This day in Lexington, April twenty-first — we're looking back at nineteen sixty-seven, when one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in American history struck the Midwest. On this date fifty-seven years ago, a series of violent tornadoes tore through Illinois, killing more than fifty people and injuring over a thousand others.

The most devastating tornado hit Belvidere, Illinois, where it struck directly during school hours. The high school took a direct hit, contributing to over five hundred casualties in that community alone. Another massive tornado near Chicago devastated the suburb of Oak Lawn, causing another five hundred casualties as it carved a path of destruction through neighborhoods and businesses.

Here in Kentucky, we know tornado season all too well. Spring storms regularly roll through the Bluegrass, and our own history includes devastating events like the Super Outbreak of nineteen seventy-four, when multiple tornadoes struck across the state. The Illinois outbreak of nineteen sixty-seven served as a stark reminder of how quickly spring weather can turn deadly, lessons that meteorologists and emergency managers in Kentucky have carried forward in developing our modern warning systems and preparedness programs.

That's your history for today.

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