Fridley tornado aftermath. NOAA photo, via Wikipedia.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Fridley Tornado of May 6, 1965. That night, six tornadoes hit the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, with two of them hitting the suburb of Fridley, near University Avenue and Interstate 694. Thirteen people were killed, and property damage totalled $14.5 million. Of that total, $5 million was to the Fridley school system, where the Fridley Junior High was badly damaged. The storm struck in the evening, but about 300 people were attending an evening program. Only one child, however, suffered injuries. In Fridley, 1100 homes were damaged and 425 destroyed.
I don’t have a specific recollection of this storm, since I was four years old at the time. I do, however, remember being in the basement with a flashlight and a radio close at hand, and I’m sure this was one of the occasions, since this was about 3 miles from where I grew up. Chances are, we were following the storm on WCCO radio (or perhaps on our built-in basement TV, if the power was still on). The WCCO radio coverage of the storm has been preserved, and you can listen to all of it at RadioTapes.com.
In addition, this week’s Access Minnesota radio program from the University Minnesota has an interesting look back at the storm. You can listen to the program online at their website.
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