1949 Tornado

As a five year old boy living out in a rural area of Cape Girardeau, this was my first experience of looking at real destruction and devastation.

My sister and brother-in-law were visiting us that day. They lived in Red Star and were preparing to go back home. My father looked at the sky and convinced them to stay because he did not like what he was seeing in the brewing of the storm clouds. That turned out to be a life saving decision as their house was completely destroyed.

We lived upon a hill and I still vividly remember watching out of our kitchen window the funnel cloud moving from the southwest. I saw cars, trees, buildings, and livestock being picked up and destroyed.

My father and brother-in-law worked that night and all of the next day with many others in the search and rescue efforts.

I got to see first hand the wrath of mother nature and it remains with me to this day.