The Tornado of 1976, West Bloomfield Township, Michigan
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- According to the National Weather Forecast Offices, the tornado took shape near Halstead between 13 and 14 mile Roads making it's way northeast toward the more populated area of West Bloomfield at the time. Cutting a path nearly four miles long, the girth of the tornado would later be estimated near 350-yards, or the length of 3 ½ football fields. Wind speeds from the tornado would later be calculated between 208-270 mph, determining its classification to be an EF4 on the Fujita scale and the strongest tornado to hit the area since 1950, a record it still holds 38-years later.
One of my sisters was working at the Ponderosa Steakhouse at the time it and remembers a co-worker shoving her into the walk-in fridge as the windows exploded. She had the car that day, and the tornado sand-blasted it and shoved it across the parking lot against the wall separating the parking lot from the grocery store behind it. I remember driving it home the next day, windshield wipers on but curled up into useless fists, and plenty of glass and debris covering the seats. My sister ended up walking home that night, trying to avoid downed live wires. My other sister was eating at The Sign of the Beefcarver at the same time when all the lights went out, but the customers there hadn't realized the cause of the power failure. I was home, having arrived home from shopping at the Southfield Korvette's store to purchase the album "Destroyer" recorded by the rock group Kiss. Talk about a coincidence! I have a few photos to remind me of what happened on that eventful day. At the time we were living on "little" Edinborough Drive in the Heather Heath subdivision.
My brother's girlfriend worked at Big Boys across the street...good thing she had a serving tray in her
hands to block the imploding glass from her face
ND
I was 8 when the tornado hit West Bloomfield and I still remember it.
Hearing Mr. Landry talk about the 'green glow'... I remember that shade of green. It's something I've only seen one time since the tornado and will never forget. And Mrs. Zager mentioning how quiet it was... and Mr. Martinez talking about the sound of a train. These are all things I clearly remember from that day.
And then the day after.. that was shocking to say the least. We lived in the apartments just north of Maple on Orchard Lake Road. Our little complex was fine but Nicholas Dr was right behind us, and Tamerlane. There were houses that were just gone with nothing but shredded lumber on the ground.
I remember the tornado took out a section of Shopping Center Market, but Efros Drugs right next door was fine.
Anyway, thank you so much for this.
Nice account Michael. It missed us, but remember hearing about the damage the next day. We got nailed by Hail and lost electricity but thankfully, no Tornado. I vaguely remember taking cover though in basement - was 7.5 yrs old. Definitely one of my scary memories.
We lived at 14/Mbelt. I remember the green glow also. Never seen it since and I live in "Tornado Alley" now.
My family lived about 5-6 miles out of the path of this monster. Where we were, the evening was so genially warm that, despite the relentless overcast, after dinner I went outside to soak in every last bit of the glorious warmth. A fidgety sort, not being disposed to just sit or stand around, I got a basketball out of the garage and was just bouncing it in the back yard, occasionally taking (and usually missing) an idle toss at the hoop. Then, through the utility wires that hung over the driveway and connected to the back of the house, I noticed maybe the strangest cloud activity I've ever seen. I stood there, holding the ball, watching these perfectly circular, transparent gray clouds, racing across the sky underneath the overcast layer. They were going different speeds and they were apparently at different heights over the ground, because they'd pass each other and overlap momentarily, making rapidly changing shades-of-gray Venn diagram patterns overhead. What in tarnation was going on!?!
I finally went inside when it was too dark to enjoy playing outside anymore, and it was right after that we heard the first news of a tornado in West Bloomfield. A short scramble ensued because my grandmother lived on 13 Mile Road, but she also seemed unaware that anything so troubling had just taken place.
We lived just northeast of the Orchard Lake/Maple intersection. At around 7:20pm, we were sitting at home watching television in our den when the power went off. We got up and went to the patio door window and saw the tornado behind our back neighbors house. My father yelled for us to head to the basement. He couldn't find my mother who had gone upstairs. We made it halfway down the steps when it was all over. We went outside as items were still falling. We had some wood framing that had embedded in out brick house and debris all over. I still have a few souvenirs from the day. So my neighbors house just south was generally untouched directly by the tornado, but the next house had it's north side ripped apart and the next 5 houses were destroyed. Some of the pictures in the story are nearly the same photos that I took that day. I know that because of the cars in the pictures. There was some heroism from a school friend who saved 2 children she was babysitting for by pulling them out of an upstairs bathtub and throwing herself on top of them at a stair landing just as the house was ripped apart. Her and the kids were blown clear while all that was left standing was a lower floor toilet. She received a presidential medal 4 or 5 years later from Reagan for her bravery. I was 16 and believe me, it's something I only wish to experience once.
