November 1989 Tornado Outbreak

:"Note: the following text and pictures were adapted from public domain National Weather Service documents. See references."Infobox tornado outbreak|name=November 1989 Tornado Outbreak
image location=Huntsville_tornado_damage_01.jpg


date=November 15 & 16, 1989
duration=22 hours, 55 minutes
fujitascale=F4
tornadoes=40 confirmed
total damages (USD)=$160 million (2005 USD)+ [http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi]
total fatalities=30
areas affected=Southern United States, Mid-Atlantic states into southern QuebecThe November 1989 Tornado Outbreak was a destructive tornado outbreak on November 15 and 16, 1989 across a wide swath of the southern and eastern United States and into Canada. It produced at least 40 tornadoes and caused 30 deaths as a result of two deadly tornadoes. The most devastating was the Huntsville, Alabama tornado, an F4 which killed 21 on the afternoon of the 15th. Nine more fatalities were reported at a single elementary school by a downburst on the 16th in the Town of Newburgh, New York. Several other significant tornadoes were reported across 15 states.

Confirmed tornadoes

November 15 event

A summary of damage from reports gathered by the Huntsville Times included:
*259 Homes destroyed
*130 Homes with major damage
*148 Homes with minor to moderate damage
*80 Businesses destroyed
*8 Businesses damaged
*3 Churches heavily damaged
*2 Schools destroyed
*10 Public buildings destroyed or heavily damaged
*$1.9 Million in public utility damage

East Coldenham school downburst

The East Coldenham Elementary School disaster, sometimes known simply as the Coldenham disaster, was a disaster that occurred on November 16, 1989 in the Town of Newburgh, New York, in which a tornado-strength wind blew down a free-standing cafeteria wall, killing eight students and injuring 18 others. Though the event was officially recorded as a F1 tornado, conclusive evidence from a survey by a team led by Ted Fujita and others indicates that it was a downburst instead.

A ninth student who survived the disaster died just days later as a result of a two car accident directly in front of the school.

The East Coldenham Elementary School disaster received a tremendous amount of national and international media coverage at the time of the tragedy because most major news media outlets were at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, just ten miles away, to cover the awarding of the Sylvanus Thayer Award to former President Ronald Reagan, and accordingly were on site within minutes. [The Middletown (N.Y.) "Times Herald Record", November 17, 1989]

ee also

*Anderson Hills Tornado
*List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
*List of tornado-related deaths at schools

References

External links

* [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hun/events/15Nov1989/index.php National Weather Service report on the Huntsville tornado]
* [http://www.wildwildweather.com/hsvtorn.htm Dan's Wild Weather Page]
* [http://www.whnt.com/Global/story.asp?S=2554636 WHNT Television story]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wthuntvl.htm USA Today article on Huntsville tornadoes]
* [http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/02/27/bmmk300.htm The Coldenham Generation]