening the there was such a screw-up from the NWS. I have the links bookmarked for reading.
This is by far my favorite tornado coverage you have documented. Your delivery of the important content was on point and your personal opinions on the matter are completely worthy for people to lend credence to. I especially respected your critique of the viewing area of Plainfield’s news stations setting up their own narrative to cover their own failures. Talk about fake news that capitalized off human misery.
I wonder if Bill Curtis's experience with the 1966 Topeka tornado colored his perception in this instance?
This is my question... Bill was credited with warning the people of Topeka and saving many lives, why did he go directly to CYA mode here?
This was my first thought. He did have some basic knowledge from Topeka and saved countless lives there. He is the type of person to take immediate action. He was also in law school at the time of the Topeka tornado before choosing to switch to broadcasting, I think that was also in his mind. Carly, I know you watch weatherbrains…he had his own episode not that long ago, might give some insight.
I’d always liked him during his later career (American Justice, etc) and had been surprised to see his coverage of the 1966 Topeka tornado, but this completely changes my opinion of him. No job is worth the sacrifice of ethics and it’s all the more sickening that he’d been through it and feared for the lives of his family in 1966.
I've been watching your videos on my overnight shifts the last 3 nights and I gotta say. Be proud of yourself these are wonderfully put together beautifully edited and wonderfully scripted. I've learned so much and been on emotional rollercoasters with you cause some of the facts and stories you cover are heart breaking.. anyways great work and keep it up be proud of what you have done here it's wonderful
Unfortunately, in the 20 years since this horrific event, we've become very accustomed to this type of cover-up behavior from the media...almost expect it. Shameful. Especially a slap in the face to the mother whose 4 month old baby was found in the corn field.
THE tornado that terrified me the most because it was so unusual und 'unexpected'. In fact, I even had nightmares about it. The Storm Stories episode about the Plainsfield Tornado left a huge impression on me. Witnesses describing the "terrifying green sky" prior the tornado was like straight out of a horror movie.
Thank you for picking up that horrifying event. great video
Hi Carly! Love that this is uploaded in time for my road trip
Those news clips that just essentially covered up the NWS Chicago incompetence that day really sticks in my craw.
I am a survivor from the 1990 Plainfield tornado. Our home was totally blown away as my two children and I made it to the bottom of the basement stairs just in the nick of time. No warnings at all.
Hey there, Carly. Awesome information as usual. I grew up in southern Iowa. I am now 69 years old now. I noted that this storm was moving ESE to SE. My experience and weather researchers have noted that historically. tornadic storms in July and August in the upper Midwest tend to move in some direction of SE. Thunderstorms earlier than July and August and then later in the year tend to move NE. I remember this storm but I was not aware that the storm went unwarned. I had not realized that many people died.
People remarked that they did not hear a tornado siren. It is so hard to make people responsible for their own safety. Sirens often fail due to preceding events. You may not hear them due to high winds or heavy rain or hail. A weather radio or having your cell phone (not available to people during that time in history). It is important to keep an eye on the weather and not wait for a warning to take cover.
When I was growing up, the only time that my mother screamed for us to get into the basement was during a severe thunderstorm with winds that may well have been a tornadic storm by the path of damage. My mother had been keeping a weather eye out.
Florida, where my husband and I now live, has more tornadoes per square mile than any place in the country but they tend to be small tornadoes that pull up someone's screen lanai and blow a tree down and scatter the garbage can. BUT, we do sometimes get large, damaging tornadoes here primarily in the winter due to the same combinations of warm weather with both warm fronts and cold fronts just like they do up north.
I had never heard a tornado siren test here as we did in Iowa. I called to ask the county where the nearest tornado siren was, the county worker said," You must be from up north. We do not have tornado sirens as they would be going off all the time"!
My husband and I had to take shelter here in an interior closet here in Florida at 4:00 AM because of the weather. This was during the Storm of the Century in March 1993. There was a warning on the weather radio that woke us up from a sound sleep. We had some roof and lanai damage from 100 mph winds as well as hail damage. I bought my best friend a weather radio as he lives on the coast. They had a tornado in their area in the middle of the night, and I asked him if they took shelter. He told me that they turn the weather radio off at night because it bothers them." That was the whole point! Today, your cell phone can be set with weather warnings that may give you some lead time especially at night or if you are in a building without exterior vision.
Again, thanks for the great presentation.
Thank you, Carly (and Blaze.)
I was born and raised in Plainfield. I was 12 and in junior high. It happened the day before school was supposed to start. My older brothers were supposed to be at the high school, but, luckily, they decided to hang with friends around the mall in Joliet. My neighborhood was less then a quarter mile away. I remember it like yesterday. Thank you for doing this.
As a new mother of a 19 mo old and expecting a second, every time I hear of infant or child fatalities in particular in these situations, I just feel so utterly heartbroken. I can only imagine how devastated the parents would be and it makes me want to do more, for future generations to have more and more reliable warnings, protection, resources and structural security.. I don't even live in an tornado prone area but I feel like there has to be more that can be done to protect people. In the meantime, I share info and learn..
