1947-06-07 Mercer Tornado скачать в хорошем качестве

1947-06-07 Mercer Tornado

These 8mm movies were taken by my dad, Dick Hoffman, probably the day after the tornado, showing a great deal of damage and many workers and sightseers. The roofer in the opening shot is repairing the roof of the family home at 459 North Pitt Street. An excerpt from my mother Betty Dillon Hoffman's unpublished memoir: The Tornado in Mercer How well I remember that! It occurred two weeks to the day after Tom was born — Saturday, June 7th, 1947. We had been home from the hospital just since Wednesday or Thursday and I was not yet permitted to go up and down stairs. Grandma Hoffman was staying with us for a few days. I remember little of the onset of the storm, but I well remember at the height of it looking out one of the three windows in the bedroom (the west one) and seeing debris flying through the air. We had Tom’s crib in our room, in front of the south window, in order to let grandma Hoffman have the bedroom which eventually became his (planned that way). There was a cedar chest at the foot of our bed. I was so frightened that Tom was going to be killed. Taking him out of his crib, I sat down on top of the cedar chest and prayed. It’s not possible to put into words the emotions I was experiencing. Even though it was a Saturday, your dad was at work in Grove City. My dad, your grandfather Dillon, was at the house, though. We lost a front-yard tree, our front porch steps, some porch roofing; and a bedroom chair in front of the west window in grandma Hoffman’s room got soaked because there hadn’t been time to close the window. Damage and devastation in the neighborhood were much more extensive, however. Part of a brick gasoline station just a few feet down the road was partially destroyed, along with trees, etc., in the whole area. We were fortunate. Why? I don’t know. But that one experience was enough to last a lifetime. God was good to us. And above all, He spared Tom!