FAIRMOUNT, N.D. (AP) - Fairmount residents use terms like “lucky” and “angel” to describe how 500 people survived a tornado that swooped down upon the community 50 years ago, after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, 1964.
There was no warning as children played outside and their mothers prepared the evening’s meal before high winds, hail and a tornado left a path of destruction in town. No one knew what was to transpire in the next few minutes as a sudden storm zeroed in on Fairmount. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that devastating tornado. This story by the Daily News of Wahpeton (https://bit.ly/1g1u8WT ) contains information from news accounts and from the survivors themselves.
The following is an account taken from a May 7, 1964 edition of the Hankinson News: “A low, dark cloud enveloped Fairmount Tuesday with tornadic winds and hail, causing severe damage to 11 homes and several businesses and leaving 11 injured.
“In the midst of a rain storm, a loud roar and a black cloud gave only seconds warning to the communities’ 500 residents. The tornado cut a four-block path through the southeast section of the village - though scattered damage resulted in other sections of the town.
“As of Wednesday, five remained in the hospital at Breckenridge, Minnesota, including a farmer, Thad Branson, who farms two miles south of Fairmount and reportedly was pinned beneath a damaged building.”
Paul Mosey still keeps a careful eye on the sky after having lived through that storm
“If the rain looks plaid, it’s time to get in the basement,” he said.
Mosey called the rain “plaid” because it was multi-directional and intersected the way colors do on a plaid garment. Mosey grew up in Fairmount, and recently moved back after retiring from North Dakota State College of Science. He was 11 years old that day and still has vivid memories of it.
Mosey said the sky had low-hanging clouds and was quite dark that evening. He said there was no wind and it was very still. His mother, Idell Mosey, was making dinner when it started to rain and storm. The two went into a pantry right off the kitchen. He said the window he had just been looking out of broke with the force of the winds and the door between the kitchen and pantry slammed back and forth so fast it looked like a blur. Then, suddenly the house exploded. Mosey said his mother grabbed him just before the strong winds picked up the two about 20 feet in the air and spun them around.
“It set us down on the ground, just like a cushion of air, but we were still spinning. It set us down very lightly,” he said.
Mosey was struck by some debris, what he thought was the lid of a clothes dryer. His mother was unconscious, so he woke her and the two took refuge from airborne debris by hiding in a 55 gallon barrel.
“People asked me later what it was like inside the tornado. If you put your head inside a vacuum cleaner bag, that’s what it looked like. Everything was just grey dust,” he said.
Mosey and his mother took refuge at a neighbor’s house that still stood. Other neighbors were there, as well. People asked who they were since Mosey and his mother were so encased in dirt and mud they were unrecognizable.
“We were bruised from top to bottom. But at that time, I didn’t really feel any pain. We went out in our yard and our house was gone,” Mosey said.
Delmer Steffens worked at the Farmers Union station 50 years ago. He remembers the day being hot and muggy, not unlike other spring days. He didn’t know anything was wrong until high winds pushed a box car past the station and through a switch in the rail line. The boxcar finally stopped a mile south of town.
Steffens said his young family was home at the time and he had no idea if anyone was hurt, or even whether his home had withstood the force of the storm.
“Realistically, I tried to get to Main Street but couldn’t because trees were down and I had to go around. I couldn’t see my house, but I was looking in the wrong place,” Steffens said. Other homes near his were taken by the storm, so he didn’t have any visual cues of where his house was.
Steffens said he crossed a ditch of water and ran through a field to get home. He said four to five houses near his were demolished, but his still stood. The storm blew out every window and door, though. The garage was destroyed and a lot of damage was done to their car. But his wife, Leola, sent the children into the basement when the wind gusted and it started to hail.
“The best thing to happen that day, if there’s anything that can happen that was good, the kids were outside playing when all of a sudden it started to rain and was beginning to hail. (Leola) got them downstairs when the hail started. The wind was terrible,” Steffens said.
He said even though he was blocks away from the tornado, he remembers it sounding like a freight train going through town.
Becki Beach was 8 years old that day. She remembers parts of May 5, 1964 like it happened yesterday. She was outside playing on her swing set when the sky grew dark and the wind came up with a lot of force in a brief time.
“I went into the house. My mom, Jessie Meyer, and my sister, Phylis, were home. We tried to open the basement door inside the house but couldn’t as the outside cellar doors had been opened by the wind. So we decided to just stay in my parent’s clothes closet and watch the storm,” Beach said.
The bedroom windows blew out, as did other windows in their home.
“After the storm had passed, my mom and I walked around town close to us. We were unable to go too far as power lines were down all over and still live with current. We checked on other family members who lived in town to be sure everyone was OK. One of my sisters-in-law had just gotten home from the hospital with a new baby. She took the baby and laid over her to protect her on the living room floor,” Beach said.
She never wants to go through such a horrific event again. “But I always think about it when the weather gets stormy in the summer and you see tornadoes in other parts of the country,” Beach said.
Gail (Luick) Vargo was 12 years old this fateful day. Instead of riding her pony Skyrocket as she usually did after school, she accompanied her friend Charlotta Schroeder to the home of Mrs. Swanson, a sixth- and seventh-grade teacher at the school. Swanson was sewing an outfit for Schroeder, who had been chosen to be a prom server.
“Mrs. Swanson lived in the top floor apartment in the old Kellog house by the highway. I think the official time of the hit was 5:36. We were upstairs ogling over Mrs. Swanson’s beautiful clothes and wedding pictures and wham! The antennae had fallen off the roof and crashed through the window,” Vargo said.
The only reinforced room in the apartment was an old coal storage room in the basement. The family who lived downstairs was already in that room, so everyone squeezed together.
“We all heard the incredible noise of the freight train, but I do not think anyone really knew it had been a tornado until we came up from the basement,” Vargo said.
She eventually made it home once the power company shut down the lines littering the streets of town. Her mom and dog, Tango, were home alone. She said her mother couldn’t make it into the basement because of a vacuum effect that held the door to the back porch so tight her mother couldn’t open it.
“I believe Fairmount was touched by an angel on that day. The angel kept everyone’s lives safe,” Vargo said.
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Information from: Wahpeton Daily News, https://www.wahpetondailynews.com
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