I had a college professor who went through this disaster. She was in high school at the time, and from what she told me, here's the key parts that I remember from her telling me:
- Her house was destroyed, and she had to *walk* home to find that out because there wasn't any way to find out.
-She had to graduate later if I recall correctly because of this tornado.
-When applying for college, she had to go through several hoops because the records at her high school had been destroyed.
My dad told me that at the time of the storm, he'd been doing deliveries as a semi-truck driver, and had seen the storm developing. He called to report how intense it was becoming but they blew him off. Shortly after, the tornado happened.
It’s crazy that a tornado of this strength went unnoticed but it makes sense because some of technology was outdated
That was not the problem tho. They had all the information necessary to call it, they just didn't. They tracked the supercell the entire time, they saw it drop multiple tornadoes. It was complete negligence.
Carly, I work at the Plainfield Historic Society, and if you're ever in the area I'd love to show you around; great video!
I remember this day like it was yesterday. I was living in Rockford at the time about an hour northeast off Des Plaines and that line of storms passed over use thankfully. I remember standing in my yard on what is easily the muggiest day I think I've ever experienced and I'm a southern raised native. I was watching these dark greenish low clouds race overhead. We had high wind and hail but luckily no tornado. I will never forget how as I watched the clouds travel off to the southeast the entire sky and I mean there entire field of view looked like water swirling down a drain. Having experienced a couple tornados in the past I knew someone was going to get smacked and sure enough it wasn't 30 minutes when reports started coming out that indeed several communities had been devastated by a strong tornado.
I was 6 years old when this happened i remember hearing the news about it on the radio, and on the television. Rest in peace all the victims.
Crazy how we take weather for granted. Even that derecho that went through Ontario Canada last month killed 10+ people.
I know this event took place in 1990 but even the 1999 tornado outbreak in my area was covered live like a damn formula one race, I’m glad we learned from this event and apply the knowledge and tech we have now to protect people in the path of these storms. 90% of people are oblivious to bad weather and pay zero attention to storms until they get a notification on their phone these days.
I remember this. I was 6 months pregnant on bed rest. I was watching WGN 9 on TV. I remember Tom Skilling breaking in to announce this storm. The storm just popped out of no where. This storm did not affect where I lived at but watched the coverage all evening. It was horrible.
jesus christ. Tom Skilling was on wgn way back in 1990? Crazy how long he's been working at the same station. (Tom Skilling is a national Chicagoland treasure and the best weather man)
I remember Skilling on WGN radio back in the 80’s
@@JoshuaCaseyhe has been on WGN since 1978 or 79.
I remember learning about in school today as it's the anniversary of this horrible event. My school was one of the places that was destroyed due to the tornado and it truly affected the town and still does to this day
here in the city of Chicago, I remember that day very well. it was a hot, and sticky day. that same storm system that brought that destructive Tornado to Plainfield. brought darkness across the city. but thank God, NO tornadoes...Illinois is in what they call Tornado Alley, being in the Middle of the Country.
Just saw this. I am surprised to hear Bill Curtis …. He has a GREAT reputation … and got his start watching the Topeka area hit where he lived. He had to fill in on local tv station and was so shocked by what had happened and turned his career into journalism and reporting. It is stunning to hear him in this instance. ???? Something is very strange. We lived in that area for over 25 years prior to 1990 … there were always warnings & sirens. Very strange indeed.
I lived up Rt 59 from Plainfield in Elgin. That was a devasting day.
best weather doc youtube channel of all time
Forgive me if this seems a little flippant given the gravity of the events described in this video, but I do have to say that I get chuckles from your cat moving around in the background. The "hmmm, should I lay here and sun myself? Why, yes, absolutely" thought process represents a welcome bit of light-hearted comic relief from the heavy subject matter. Well done, Carly's cat. :-)
Also well done, Carly, on the thorough treatment of the Plainfield tornado.
Also I want to say thank you for covering it,, It is often greatly overlooked, And the real reality is It happened A-day before school started backup and it destroyed our high school, If it hit just A-day later it could have been but I've been the deadliest tornado, If it hit Today in the same path on a school day it would a 100% be the deadliest tornado maybe even one of the deadliest disasters
I actually never heard of this twister until I listened to this video and I live not very far from this town. I asked my mother about and found out that her uncle apparently lost his entire company during this event.
I love your videos, keep up the good work!
This is absolutely horrifying! But you did a terrific job explaining how everything occurred.
What a shame,I remember reading about this after it happened.I use that radar scope app and am always watching for rotation when severe storms are in the area.Good thing to have just in case something is missed or something changes rapidly.
I hope you are rewarded for these videos, they are awesome and better than anything else on you tube or TV
Hey! I’ve had an interest in tornadoes since I first heard about them. I’ve never been in one but I’ve been in Tornado Warnings before and it is scary. I think its interesting how tornadoes form, but the destruction they can cause is very sad. We’re in hurricane season now and sometimes tornadoes get spawned out of hurricanes.
