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Community Corner

The Storm of the Century

Oak Lawn Patch recounts the destructive effects of the infamous 1967 tornado.

Gripping the brim of his well-worn Chicago Cubs cap, a middle-aged man feebly tried to shield himself against the torrential downpour that had soaked him to the bone. Seeking momentary shelter under a park district pavilion near 95th Street and La Grange Road, he gazed up in horror to see the distinctive shape of a funnel cloud emerge. Speaking with reporters, hours after the cataclysmic storm, he recounted how “his ears popped, buildings shook, and cars in the nearby parking lot lifted off the ground”.

Although those fateful 16 minutes were a hectic blur for many Oak Lawn residents, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, located in Washington D.C., published a formative weather report, detailing the exact path of the cyclone.

What would come to be known as the Oak Lawn Tornado began as a series of heavy thunderstorms in Northeastern Kansas, spreading into Western Iowa on April 21, 1967. As smaller pockets of extreme weather converged, the open, flat plains of the Midwest provided an unencumbered path as the storm battered farmhouses and towns along the Illinois border. Wind speeds grew in intensity and quickly shifted further east. 

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Located directly in “Tornado Alley,” a geographic area stretching from Texas up to the Dakotas, meteorologists expected the storm to gradually dissipate as it moved through Southwest Illinois. With no clear plan in place warning residents living outside the Chicago land area, experts assumed that the storm would eventually diminish into light showers as it neared Will and Lake Counties. Nevertheless, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch at 1:50 p.m., stating, “the threat of a few tornados will exist from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. this evening”.

Despite these warnings, residents of Southland had become accustomed to such alerts, and paid them no attention. At 5:15p.m., the Weather Bureau in Chicago received frantic eyewitness reports of a developing funnel cloud just north of Joliet. The eye of the storm moved rapidly to the intersection of Route 53 and Naperville Road, ripping doors off homes and shattering all windows within a 5-block radius. Damage was relatively light, considering the growing power of the twister. Luckily, bystanders were able to seek shelter moments before the tornado hit.

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As the storm shifted direction yet again, an off-duty Weather Service employee reported a funnel cloud, nearly 500 feet wide, careening towards Southland. The sky turned an ominous hue of green as golf ball sized hail smashed car windshields and pelted fleeing onlookers. Housing developments and power lines were utterly decimated as the storm touched down near 109th Street in Palos Hills. From there, it rapidly advanced northeast across Roberts Road into Hickory Hills. By this early stage, the tornado’s path was as wide as an entire city block.

It smashed through the Starlite Drive-In in Chicago Ridge, completely bending over the massive screen and toppling power lines. Winds neared 70 miles per hour when the twister impacted two radio towers, moments before an official Civil Defense warning broadcast was to be aired. In a split second, with communication lines down a portion of the area, the storm, now at the peak of its ferocity, set its sights on Oak Lawn.

Shifting northeast, it barreled full-force towards Southwest Highway and 95th Street, one of the busiest intersections in town. Caught completely unaware, dozens of vehicles and commuters were helpless as their cars were thrown hundreds of feet into the air. Several motorists, seeing the oncoming funnel cloud, sped off in the opposite direction, but were tragically sucked back into the eye of the storm. It was here, amid residents stopped at a red light, which the greatest loss of life occurred on that fateful day.

Moving quickly, residents in Evergreen Park had less than 10 minutes to prepare as a warning arrived from the Weather Service office in downtown Chicago. Streets were emptied of people in an instant as families huddled in their basements. Steel and brick factories on the far south side of the city were heavily damaged as the storm approached the Chicago city limits.

Although strong winds continued to blow, the funnel cloud had all but disappeared at this point. The entire city had received ample warnings, and the Chicago Police and Fire Departments had forced the majority of citizens indoors.

At approximately 5:39 that evening, a mere 15 minutes after its first touch-down, the storm diminished over Lake Michigan. It left in its wake dozens of deaths and almost $55 million ($355 million in 2011 dollars) in damages to several communities. At the peak of the storm, its greatest width reached over 600 feet. Just one of seven tornados reported that day, the entire severe weather system stretched across the entire Southwest suburbs.

Despite initial skepticism of the size and scope of the tornado, the National Weather Service corrected their previous apprehension and issued warnings for much of the metropolitan area. As a result, thousands were able to seek cover well in advance of the storm. Sadly, these alerts did not reach Oak Lawn in time, which unjustly bore the heaviest burden of the afflicted towns, with 37 reported dead and over 1,000 wounded.

And when the clouds finally parted over the lake, the arduous and grim task of searching for loved ones amid heaps of rubble began.

Throughout the week Oak Lawn Patch will be observing the 44th anniversary of the devastating tornado of April 21, 1967, that not only put Oak Lawn on the map, but almost blew it off. This is the first of a four-part series.

Also visit the online photographic exhibit on the 1967 tornado, to whom Patch is grateful for the assistance of local history coordinator Kevin Korst.

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