West Virginia University - Monticola Yearbook (Morgantown, WV)

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m JL ,t+ ' Tornados Take U For a Tumble Hey, what happened to that big tree that was in front of E. Moore? I ' m not sure, but the old Christmas tree is gone, tool Those landmarks did not just disappear during the summer. Mother Nature reared her mighty head in the form of two tornados and removed hundreds of years of existence in a split second. Not only were trees destroyed, but much more devastation occurred June 16, 1982. It came quickly with no warning as the sky turned an eerie grayish- green, and the temperature dropped dramatically. About 5:30 p.m. the wind and rain made their way out of the west. Deroofed and disarrayed, the Sigma Phi Epsilon house stands as proof of nature ' s awesome power. With them came two tornados which cut paths across the Monongahela River and into town. Moving in two directions, the twisters left all they touched in disarray. As quickly as it began, the storm was over, and the locals began to estimate the damage it left behind. One of the tornados traveled through campus, uprooting trees, knocking down power lines, and ripping roofs off the Sigma Phi Epsilon house and the Bicentennial House on the Mileground. Its path followed the river, cut into the downtown campus, continued up Falling Run Road, and ended at the Mileground. The second tornado tore through Westover, across the river, through the downtown area toward South Park. It then headed up Hartman Run Road and stopped near the Mileground. This tornado uprooted a tree in Woodland Terrace, crushing a mobile home and killing a nine-month-old child. It also destroyed the roof of Fox Automotive, blew out windows in several businesses, severed power lines and blocked streets with debris. Luckily neither tornado touched down completely, but the damage the storm created will not be easily forgotten by locals and summer school students who were here that Wednesday afternoon. — Terri Weimer r-Cr;f ' : 1 B.v r- ■ % :.i:i 10 Tornado

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Student Life 9

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Lone observer, Andy Railing checks out the tree debris scattered around Woodburn Circle. After crossing the Mon River, one of the tornados hit Fox Automotive with enough force to remove half the roof. Damage surveys take place at Friday ' s after one twister struck the downtown area. One of the oldest trees on campus lies totally uprooted in front of E. Moore Hall. Tornado 1 1