Lesa Taylor DeVond

Tornado
March 2024

THE XENIA TORNADO

On April 3, 1974, I was 15 years old in the 10th grade at Xenia High School in Xenia,
OH. It was just like any other school day. It started raining about noon and we thought
track practice would be cancelled. Sever weather watches and warnings had been on
local television all day. When school ended, the sun was shining high and bright. The
high school was located across from Shawnee Park at the time, and we needed to walk
to Cox Field for track practice. The closer we were to the field, the darker the sky
turned. By the time we arrived at Cox Field, our coach, Ms. Norma Pavlovic said, “Go
home, there is a storm coming.” Well, storm to us meant thunder, lightning, rain, no big
deal. As we walked across the field to enter a nearby store to use the phone to call
mom for a ride, I had an eerie feeling something was behind me. I turned around and
said, “look, a tornado is coming.” By this time, we ran to the nearby Sears Appliance
store, and I told my brother to go inside to call mom and tell her a tornado was coming.
Meanwhile, I was mesmerized as I watched the tornado. It was a brilliant deep sky
blue, perfect funnel shape. It was making an eerie but sweet screeching sound as it
whipped around in the middle of US 35 highway coming toward Xenia. Then…it split
into 2 funnel shaped tornados. They were whipping around crossing each other,
forming one and then splitting again. Lightning bolts were coming from it from the
ground up. (no one believes me on this). Finally, I watched it as it came closer and
destroyed the newly built Long John Silver’s restaurant. Suddenly, there was a huge
black mass right across the street from me with all kinds of debris swirling around in it. I
could not move. My brother and friend were inside Sears as I watched in amazement.
Suddenly, a gentleman pulled me by the arm and said, “we need to take cover.” He
pulled me into the store, and we all went to the back room. Employees, customers, my
brother, my friend, and I joined them as we ducked under some counters and held on to
each other. Just as we grabbed on to each other, the tornado was over the building.
We could not breathe, and the force of the wind was tilting us to the side. I looked out

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and saw all kinds of things floating through the air…adding machines, purses,
typewriters, paper, etc. It seemed like forever, but it was only seconds.

When the tornado had passed, we all got out from under the counters. There was no
roof on the building. Appliances were all over the store and we had to climb over them
to exit. It was incredibly quiet and very still. The sky was no longer dark and gray, but
sky blue. All of a sudden it rained so hard we were drenched. Then as suddenly as it
started it stopped. After the rain, the sky was lined with clouds that resembled a
scalloped edge on a linen dress. All of a sudden, the sounds started. Sirens, people
moaning and screaming, just chaos. We were about 10 or 11 blocks from home, so we
decided to make the journey up Main Street. We were stopped along the way many
times. We came across our next-door neighbor and his wife who were driving. We got
into the car as he was going home also. The place that now houses McDonald’s was a
Kroger store in 1974. A train was on the track during the tornado and fell on top of the
store preventing us from going any further by car. Walking along the track, we found a
place along the track where half of the train fell one way and the other half on the
opposite side. We climbed through the debris and continued our journey.

We saw many amazing things occur on our journey home. We had to be really careful
as there were downed power lines and dangerous debris all over. We were still many
blocks from home. By the time we reached McDonalds (where the current Ramada
hotel is) only the front counters remained exposing cash registers and of course cash.
We kept going. Just then, a police cruiser was passing on the street with a megaphone
urging everyone to take cover as more tornados were on the way. We went to the
Courthouse where people were nestled in the basement with a radio. I remember there
being about 20 or so people there huddled together on the floor. We were there for
hours at least until 9 or 10pm. Each time we tried to venture out, we were told to take
cover again. Soon some Red Cross volunteers came in and suggested we go to the
YMCA on Church Street where they had food. While walking there, a classmate said he
saw our mom’s car with all windows shattered sitting on flat tires, just demolished.

