Outside Looking In

It seems hard to believe for those involved, but the iconic Tracy tornado that killed nine people happened 55 years ago on June 13.
It's not an anniversary many of us want to celebrate, nor remember, but it's something that is indelibly engrained in our memory bank.
The tornado is one of only two F5 (they are now classified in an EF format that differs from the original) tornadoes ever recorded in Minnesota history that were fully contained within the state. There was a third F5 tornado that began in Fargo, ND, in 1957 but by the time it had reached neighboring Moorhead, it had begun to dissipate.
The other recorded F5 tornado in Minnesota occurred on June 16, 1992, One woman was killed in that storm.
The Tracy tornado winds were estimated at just over 300 miles per hour, enough to toss a 25-ton boxcar two blocks in the air, which happened here.
The day started out sweltering hot and humid. Weather reports weren't nearly as sophisticated or readily available back then as they are now. Most townspeople were happy to hear there was a thunderstorm coming to quench the landscape's must-needed thirst and to get some relief from the heat.
Just before 7 p.m., a farm family who lived southwest of town got a first-hand look at the monstrous twister headed toward Tracy and called into the civil defense director to sound the alarm.
The tornado cut a path through the center of town, killing nine and injuring over 150 others. It left debris piled up like snowdrifts everywhere within the path.
Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged in town, which was then around 2,500 people, as well as several farms south and north of town.
The hospital was overflowing with injured coming in that night. Volunteer doctors, nurses, veterinarians, dentists and anyone with a medical background came from all over the area to help out.
None of the nine people that were killed were in their basement. Two women that were found dead had found refuge in the basement, but one wanted to get a look at the tornado and was swept away and found 200 yards away dead in a field. The other woman, despite the urging of her husband to stay in the basement, felt she had time to go upstairs to retrieve her purse. She was found dead halfway up the stairs.
One man tried to outrun the tornado in his vehicle and was found dead on a rock pile north of town, his vehicle located nearby was upside down.
Two elderly people in the southern section of town had no basement and held each other as they watched the tornado enter the city limits from their screen porch. The woman was found dead wrapped in a portion of the screening. The man survived with a broken back.
Others killed simply were unable to get into the basement for health reasons or simply had no place of safety to get to.
The youngest killed in the tornado was two-year-old Nancy Vlahos, who was in the process of being adopted by Clifford and Linda Vaske. Clifford was serving military duty in Washington when the tornado hit. Linda, unsure of what the siren was for, got a late start to the basement and was swept out the back door clutching the child in her arms. Visiting that day was Linda's 8-year-old sister, Pam.
The violent winds swept Pam and Linda out the back door before they were able to get to the basement door. Pam blew several hundred feet away and survived. Linda was knocked to the ground and the winds rolled her out to a picket fence where one of her ankles became lodged between two of the pickets and causing the little girl to be dislodged from her arms. Nancy's deceased body was later found by rescue workers several yards away on a street.
My father helped search for missing bodies that night. Our home was located a half-block away from the worst of the destruction, including the three-story elementary school which was completely destroyed. School had been dismissed for the summer only two weeks prior to the tornado or there likely would have been more deaths and/or injuries.
Initially, I went across the street with my father and saw the first two dead bodies I had ever seen. It's a scene that often uncontrollably replays in my head.
I went back home five years ago to coordinate the 50th anniversary of the tornado where a benefit was held. There was a silent auction, meals, entertainment, and more to raise money for nine scholarships for Tracy High School seniors in the name of the nine people killed that day. Each of the scholarship recipients received a plaque bearing a photo of the memorialized person, a story about the person, and a photo of the tornado.
I also decided to release nine black balloons that day as my former high school band director, Clint Peterson, sounded the church bell before each release. Tears flowed down the cheeks of many of the onlookers as the balloons drifted away.
Ever since that, I have traveled to Tracy on the anniversary of the tornado and tied black balloons to nine white crosses bearing the names of those killed at the memorial site along Highway 14. I released the balloons at 7 p.m., the approximate time the tornado hit town.
I hope to continue to release the balloons as long as I can as a tribute to those killed and the many people who volunteered their time and services to restore the town in the aftermath.
The book "Out of the Blue" about the Tracy tornado is available at the Mascot.