1985 Tornado

If you are from the Youngstown Ohio area you probably remember where the tornado of 1985 went through. The pictures below are in Niles Ohio known as “Top O’ The Strip.” I took these pictures the day after the tornado. Long live the Gorilla!

For additional Pictures and links check out James Bruner’s site at:

http://1985tornado.tripod.com

A letter from my father who took these pictures....He is speaking of the above red car.

The car is on the west side of rt. 422. There is a plaza there now. The car is about 100 feet from the intersection of 422 and Niles Vienna road. It was very close to where the roller skating rink you worked at. The roller skating rink was taken down to the concrete by the tornado. Nobody would have survived. There is a AAA auto club agency where the roller rink was today. There used to be a gas station at the corner of rt 422 and Niles vienna road and there was a car there when the tornado struck. The tornado sucked the man out of the car but left the bottom half of him still fastened in the seat belt. I don't know if it was this particular red car or not. Your mom and I were in Columbus for the state track meet when the tornado struck. When it first happened all we knew was Niles was hit by the tornado. People were trying to call relatives here but a lot of the phone lines were down. Finally we got word that McDonald was not hit by te tornado. By the way they found the person's wallet in his pants in the car. It ripped him in half but left the wallet in his pants. Go figure.
 

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