Tornado! 84 Minutes, 94 Lives

At the time this book was written, the Worcester tornado had the highest tornadic winds in recorded history, at 321 mph. (This changed with the Oklahoma tornado in the late 1990s and the Nashville tornado a year or two later.) I've heard limited stories about the tornado in my life. For example, my mother and her family (in Southern Worcester) watched money floating over the street and around their front steps in a "torrential downpour", but they thought it was only flooding from the heavy rains. Most residents (those outside the impact area) only had a nebulous encounter with the tornado, if they saw it at all; many didn't know what had happened until the next day. Contrary to other reviews, "Tornado!" is well-written and clear -- unless you're a kindergartener! (I think this proves most people graduating high school in the last dozen or so years have barely functional English.) The detail is amazing. John O'Toole has an uncanny knack for selecting details that bring this monster to life, especially for people who have never been in a tornado. On the one hand, cars in the Ararat Street neighboorhood are sandblasted to bare metal; on the other, a raw egg levitates through the entire first floor of a house and lands gently atop a piano, uncracked! Mr. O'Toole recounts first-hand tales with the dignity (and horror) they deserve -- particularly the Oslund baby's death, and the man (probably in shock) who refuses to drive a tornado victim to the hospital because he doesn't want blood in his new car. After reading "Tornado!", you'll never look at Worcester the same way again! Drive around the Quabbin Reservoir and imagine you're one of the row-boaters on the open water, witnessing the birth of the tornadic beast. Visit the renovated Assumption College (now Quinsigamond Community College -- Assumption rebuilt elsewhere), and try to guess which part of the Administration building has been replaced. From the hill, look down at Norton Company and picture those buildings ripped to shreds. Drive up Ararat Street and pretend you're the most lucky driver in the world -- dodging an entire tree which rolls down the hill at you, but turns sideways at the last second. Or imagine yourself a ship's captain in Boston Harbor (or beyond), 40+ miles away; what in the world all those frozen mattresses are doing floating in the ocean in June? Or a shopper -- what's with the pulverized tree leaves swirling through the downtown Boston streets? The pictures in the center section are amazing. The Weather Channel's "Storm Stories", constantly cutting away from any action, cannot compare. The only better visuals I've ever seen were on an anniversary website the Worcester Telegram hosted a few years ago. It posted hundreds of residents' pictures, many in color, mostly showing the aftermath. Unfortunately that website is gone now -- or maybe it's hidden in the paid content. (However, you can find a page of user stories at [...] In general, beware the "facts" you find on webs

Someome had to capture the history of the tornado that took 94 lives in 84 mnutes. I agree it helps if you know the area, but it's written in a way that is reminiscent of any closely knit town.