(Plain Press May 2024) This up-coming June 8, 2024, will be the 71st anniversary of an F-3 tornado that cut through Cleveland’s West Side. 1953 was a unique year for record size tornadoes that killed hundreds across the United States. These monsters devastated major cities like Waco, Texas, Flint, Michigan and Worcester, Massachusetts. Except for maybe coming across photos of a twister in a book or seeing one in a video, most Cleveland residents have never witnessed an actual tornado before. So, on June 8^th, 1953, around 9 PM in the evening, when a tornado warning came over the radio and television airwaves, the majority of Clevelanders did not know how to respond.

   To make matters worse, a Cleveland TV network refused to interrupt the number one watched television show in America, “I Love Lucy”, in order to notify its viewers about the approaching twister. It wasn’t until the electricity went out in the city that people began to take notice that something out of the ordinary was taking place. However, by that time, it was too late. As the super-cell moved over the city, it began pelting the Cleveland’s West Side neighborhoods with softball-size hail, damaging automobiles bodies and smashing out windshields. Then an eerie silence settled over the neighborhoods as the twister approached, sucking off roofs and twisting 100-year-old trees out of the ground and casting them into the streets.

   This system produced several twisters earlier in the day in Western Ohio as it slowly moved northeast towards Cleveland. Air traffic controllers originally spotted the twister over the runways at Hopkins Airport. They watched in amazement as the funnel moved over the City of Linndale towards Cleveland. The tornado then touched down in a new development between West 130 and West 117 Streets, sweeping away whole neighborhoods, including sucking an infant out of its crib and out through the bedroom window.

   The next day, it was reported in the newspapers that these newer homes were not properly bolted down to the foundation by the builders, leaving them susceptible to strong up-lifting winds. The Twister then continued towards West 58 Street, where it damaged many houses and flattened garages. After whirling down Franklin Ave. the twister crossed over the Cuyahoga River and into the downtown area, crashing into a charity festival on Vincent Avenue.

   Eventually, the tornado dissipated over Lake Erie after exiting the city near East 55 Street. The following day, that same storm system produced another tornado that killed close to 100 people in Worcester, Massachusetts. What’s also interesting about 1953 is that there was an increase of nuclear testing in the Nevada Desert. Some officials even went on record, saying that they believed that this increase of testing caused some of these giant twisters hitting major cities that year.

   A documentary about this Cleveland Tornado will air on Spectrum, Channel 1025, (Cleveland Community Access Corporation) Mondays at 9:PM and Cox Cable on Channel 45 Fridays at 8PM. For more information Call: 440 888-8327 or Email: Kevin@shockerenterprises.com

The newspaper clippings are from “The Cleveland Press”

The one with the twister was captured in Vermillion, Ohio that same day and was believed to be the same twister that struck Cleveland.