1974 Tornado Outbreak - Interviews

This video documents the stories of several people who were personally impacted by tornado outbreak of April 3rd, 1974. These interviews focus on events that occurred along the Cumberland Plateau in the eastern portion of Middle Tennessee...mainly in Putnam and Fentress Counties.

[sonjasmith]

I lived in Moulton AL during the '74 tornadoes. I was 6 yrs old. It was a bright, sunny day. I was with my parents at a restaurant eating dinner when suddenly the sky starting getting dark and the wind starting blowing and we heard sirens going what seemed like everywhere. We drove home. We didn't have any electricity and sat there in the dark listening to the storm, not knowing where it was or what was really going on. My brother was 14, and had been somewhere else while we were at the restaurant, so my parents didn't know where he was until the storm was over and he came home. We drove around the next day, and that was the first time I had ever seen the damage a tornado could do. I remember it all vividly. Thankfully, my brother was trying to get home and two elderly women yelled for him to come in their house and he stayed with them through the storm. We got very lucky to have survived unscathed. We had two tornadoes touch down in our town that night. 16 people were killed and many lost their homes and cars or were injured. My parents had no idea that night, but my older siblings were also in danger where they lived in TN and KY.

[dougbadgley]

I think Tennessee gets overlooked when it comes to the Super Outbreak.

[Rita-ywtn]

My Aunt was killed in the April 3, 1974 tornadoes it was so horrible I’ll never forget it . They were laying on the floor and thought that it was over but they were in the eye of two tornadoes that had met together and when they stood up their home exploded it was really bad .