From the Archives

Xenia Tornado of 1974

Originally posted April 19, 2011

January 29, 2025

The Xenia tornado was part of a super outbreak, when 148 twisters swept across several states, killing 335 people in a 16-hour period on April 3-4, 1974. It still ranks as one of the largest natural disasters in American history, with Xenia the hardest hit community.

The Xenia subdivision of “Arrowhead” was especially hard-hit, the tornado leaving it in ruins. The 4-year-old subdivision on the city’s southwest side lost more than 300 homes, many on concrete slabs with no basements.

Greene Memorial Hospital in northeast Xenia narrowly escaped the tornado’s wrath, but lost its power and telephone service and its water quality was suspect. About 500 people were treated there in the first 24 hours, 34 of them being admitted with a number transferred to hospitals in nearby Dayton for treatment.

Twenty-six years later another tornado (an F-4) struck at an unusual time – early autumn and after dark – on September 20, 2000. The tornado would follow an eerily familiar path of destruction through Xenia, killing one man and destroying or damaging more than 300 homes and 30 businesses.

*Material from the Dayton Daily News Archive was used to compose this blog entry.

A sign that reads "with the help of the Lord, good friends, and hard work, we shall return. The Wards 814 Tomaha. The sign was near Warner Jr. High School (in the background), April 25, 1974..

A sign near Warner Jr. High School, which can be seen in the background, April 25, 1974.

Ruptured fire hydrant at West 2nd Street in Xenia. Overturned railroad cars in the background.
Ruptured fire hydrant at West 2nd Street in Xenia. Note the overturned railroad cars in the background.
Aftermath of the Xenia tornado showing two boys running down the middle of a tornado ravaged street. One boy is holding a kite.
Two people on a street surrounded by destruction.
Aftermath of the Xenia tornado showing the exterior of the Kroger store ravaged by the tornado.
What remains of a Kroger after the tornado.
Aftermath of the Xenia tornado showing a car flipped onto its roof next to a "No Parking" sign.
Overturned vehicle near a No Parking sign.
People carrying a gurney amid the aftermath of the Xenia tornado.
Men carrying a person on a stretcher.
People and cards on the street of tornado ravaged Xenia.
Aftermath of the Xenia tornado.
A house without a roof surrounded by toppled trees following the Xenia tornado.
Roof torn off a home.
A couple with a young child sitting on the slab where their home had been.
Dennis Louderback with his family at the foundation slab of their demolished home, May 9, 1974.
A truck upside down amid large piles of debris in the aftermath of the Xenia tornado.
Truck overturned in front of a home with second floor bathroom exposed.
An aerial view of the aftermath of the Xenia tornado.
Aerial view of Arrowhead Subdivision in Xenia.
A bulldozer amid the aftermath of the Xenia tornado.
Clean-up in the aftermath of the Xenia tornado.
Xenia tornado on April 3, 1974.
Xenia tornado, April 3, 1974.
Construction workers raise two walls while surrounded by heaps of tornado debris.
The start of rebuilding in the middle of rubble.
A home heavily damaged by the Xenia tornado.
Second floor of a house exposed and falling in.
For sale sign on a building destroyed by the Xenia tornado.
Aftermath of the Xenia tornado.
Hershey, Pennsylvania students helping clean up debris in Arrowhead in Xenia. These 5 volunteers are removing a refrigerator from a demolished home.
Hershey, Pennsylvania students helping clean up debris in Arrowhead in Xenia. These 5 volunteers are removing a refrigerator from a demolished home.
A sign that reads "Gone with the Wind" amid tornado devastation..
Hand made signs amid the devastation.
One year after the tornado headstones still lean over from the effects of the tornado in a small cemetery north of Xenia on Route 42.
One year after the tornado headstones still lean over from the effects of the tornado in a small cemetery north of Xenia on Route 42.
Small table of food and drink for workers cleaning up in the aftermath of the Xenia tornado.
Refreshments for workers during clean-up.