1974 Louisville, KY Tornado (WHAS AM 840 Coverage) Pt.1 

Michael Mayfield I dig and miss the reverb.

Remember having live GTE/Contel NOAA weather wire and that lightning fast little printer going on big outbreak days?

Radio at its best. During an emergency.

WHAS was a clear channel powerhouse. This was back in the day when journalism was a sacred trust.

That was when radio (esp am radio) was entertaining and informative AND local. Not the stuff they put on now.

I will say that 7 years ago when Tuscaloosa, AL was hit by an EF-4 tornado, a local station w/a large corporate ownership I could pick up on my hand crank radio had DJ's relaying information such as open gas stations (a large part of the city lost power & travelers were looking to put gas in their vehicles; & any other information they could pass on.

Man. Milton Metz and Dick Gilbert are names from my childhood. I have never listens to this, I plan to take in all four parts this weekend :-)

Dick Gilbert was the perfect man for what he did. A retired Air Force pilot, he knew how to keep his cool and stay in control during the storm. His military training served him well at that moment.

there is a video entitled 1974 SUPER OUTBREAK “ DAY OF THE KILLER TORNADOES” from Periscope films on you tube that gives us the VISUAL of ALL PARTIESin this broadcast including dee jay, man in helicopter, man at weather station and a cameraman at station who took a camera who ran up to the roof to film the tornado bearing down on Louisville. Just a perfect companion video here.

The Courier Journal published a book of photos after, called Tornado! We lived in Indian Hills. Our house was in that book :-(

Cool story!:)

I also was 9years old during this outbreak.lived in xenia

SCORE!

You couldn't have asked for a better kind of man for this situation. A retired Air Force pilot, so he was used to not only flying in bad weather, but also keeping his cool in stressful situations. Just the way he describes the tornado as it first touches down shows that. You could hear his training kicking into gear.

Guy was the Rock of Gibraltar.

Old school Flyboy.

According to the Weather Channel "When Weather Changed History" documentary, he even saw his own daughter from the helicopter and yelled at her to take cover. He probably saved his own daughter's life as well as many others. He received a presidential citation for this very coverage which was well deserved.

They got rid of local helicopter idea since 1986 but instead they are using a local Hospital coter for the traffic reports again the same pilot on every freaking AM station.

I watched something on Brandenburg yesterday and those poor people had no warning. So many died in one small area it amazed me. So sad.

I live in Cullman Alabama and in 2011 Alabama lost over 250 souls. It was a horrible day. The tornadoes were so violent and some areas lost far more people than the big cities that were talked about so much.

Wow!

Yeah, I had to snoop and found it, it was near Eldorado... wow.

For me it was three dog nights "pieces of April" I was going to highland junior high at the time. I was in my neighbors garage, when the tornado hit. It did sound just like a freight train. We ducked under a drafting table and the roof was ripped off above our heads but we were not hurt just scared to death! Anyway we were listening to WKLO on am when the power went off.

Yes and Hooked On A Feeling and Bennie and The Jets were the biggest hits that day. Also TSOP THE SOUND OF PHILLY and newcomer Billy Joel PIANO MAN.

Back then the goal of mainstream media was to keep the public calm above all else. Heck, up until the early 1950s American broadcasters wouldn’t even say the word “tornado” on air because it was considered too alarming. Ergo, I think the DJ was concerned about him being readerly because he didn’t want him to sound anxious which could in turn make the public more anxious. Very different when compared to the type of coverage you’d see today.

May i recommend a companion video i just lucked into from Periscope films entitled 1974 SUPER OUTBREAK “ DAY OF THE KILLER TORNADOES” wherein viewer SEES the people we hear in the video from the deejay to the pilot to the weather service AND a cameraman in the studio raced upstairs to FILM THE TORNADO BEARING DOWN ON LOUISVILLE. audio from this radio broadcast used extensively, the perfect companion video

John Burke said "Good gracious sakes alive!".

Especially exceptional when you think about how unprecedented an EF5 actually is. For context, the US hasn’t had an EF5 since 2013.

Joel Fogelsanger Picture it. Looking at a small circular screen with little blips of light, and one of them has a hook shape. You take a grease pencil and mark the echo’s location, and then wait for the next sweep and mark its new location. Then you calculate the distance between the two locations and divide it by time. You now have its speed and direction. Now imagine that for 4 or 5 or more hook echoes at a time! [Pulls hair out by the roots]

I admire how he uses the best manners he can in the heat of the moment.

Yes, I just learned that the man who said that was John Burke, head meteorologist at the national weather service, and was my boyfriend's great uncle...we have been together since 2007, but I never knew where my boyfriend's deep obsession with weather came from...but now I kno...and hearing his uncle on here is absolutely incredible and it warms my heart hearing this nostalgic post. Up until now, I only knew about this outbreak from my mom and dad, who were living as newlyweds in Hardinsburg, Breckinridge County, KY. That day left a very open wound in both their souls, as they were there to experience the only F-5 to strike KY in recorded history and saw firsthand the destruction it wrought...remembering their firsthand accounts today in addition to hearing this, is just a stark reminder that mother nature has a fury no one can truly understand or comprehend unless they witness it, and even then..ur left wondering how is this even possible. Wonderful reporting...

