VAN WERT, Ohio -
It was a massive tornado outbreak that wasn't expected or forecasted beforehand but when sirens started to sound, a lot of lives were saved by ordinary people. A mild, breezy, and cloudy afternoon took a turn for the worse just after 3pm in the afternoon on November 10, 2002. A powerful storm system took an unexpected turn to the north, which put northwest Ohio in the bulls eye.
The first strike was a catastrophic F-4 tornado that hit Van Wert head on. Long time 13abc Meteorologist Stan Stachak said, "Well specifically to the Van Wert theater, wow! You look at the videos of that thing and think how did anybody survive." The Van Wert tornado injured 26 people and killed 4. The tornado continued to track more than 50 miles through 5 counties.
Not only does November 10, 2002 stick out in the record books in Northwest Ohio, but nearly 100 tornadoes hit across the country making it one of the worst fall tornado outbreaks on record.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WICU. All Rights Reserved.