I want to experience it zero times.
I was living in Pontiac when this happened. The neighborhoods bordered by Middlebelt to the east, Maple (15 mile) to the south and Orchard Lake Road to the west were heavily damaged and the trees were strewn with bedding and insulation. Now I know where all of those tires came from.
I remember this as a kid because my parents were buying a lot to build our home in Bloomfield Township. It was creepy for a kid.
I was going to have my 7th birthday party the next afternoon. My parents were minutes from going to pick up the baby sitter & go out. I was at the back window mesmerized by the craziest lightning I ever saw...to the extent that I was drawing it. Big blue-green explosion, darkness. My father yelling at us to get in the basement. Our dog was sucked out the back window (miraculously came back). Sergio, the foreign exchange student, dove into the fireplace & was knocked out. The birthday party was canceled...but a bunch of people showed up; drove the thru the debris to make sure it was on or off. Crazy Night & the next few months. 6375 Buxton Ct.
I was working at Fire Sta #1 that night. This brings back real memories.
I remember that tornado, it didn’t come close to my house, but A friend of mine lost his home. I think back in the 70s most of us weren’t so familiar with severely active weather like a tornado. It was horrible and a lot of sorrow and sadness.
I know that the tornado did not come close to my home, but it did have a effect on me personally. I think you know?....Yep, Dad
If I may take a moment..... I love you Dad. I miss you more every day this one is for you/. 🧡 Orange for the other team. 💚 Green for your team. 💜 Purple, my favorite color for the team who loves and miss you the most. I can.t wait to see you again.. 👼🏻
I was just naïve goofy teenager at the time, emotions and understanding of the devastation and The tolls it put on so many families.
He worked a lot of hours and did a few activities, so seeing him made it even more of a bond which made me miss him more. I know it sounds selfish, I was a kid now that I’m grown up I have learned what is priority and the importance of others in need.
The one that tornado did teach, was I will never forget, I think that he showed me, no matter how your life is at the moment, In a couple of days he took me into the area where the tornado hit down to show me the importance of others feelings. A intelligent man I’m sorry that we were left minimal time for him to teach me to much more.
On the behalf of my Family I personally would like to thank the first responders ,volunteers people helping in anyway they can. Most of all I would like to Thank those who were hit by the tornado for your patience and your understanding and even help to rebuild your Community. 🏫🏚🏡🏢.
@@Pj-kb7yj You're one of God's messengers, whether you believe in Him or not, and you can teach so many more people the importance of and the distinction between selfishness and self preservation. You know the difference between having life and having a life. You also realize that it's not things that make a great life but people, and the choices we make have a direct impact and an indirect impact on others. God Bless you and your family! As a Greek Orthodox Christian, I have learned more and more how important accountability is in life, and honesty is the most important characteristic that a person demonstrates. Along with that, gratitude, love and respect for others build that character.
Talking about a blast in the past no pun intended very difficult to watch remember that night as for Gods messenger not really quite sure supposed to do with this my life has been crap I don’t think God messenger wants to hear that, I just thought it was kind of strange to see the video again because every time it pops up my dads name is in there paper. and even though he’s been down for a very long time it was my best friend and I miss him so I’m really not quite sure what kind of a messenger I am I don’t even know why am here. The only thing I can think of is a balance in the world like a scale, or are you have a person that has everything in the world loves her job their family nothing going wrong well there’s always something wrong but you get the gist of it I think I am on the other side of the scale to make it bounce between good and bad , evil four positive I can’t go on hikes it’s so upsetting to me to see you his name and the paver but thanks for thinking of me.
I lived at Lone Pine and Middlebelt on Walnut Lake where the twister lifted......the damage was horrible.......all down Middlebelt State Troopers blocked every exit and there were what are now multi million dollar homes in these neighborhoods.....
March 1976 holds the record for most confirmed tornadoes nationwide during the month of March. We had multiple tornadoes on multiple severe days in Indiana that year as well.