@@TheLillith87Does your boyfriend pronounce it as “tornada” like his great-uncle?

@@JimRockford853 lol no...that's a bit of an older generation thing for us that grew up inside metro Louisville

@@JimRockford853 lol no, but my grandparents did!

+Michael Smith Can you post the audio with the music and the commercials? It brings me back. Otherwise, well done.

+Michael Smith A) Lemme log into that account, as this is a second account of mine and fix it. B) the site I obtained it from removed the music and commercials. Nothing I can do.

Dick Gilbert is a legend, and somewhat of a lunatic for flying a helicopter that afternoon!

@@mikesmith8836 If they play the songs in their entirety (not scoped), they might have to pay royalties. Don't know about the commercials. I wonder, though, if they didn't suspend normal broadcasting once this really kicked off. If you want to listen to comparable coverage for Minneapolis/St. Paul 1965 tornadoes, go to radiotapes.com and listen to the WCCO broadcasts.

Also for those curious, WHAS-FM was 97.5 on the FM dial. They are now WAMZ, with a new-country music format.

I was a student at SBTS and lived on Grinstead Ave. Lost my Apt. Maybe your father in-law was a classmate....

@@stevendaniel8126 His name is Richard Phipps.

the same day as this louisville tornado? holy smokes

@@MrChristopherHaas yes-why they called it the Super Outbreak, it definitely lived up to its name-

@@donnabrittain210 ive now learned this, yes. Spent the better part of day looking further into it. I live in Racine, Wi and i still remember the ground rumble for, like, 10 seconds that day. and it was on the news, it started to come back to me…and family..and friends i discussed it with. You would think the doggone antichrist was born that day

@@donnabrittain210 aye. Ill say. AND HOW.

aaaaaand? didnt hit you i hope

god bless, it happened to me as well in rural Iowa. but not as close, never actually saw the tornado, just the black clouds

@@MrChristopherHaas still a very traumatizing event I’m sure! Who knew you’d be a witness to history?!

@@madmikemackas 🙄

@@MrChristopherHaas listen, she was also in the Newnan, GA EF 4. It’s actually wild to think she was within a mile of 2 EF 4 or higher. The odds of being hit or even that close to two tornadoes that big are very small so it is amazing to me. Might be a joke to others but it changes you.

@@madmikemackas it does. It changed me enough that, after watching one related video, i just kept going. And going. And going. And i wasnt THAT close. I was driving down hwy 80 and, within 10 minutes of driving passed Newton where the race track is one Friday morning while listening to local radio, they started talking about possible tornadoes on a mostly sunny afternoon. By the time i got to Williamsburg area there it was, a big, layered, light on top, dark on the bottom cloud. Then the hail and wicked wind. Then the siren accompanied by radio warning. Everyone pulled over in front of me and hit the ditch. So i did too. I HEARD the damn thing. The wind stopped. Luckily, aside from the usual dings from the hail dumpage, no damage. It hit behind us from what little i was able to gather when i got home hours later. So, yeah, i took youre advice lol. Also i lived in Omaha for 2 years near downtown. I could see a very wide tree stump out my window where there used to be a tree until the f5 of 1913 sheered it clear off. A daily reminder. I met alot of good people that were my age and lifetime residents who lived in Omaha when the f5 that went for miles down q street then turned down a very busy 72nd street and and just ravaged sooo much…man. Theres something about them,reserved…its hard to explain but im sure you know what im getting at in that regard. Anyhow im back in Wisconsin, Lake Michigan is 1 block away, i am safe although i have taken pictures of 4 side by side cyclones on the Lake on my way to work back in 05’. lol

And ended up relying on WSM's transmitter when the power got knocked out.

id love to hear THAT

it was very well covered by an old issue of Life magazine i read in library a few years back.

I read they weren't even supposed to use the word "tornado" because of the fear it caused. stupid.

Sooooo true

Yeah. I remember watching The Weather Channel when it first had started and educated you on weather events and history. Now it's done the same thing every other channel has done - become a "reality" show based, "OH MY GOD THIS IS THE WORST THING EVER" cut/zoom/dramatic music garbage channel. Extremely disappointing :(

Right between Xenia and Cincinnati.

That made it into the official documentary day of the killer tornadoes in 1978

On the "tornada" broadcast.

@@mikejohnson515 YES! 🤣 I wonder if that’s like a little bit of a Midwestern accent that’s made its way south.

That was Jeff Douglas, who had a popular afternoon show on WHAS. He was my favorite DJ. Sadly, he took his own life in 1975. It made me smile when he said “Cincinnata.” It was good to hear him again. Thank you so much to the person who put this together.

