Hurricane Mississippi Tornado 1971 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, I found a tornado to be a mobile destructive vortex of violently rotating winds, having the appearance of a funnel shaped cloud, and advancing beneath a large storm system. "Tornado” ( Oxford English Dictionary) In February 1971 the Hurricane School was destroyed by a winter tornado. A winter tornado is more destructive due to them seeming to be a thunder storm although a tornado. Although a tornado can be life threatening and cause destruction, the aftermath can result in bringing a community together.
On February 21, 1971 three primary killer tornadoes began late that balmy Sunday afternoon: The air was so humid my mother and her cousin talk about when you
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My mother and her cousin like to reminisce about the night that the lights went out in Hurricane. Old tales about 17-25 in a small storm house that normally held 6-8 people became packed as the ominous skies foretold the approaching disaster. Our cousins at the epicenter of the storm had tied a rope on the door. It took six grown men to keep the door from being sucked out by the vortex. Now two community storm houses are located at Hurricane Baptist and the fire department near the old school grounds. Last February, Marty Russell guest editor of the Daily Journal “commented on the 1971 storm. Hurricane was aptly named the community during that unfortunate encounter with the 1971 killer storm.” .(Daily Journal) Life still goes on in Hurricane, but February 21, 1971 will always be remembered by my cousin’s family as their home became the command center for MODT, Northeast Power of Oxford, and the MHP also Civil Defense gathered for use of their telephone to report the storm. The landscape in Hurricane has been changed forever due to the loss of those community buildings and due to the loss of the stately oak trees that once stood on the old school and the old church