Where I live, eastern North Carolina, we have many years where we get more tornadoes from tropical systems or their remnants than we get from rotating thunderstorms. Fortunately, we don't get many twisters here, but we do get hurricanes.
I was 9 years old at the time and living in the far south side of Chicago. I definitely remember that day, the first time a tornado hit so close to my house in my very young memory. Even in my part of Chicago the skies were horrible that day. There was a greenish tint at one point. I also remember being a little afraid of going to school in the fall (CPS started after Labor Day) and afraid of my older brother going back to school due to the high school being hit.
The wonderful Bill Curtis. Did you know he got his start as a journalist when Topeka was hit by a tornado and nearly lost his family. This happened in the 60s.
You really begin to notice how talking heads constantly gaslight the public when your own ox gets gored.
I appreciate how you approach these stories with such integrity and compassion.
Moved to Plainfield in 2000 as a kid. My childhood home would have been right in the path of the tornado. Always surreal to watch stuff like this. Plainfield Central eventually got rebuilt, but there was always the story of the old school.
I was about 30 miles north on a scaffold building a chimney. We could see the very dark skies south of us. Saw the damage on the news that night.
Such a great video! Seeing the media victim blame about a tornado is a first for me. Hopefully the last, as well ❤️
The same thing happened with Joplin. The media said they did not heed the warning. I can say it's not the peoples fault for what happened in Joplin. What could go wrong with the Joplin tornado did go wrong.
@@Sj430 that’s so sad that a narrative that evil has happened once, much less more than that. I can’t imagine going to such lengths as essentially calling victims ‘dumb’ instead of just owning up and being better
@@Amber-pp5kiThank you for calling it as it is! Evil!! Just straight up EVIL. It seems deliberate to me.
@@dianefarley37 NO ACCOUNTABILITY culture in government must change, one way or another.
@@robertitalia4272 Yes!! Why in HE double hockey sticks are they tracking storms and other weather, if not to warn the public in emergencies?! 😡
Great video Beautiful.. I was 10 back then.. kinda nostalgic. Subscribed 👍
I had just moved to the area when this tornado hit. While there were no sirens ahead of the storm, we heard constant sirens from ambulances and other emergency vehicles for the rest of the night. After seeing the destruction afterwards, I was terrified of storms for years and still watch weather very closely. I will never forget how terrifying it was.
Will you do a video on the mayfield tornado?
Yes, absolutely. I want to give a little more time for the "dust to settle" on that event. There are still pending investigations and lawsuits I'd like to see have some conclusion and I will absolutely do an in-depth video there. Thank you for asking!
@@carlyannawx okay, Thanks
First I want to say I can tell by how the light in the window went from bright sun to darkness that you put a lot of time just filming this let alone all the research and clip finding and editing that needed to be done. You are amazing for working so hard.
Second I was 6 living south of Joliet but my dad worked in Plainfield. When the sirens went off I was worried about my dad because I knew he usually got home around 4 so he would be driving at the time the warning happened. I had no idea that by that time it was already nearly over. I was so relieved when he came home. He said he never saw the tornado but saw a semi or parts of a semi in a ditch and other debris all over so he went a different way home. I now understand why they have the sirens go off on bad storms when there's not actually a tornado yet.
After watching this video I told my mom about how it wasn't warned until it was nearly over. She had no idea either.
It is crazy to me that I live in this area, drive on all of the roads seen in the video, frequent the areas devastated and never even knew about this occurring. Great video, I’m definitely going to ask some older family members if they remember this day and have any stories from it!
thanks for your information, i can listen to you all day
Hi Carly. While it is true that the NWS and SPC does do great work, they did drop the ball on that fateful day. It's is also my opinion that the lawsuit should have given a green light. I don't think it's right to give a sort of "Qualified Immunity" to these organizations when they get things wrong. And the Plainfield tragedy was so wrong. I also think the tornado warning given 21 minutes after Plainfield was the ultimate kick in the n*ts after the fact for Plainfield residents. It was like, "You wanted a warning? Here's your warning. Better late than never, right?"
I think I'm as angry as you are and I don't even live there!
Thank you for your comment, and I completely agree with you. It was really frustrating to watch this whole thing unfold, and perhaps the most frustrating part of all for me was watching the media coverage after the event. Thankfully, warning systems have improved ten-fold, but I really hate that this event even had to happen in the first place.
@@carlyannawx I think the concern with allowing these types of lawsuits would result in getting tornado watches and warnings so often to the point they would be ignored and useless. Good work on the documentary.
@@Hubbins99 that already happens. Nobody should get immunity from being sued. Nobody. Not government agencies especially!
"Qualified Immunity" as a whole is a terrible idea. No individual or organization should be immune from lawsuits just because they might be providing a public service.