The Howe Video Production classes are documenting stories about the F4 Tornado that devastated the town of Howe and Reichert on May 5, 1961. The students were recently featured in a cover story of the Poteau Daily News. As a result of the article, I have received numerous emails and phone calls. You can read or hear excerpts from the conversations below. Please ask your friends or relatives to submit their stories also. We will use these accounts to help in the creation of our documentary due to be finished this Spring. We also need pictures of the destruction. Please email your information via the link to the right or by mail at Howe Public Schools, c/o Tornado Project, P.O. Box 259, Howe, OK 74940.
(The pictures on this site are NOT from the Howe Tornado.
Friday, February 1, 2008
A Monroe perspective
On May 5, 1961 was a day the residents of Howe will never forget and can still remember the time and place they were
when the tornado hit.
I grew up in Monroe area but moved to Howe and Graduated from Howe High School in 1960. Howe is such a peaceful
little town you knew almost everyone by
Friday, May 4, 2007
Pausing to remember
I was reviewing your web site an saw the information people from Howe had submitted about the tornado that stuck on May 5, 1961. I was born and raised at Howe and was 12 years old when the tornado hit. On that particular day a friend (Nicky Jennings) and I were playing ball on the school ground
January 25, 2006
Beds for the injured
Note: The following story was submitted by Jay P. Dalley, 86 of Caney, KS.
I was manger of the Poteau Chamber of Commerce at the time of the Howe tornado. When I heard the news of the tornado, I checked with the Poteau Hospital and found they were short on beds for the injured. I called Radio
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
It Struck Reichert First . . .
On May 5, 1961 at about 4:45 pm a tornado struck our house in Reichert, Oklahoma. It was very hot and humid that day. There were lots of big thunderheads moving around and the air just felt heavy and strange. It was Friday and was the last day of school (I was almost a senior!).
My cousin,
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Tornado Debris
I lived there a couple of years after the Tornado. There was still tin and such in the bottoms on the east side of KCS tracks as part of the debris from the storm in trees and on the ground. You might get someone to walk around over there and take a couple of interesting photos. I used to walk
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Memories from a 7 year old . . .
Back then, we "graduated" from first grade, but needless to say, our class never got to walk across the stage in 1961.
My family had just purchased a house and 30 acres that lay in the midst of the damage, and I remember refrigerators, stoves, etc., being dragged out of our pond. I also
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The Miracle at First Baptist Church
My cousin, who lives in Dallas, forwarded to me the article which appeared in the Poteau paper regarding the 1961 tornado. My husband, Ron Lewis, who is now deceased, was the Pastor of the First Baptist Church (in Howe) when the storm came through Howe. We lived in the parsonage next door to the
Monday, January 23, 2006
Homegrown Strawberries
That beautiful, spring, afternoon was as typical as any other day. It was the last week of school for this second-grader and as I watched my mother prepare the first, fresh, bowl of homegrown strawberries of the season, straight out of my grandfather’s garden, my mind was on summer vacation. Being
