The Charles City Tornado On the afternoon of May 15, 1968, an F5 tornado moved through Butler, Chickasaw, Floyd, Franklin, and Howard Counties in northeast Iowa. The tornado moved northeast from north of Hansell, passing east of Aredale, west of Greene, east of Marble Rock, and devastating Charles City (Fig. 2).
The tornado grew larger and more intense as it approached Charles City (Fig. 1), striking the city at approximately 4:50 p.m. The huge tornado passed directly through town, destroying 337 homes and 1250 vehicles, and causing about $30 million in damage. Ironically, the tornado damaged 8 churches in town, but left the bars standing. Debris from Charles City was found as far away as LeRoy, Minnesota, nearly 35 miles to the north.
[Above text from Iowa History Project on IAGenWeb] |
Charles City Deaths
The following is a list of the individuals who died as a result of the May 15, 1968 tornado which struck Charles City and vicinity. 1. Murray Loomer 2. Sadie (Mrs. Raymond) Chambers 3. Harry Hall 4. Arthur Jacobs
5. August Merten
6. May (Mrs. James) Gault 7. Lela (Mrs. Carl) Wolff 8. Florine (Mrs. Leland) Leach, 55 9. Tom Hall, 16 10. Marie Greenlees
11. John Kneisel
12. Minnie (Mrs. John) Kneisel
13. Robert Stotts, 22 (U.N.I. student; not from Charles City) 14. Mrs. Virval Dawson, 45 RE: Iowa City Press-Citizen Iowa 1968-05-16 |
NOTE: The Charles City Press has a Blog, where people can
enter comments and life experiences regarding the tornado.
Many of the comments entered there are interesting to read.