The Vault: The 1974 Tornado Outbreak that Impacted Kentucky & Indiana

WHAS11's Joe Federle and Doug Proffitt take you back in time to when one of the deadliest tornados hit Kentucky.


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#tornado #1974 #kentucky

[bellatitanictinker]

Kudos to WHAS for saving the tornado footage from April 3, 1974. ❤

[saintsfan]

Gentlemen, this is beyond amazing. Thank you for finding this and letting us see this. 50 years is definitely a milestone for this event.

[stargazer]

This was the same storm system that also devastated Xenia Ohio. What a terrible day...

[Johnnykgb-nsa]

Great footage and reporting by the late Ken Rowland and Dick Gilbert. Thank you WHAS for saving and showing this film footage.

[TB]

I was almost 8 years old living in Bullitt County. Overdale Elementary School sent us that lived in walking distance home. They told us to run straight to our houses. My parents were not home. I stayed in the basement inside a homemade brick bar. Tried to be brave. Lol. We did not have damage but I do remember the water shortages and then having to boil water for what seemed like a week or more.
Thank you for releasing this.

[styles]

Being originally from Louisville, Ky. I remember when it happened. There was a book called April 3, 1974, as well. There was so much destruction on that day. A curfew was issued by the city. Billboard signs completely bent in half by the Fairgrounds. It's hard to believe it's has been 50 years.

[prissypants]

It's tornado season now. We live in Oldham Co, KY. I hope we can all be safe this year

[madpax]

Thank you so much for this special! It means a lot for those who lived through and remember. I really appreciate it.

[GottaWannaDance]

Ive been looking for this for quite some time. Thank You !!!

[russelldarnell]

I was 3 but lived in western Ky which dodged any tornadoes however we had a bad hail storm with stones being grapefruit size. Dad saved a few in the freezer afterwards. I remember mom carrying me going down to my grandparents since they had a basement-it busted several of the windows out in our trailer.

[juliewatson]

I was in elementary school and we had to go in the hallway. Couldn’t go home

[soonerwhirle]

Decatur County Indiana was in one of the tornadoes path. It was an unreal afternoon and evening.

[WendellBurkhart-gv]

I was 9 years old but I don't remember this happening.

[robertarnold]

I remember it so well I was 25 driving a S&T hardware truck down Bardstown road. And Eastern Parkway the damage was shocking

[ramann]

I was 5 years old and we sheltered in a church basement on 17th and Chestnut, I was playing with blocks. I will never forget that day.

[timme]

I lived/llive in far S. Illinois at that time and remember this outbreak very well. It was just a few short days before my 7th birthday. My family lived out in the country on a farm in a house with no basement. The weather started turning real bad and i remember my Dad coming in and telling our Mom who was starting dinner to shut everything down and get us kids in the car we were going over to my grandparent's house(they had a basement) just a couple miles down the road. We didn't have a tornado but the winds got bad enough to blow some trees down one of which was across our driveway and it blew our TV antennae down! I distinctly remember how cold it turned after that storm and for several days it stayed cold and gloomy including my birthday lol. Man I'm getting old lol!

[khxrilj]

I lived through that day. I was the Secretary at Audubon Baptist Church.

[ralphneal]

I was 15 years old when these tornados hit in North Alabama ! I remember channel 19 News (CBS ) and H. D. Bagley talking about the Weather that night !! I’ll Never Forget That Night !!!

[dougedwards]

I was 4 yrs old, , , my grandparents lived in Hanover Indiana in a ranch style brick home near s.w. high-school. It tore the soffit off the house an the low pressure in the area sucked all the insulation out of the ceiling. It also tore up Clifty power house, , , we live in Switzerland county Indiana up river a good way, , , it tore alot of woods, a feed mill and alot of homes, , , remember taking a ride with my parents next morning. It was devastation everywhere

[johnshields]

I was 14 that year, we had heard on the news but being from the Boston we didn't know first hand, but the news back then was slow and intermittent.