Don't forget It's part of Missoura.

I grew up in Missoura. I always told people it's pronounced Misery...

Who cares dummy

She appears in another video here on RU-vid. In 1977 she was anchoring when they reported on the death of Elvis Presley.

I see that the area on Oakmont is now just a field... why did they tear down all the houses on that street?

@@contrabandjoe7974 There was a bunch of land annexed in that area for airport expansion.

Bellarmine's gym in 1974 was Knights Hall. That's a solid 3+ miles away from Freedom Hall (their currently gym).

@@briansullivan2268 You are right! Freedom Hall was where the Kentucky Colonels played. The Belles played a couple of games there right before the Colonels played. One year the Colonels used our gym to practice in. . They practiced right after the girls practice. We would be shooting free throws together. That was very cool! YOu do still have a gym, right? You just don't play your games there.right? I guess it is too little to house all the fans for the games..., I am an old fart. I graduated in '77.

tornadas*

@@DavidPigbody tornaydah?

A Beverly Sirens are meant for warning those who are outdoors. They are *not* meant to warn anyone inside a building. Back in the 70s and 80s, warning lead time was usually negative. After the Nexrad system was installed, lead time is now typically 10 to 15 minutes. Advances in technology result in all manner of media used to warn those in danger. Relying on a siren is not only foolish, it's dangerous.

In the communities where I've lived (since the '90s, at least), the sirens have been activated when the local weather service issued a warning, regardless of whether a tornado had been sighted on the ground. I lived in Owensboro KY when the Jan 2000 F3 tornado sliced through a busy retail district around 4:30 in the afternoon, and the sirens most certainly saved many lives. No one died that day in Owensboro, despite the unbelievable damage.

A Beverly This was the outbreak that brought more severe weather awareness to the Ohio Valley. This event also helped bring about the advent of more advanced weather radar. The NEXRAD doppler radar network that is used by the National Weather Service and the private sector continues to be an essential tool in weather observation to this day.

@@pkranz937 and what of those people who have do not have access to TV Radio and or computers and cellphones/cell service? Cause such people exist a siren is their last resort so it is most certainly NOT foolish/Dangerous

@@sockshandle the sirens are intended for those who are outdoors. After the 2011 Super Outbreak, it was found that a reliance on sirens cost many individuals their lives, as power had been knocked out in many areas due to previous storms. There are many options - #1 choice should be a battery-powered NOAA Weather Radio. #2 should be a battery-powered AM/FM radio The idea that someone would not have any kind of reception for either radio is false, especially AM radio.

Are just now maturing... I know it hit Meade Co. / Brandenburg just as the kiddos let out of school... And the buses had already left taking kids home! Wow! So Sad! My Uncle had to pull over and jump into a ditch .... He said no way was I gonna out run that damn 🌪️ Tornado... It was Huge!

Its cool I supposed but NOT to me. I had to hear the sirens go off over and over again before that day I was not afraid of the sirens. I live in SW Ohio and spent most of the day in my closet taking cover. It happened u till around 11 PM at night. It had been hot and humid that day. and all the trees and bushes were like summer that had been in full bloom but come summer a bad drought.

I was 9 years old in xenia on that day as our town was being leveled, hence my amazement how far we have come in preparation and warning times

@@janetoconnor3636 I understand your Terror but for some reason it caused me to be in love with severe weather. So weird LOL

Not to mention that we can track storms on our smartphones via weather apps.

I was astonished when they went to a sponsorship for home insulation services before reviewing the tornado safety reminders. Reminded me of stations that didn't switch to constant updates on 9/11

My mama told me about the 74 outbreak. We are in Radcliff

And very sad. Growing up in KY and loving horses it makes me sad thinking of the loss of life of people and animals like horses.

The tall building on the left looks like the building with Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on top.

800 Building, yes. Not Kaden Tower.

Nope

Yes check out this link: it’s broken up in several parts if you scroll down the page a bit. www.lkyradio.com/WHASairchecks.htm

It’s not. This was believed to be so because most tornadoes move northeast, and it was thought the debris would blow away from that corner. Of course tornadoes rotate as well as move forward so the wind can come from anywhere.

the Oklahoma and Alabama broadcasts from their weathermen kept telling people to go to the MIDDLE. i noticed that too

Also Cincinnata.

ContraBand Joe Also Ambulancees

ContraBand Joe you know. People talk differently in different parts of the country. And they are in the middle of a bad tornado. How can you make fun of that. Do you pronounce everything perfectly ?

Either way, it will still kill you

relax your sphincter a little. it probably stuck out to a lot of people and brought a little chuckle. he didn't make fun of the situation at all.

That's Interstate 65

@@kingink1971 I can remember the term. I lived by churchill downs. All I can really remember it was in the mid to late afternoon and it rained like HELL. I was 14.

It was this outbreak

I was about 3, 8 days out. This was one of the biggest Weather events of almost all time. Tornado safety was a big issue of the 1970s, next to fires.