I remember that night. Being near Cranbrook and Lincoln, Seaholm High School, and hearing on the news about an extremely severe thunderstorm on radar at 654 pm near Halstead and S of 14 mile about 1/2 a mile headed NE at 12-14 mph. At 736 pm, the storm cells energy moved S and the direction of the storm itself changed to the East just North of Knollwood Country Club, then towards the E, in a small arc, however after about 12 minutes, it fissled back up into the clouds east of Inkster between Quarton and Walnut Lake Rd. Then was just still a very severe thunderstorm, curving now ESE towards the Nothern edge of the North Course of Oakland Hills Country Club leaving a trail of straight line wind and hail damage as it continued ESE and came into Birmingham with just wind and heavy rain and the freaky lightning. Then it totally fell apart to the east in Troy, while left over energy from it continued to move NE, with another Tornado, though much smaller, developed in Macomb County near Shelby Charter Township Van Dyke and 22 mi Rd area. Then finally dissipated. Strange how the main thunderstorm with the big F4 tornado moved in a curved arc from NE to E, then SE, dissipating into a severe thunderstorm again, while the main energy moved NE, producing another small F2 tornado. So while the Amin storm cell move SE, that bad energy moved on in a straight line NE. I remember near Lincoln and Cranbrook, closer to Maple the freaky but beautiful lightning and then high winds and some pea sized hail. That was at 742 pm. By 755, it was just a nice mild steady rain and calm. We drove out the next day and could not believe our eyes. Then we heard about th epower of it, and saw a helicopters view of its path and several meteorologists put it all together. Thankfully it did not kill many and lasted only 10-12 minutes, because ha dit kept going, Birmingham was in its sights. It was dark by 715 too, anyway. It was eerily calm before hand too. Being only 10 it was scary. I remember another storm in the early 70's that was intense, saw a few trees go flying by, but never heard of a tornado or anything back then. That was Southfield and Lincoln Rd.
My grandmother was working at a laundromat near Walled Lake during this tornado. I think she said something about the building being severely damaged, but the clothes she had been folding were still in a neat pile.
Excellent report. Thanks for posting. That was a very powerful tornado, and considering that the intersection of 15 Mile Road (Maple) and Orchard Lake Road was a busy one, it is a miracle that only one person died. I, along with my brother and a friend, were some of the tornado "sightseers" and we arrived at that intersection probably a half hour after the first news reports of the tornado touchdown. I lived in Birmingham at the time and while driving west, the first odd thing we noticed were the shrieking calls of thousands of Chorus frogs coming from the swampy fields as we approached West Bloomfield. It was an incredibly loud noise, and I suspected the frogs were distressed from the sudden drop in air pressure from the storm. In the neighborhood behind the Shell station, or the southeast corner of that area, a downed power line had ignited a tree, and it was still burning as we passed by. The upside down Winnebago that you see at 8:14 was actually inside the lobby of the Detroit Bank and Trust behind the Shell station. Later photos of the Winnebago were taken after it had been pulled out of the lobby.
I live near Pontiac Trail.... I didn't know there was even a tornado in West Bloomfield until now.
monstertruck611 I love on Pontiac Trail, but I never new about it.
My Father and Brother were in the Bloomfield Canopy at the time of the tornado.
I believe that was my Grandmother's restaurant. Anna Stratton. Every now and then, people mention it fondly. Been trying to find more information about it.
I lived in Deerfield Village, Maple and Middlebelt. I was babysitting Neighbor’s when the power went out. Scary now.
I was 12 and was home with my 10 year old brother alone. We lived in Franklin Valley subdivision. My older brother came in and told us about the tornado. He had been over that way where it hit. I thought he was playing a joke on me, so I picked up the phone to call my parents, and it was like a party line. The phones weren't working, but if you lived in our sub, you could just pick up the phone and talk to people that saw it, and it was bad. Real bad.
F4 on the Fujita scale. EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
Yes. E stands for "emotional." It hit a populated place. Hence, lots of feelings so it gets bumped up a number or 2. Hence the E added to F. I believe F3 was the original rating. Substantial damage to substantial homes. 5 requires stuff swept completely away. Maybe a F4 in spots.
WOW!! A F4 THAT IS SUPER RARE AND VIOLENT!!😱😧
Fujita rated it F3. When did they change it?
I remember...Lived on Walnut Lake, Putnam Dr. between the old Fire station and Sub one...No power for several days
ND
I dont live in a state that has a lot of tornados,although the last few yrs its picked up the pace!!but whenever there are thunderstorm warnings i keep my eyes and ears on alert,always a possibility,especially when u have them hot,sticky,calm days
Texas has had and does have tornadoes f5 in December
I live in Wixom road so I was near a family known as the family members Kaylee Emma I can't say the rest because I forgot theire names but no tornado in my life...
200mph is an EF5 260mph 320mph was considered an F5 back in the day.
After lifting it touched down many miles northeast, in Lenox Township. Hit my ex-sister-in-laws house on 27 Mile Rd. near North Avenue. They weren't home at the time.
Thats a pretty sad civil defense/tornado siren
I was there
please please remove the music it is unnecessary distracts from what the people are saying.