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Tornado
March 2024

Apparently, the tornado picked the car up and dropped it. Fear finally entered. As we
rushed to the YMCA, all we could think of was where mom was. Is she ok? As we
entered the YMCA, another tornado warning was issued. By then, we seriously heeded
the warnings. Each location/shelter we approached, we were told to sign-in in case we
had relatives looking for us, which we did. Our dad and older brother along with our
neighbor’s mother said they were out all evening in the rain and snow looking for us.
They had an adventure story of their own as well. While at the YMCA, we were able to
enjoy McDonald’s hamburgers and Hi-C orange drink. They also gave us a small kit to
clean ourselves up containing wipes. lotion, toothbrush, etc. We were at track practice
before the tornado hit, so we had shorts and t-shirts on and with no power, we were
cold. The Red Cross also provided blankets as it snowed later that evening. We were
thankful to be surrounded by so many helpful and caring people.

The remainder of the evening, we chatted with others who experienced devastation by
the tornado, sharing stories. Finally, around 1am, my dad came walking into the YMCA.
We ran to him and hugged him. He said, “lets go!” Dad was a no-nonsense person.
As we were walking home, there were no words spoken other than him telling us to be
careful not to step on the downed power lines and debris in the way. When we arrived
home, our close neighbors were in our basement because seemingly it was one of the
only basements around. We asked mom what happened to her. She said she jumped
in the car when she heard on Channel 7 the tornado was in Xenia. She was at the
traffic light in front of the YMCA and saw it coming. She got out of the car and tried to
enter Central Jr. high school which was locked. As she tried other doors, Mr. Golden,
the assistant principal, came out to assist. She said a little boy was riding his bike and
she led him along with Mr. Golden into a window well at the school. She said Mr.
Golden grabbed a piece of tin sheeting that fell into the well and covered them with it
just as a pile of bricks and debris came crashing in on them. Afterwards, she asked the
boy if he could get home ok and he said yes. To this day, we still do not know who he
was. She then looked at her car, realizing she could not drive it home and started
walking. She said she wondered why people were staring at her as she walked up the

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March 2024

street. She looked in the mirror and saw that her finely coiffed hairstyle was sticking
straight up in little twists all over her head (much like the styles worn today). Just a few
years ago, I asked mom what she said when my brother called her. She said he never
called, she instinctively ventured out to find us. For forty years I assumed they talked
and that is why she came looking for us.
My oldest brother just arrived home from CSU and watched the younger siblings while
mom set out to search for me and my brother. He stood at the front door and watched
as the tornado twisted its way up East Main street. He said it shifted before reaching
our house, lifted up and headed in the direction of route 42 towards Wilberforce. Dad
was driving home from Columbus in a university truck after picking up supplies. He said
he saw it, put the pedal to the metal but the truck would not move due to the force of the
wind. He said he parked down in a ditch until it passed over and then drove to campus
to retrieve his car. He was the chief engineer of the power plant and parked in front of
the building. A light pole had fallen on the roof of his car. He continued to rush home to
check on family when he heard a friend was hurt in the post office. He said he entered,
but he was buried under a wall and could not get to him. He said he talked to him for a
bit to let him know help would be there soon. It was not soon enough. His friend
perished in the post office as did around 40+ other citizens. When he came home and
discovered my brother and I were out in the City, my brother, neighbor, and he began
their journey to find us. Our family was so blessed that we did not experience any loss
of life or loved ones. While there is much more to this story such as life before and the
first 21 days after the tornado and completing the 1973-1974 school year, I store those
thoughts in my internal memory bank. This was the story of “that” day.

REFLECTION
One of the most pivotal realizations I gained from the 1974 tornado experience was the
innate ability for survival that can awaken even in teens when faced with calamity. At
the age of 15, amidst the chaos, we discovered within ourselves a resilience and
forward-thinking mindset that rivaled, if not surpassed, that of many adults at that time.
Reflecting on the ordeal, I have come to understand it as a test that made me into a

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March 2024

stronger individual. Overcoming what is now recognized as PTSD, expressed through

recurring tornado nightmares, such as running downstairs at home under the belief a
tornado pursued me, was a testament to my inner strength. With the passage of time,
those thoughts and nightmares have diminished; it has been fifty years. I find comfort
and healing in sharing my story, hoping to impart even a small nugget of wisdom that
might help others in navigating the aftermath of a catastrophic weather event.
XENIA LIVES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Lesa Taylor DeVond, EdD