The following is taken directly from the "Engineering aspects of the Tornadoes of April 3-4, 1974." This section was written and researched by Uwe F. Koehler of Ball State University. Other authors include Kishor Menta, Joseph Minor, James McDonald, Billy Manning, and James Abernathy. Some references to figures are not complete. You may purchase the complete report (this is only 8 pages of 110) at the Texas Tech Web site. The cost is only for photocopying and shipping! You gotta love Texas Tech!!

A series of tornadoes moved northeastward through the State of Indiana during the afternoon of April 3, 1974. Four well defined paths of damage were examined by aerial and ground observers; these damage paths may have been caused by four or more tornadoes, as suggested be the map by Fujita (Figure 1). The four principal paths of damage in Indiana are located on a map of the State in Figure 10; each path is named after areas which sustained major damage:
(1) Monticello path
(2) Kennard path
(3) Hamburg path
(4) DePauw/Madison path
Damage within the State caused by the April 3 storms has been estimated to be as much as $200,000,000. Included in approximately 1000 casualties are 48 confirmed deaths. Table V-I contains a summary of deaths and injuries along these four principal damage paths.
Notable in the Indiana damage survey are (1) damage in Monticello, including destruction of a railroad bridge, (2) damage in the Madison-
Hanover area, (3) the Kennard path, and (4) damage to schools. Particularly thorough photographic documentation of the damage areas in Indiana, and of the Xenia-Cincinnati areas, are on file at Ball State University. More than 3000 photographs (both black and white and color), vertical aerial photographs, and extensive logs, interviews, and newspaper clippings are available.

Monticello and Rochester, Indiana
The tornado path through Monticello is illustrated in Figures 11 and 12. The storm crossed an open field as it approached the three schools located on the southwestern edge of the town. From the school complex it moved into a residential area, across an abandoned school, and into the central business district where the county courthouse was severely damaged (Figure 13). It then passed through another residential area to a bluff over the Tippecanoe River. Unusual events took place here: (1) the tornado followed the terrain closely by damaging houses and industrial buildings at the foot of the bluff (approximate elevation difference is 60 ft.) and (2) the winds pushed four spans of a Penn Central Transportation Company railroad bridge off their piers. The spans consisted of two 10 ft. deep plate girders 105 ft. in length carrying a single track. Damaged bridge piers are shown in Figure 14.Click for photo. Structural details of the bridge are available at Texas Tech University. The damage path continues northeastward from Monticello to Rochester where it caused extensive damage to railroad equipment, industrial buildings and residences. Figure 15 illustrates overturned railroad cars and damaged industrial buildings. Figure 16 includes nine houses in Rochester which were destroyed. Note that in five of these eight residences, a small portion of the interior of the residence survived.
The Monticello and Rochester damage documentation is significant because of the variations in types of structures affected, the fact that engineered structures were damaged, and the unusual events associated with the traversing of the relatively narrow river valley on the eastern edge of town. Damage to three of the Monticello schools is discussed in a special section on Indiana schools, below.
Click here for photos of damage to the area.
Madison and Hanover, Indiana
Of significance in the Madison-Hanover area is damage caused by the tornado as it approached the Ohio River on the north bank. The storm affected an electric power plant, a state hospital, residential areas, schools, and Hanover College (Figure 17). Several types of structures were affected—a damaged nursing home is shown in Figures 18 and 19, a damaged apartment house is shown in Figure 20, damage to Hanover College is illustrated in Figure 21, and damage to residences in Hanover is shown in Figure 22. Click here for photos of damage to the area.

 

Kennard Damage Path
The damage path through Grant City and Kennard is illustrated in Figure 23. Damage to a funeral home in Parker/Farmland area is shown in Figure 24. mobile home damage in this area is illustrated in Figure 25. Damage along this path was to rural housing and buildings.
School Damage
An important, and sometimes highly emotional, problem which faces the designers and owners of schools concerns the providing of protection for school children from the effects of tornadoes. The Indiana Department of Public Instruction compiled data on 24 schools which sustained storm induced damage; a summary of this agency’s report is contained in Table V-2. No school related deaths were reported in Indiana schools, or in schools that were affected by the storm in Ohio, Kentucky, and Alabama, principally because of the late afternoon and evening times of tornado occurrences. Nonetheless, the realization of the disaster which may have occurred has brought forth expressions of concern from school officials and recommendations for additional attention to occupant protection from architects and engineers. Several specific school damage incidents are presented in the following subparagraphs to emphasize the nature of the problem and to summarize the data that are available.
 

Meadowlawn, Twin Lakes, and Roosevelt Schools, Monticello
Three schools on the southwestern edge of Monticello experienced the effects of a tornado that passed across the town late in the afternoon 0f ~~~
April 3. Meadowlawn Elementary School caught the full effects of the tornado. Twin Lakes High School felt severe, but not direct, effects next. Roosevelt Junior High School was located on the left edge of the advancing tornado and was less severely damaged.

The Meadowlawn school should provide investigators with a classic tornado-structure interaction event for study. This school has a principal main hallway oriented east-west, with classrooms on either side. The tornado slammed directly into the school from across an open field. Classrooms on the south side of the hallway were extensively damaged -- window walls demolished and open web steel roof joists and roof were uplifted. Classrooms on the north s1de of the hallway were virtually undamaged. The principal hallway was undamaged except for the west glass doors which were broken. The hallway would have been a safe haven for school children.

The Twin Lakes High School is oriented such that the southwestern-most corner of the complex is a gymnasium (Ref. Figures 12 and 26). This corner of the complex is approximately 1000 ft. north and east of the Meadowlawn school. Damage to the Twin Lakes school was concentrated in the gymnasium area (the gym proper and adjacent one-story dressing rooms) and in classrooms on the west side of the complex. Un-reinforced, non-load bearing masonry walls (12 in. concrete block with brick facing), which formed the south and west external walls of the gymnasium (extending from the roof of the first floor dressing rooms to the roof level of the gym) - toppled outward. Although atmospheric pressure change inducing outward acting pressures may have been a factor in these wall failures, there is evidence of lateral movement of the gymnasium structural frame (steel trusses on beams which frame to pipe columns; column height approximately 30 ft.) within the masonry I shell .I. The evidence (vertically cracked interior masonry walls at the locations of pipe columns) suggests that wind ... loads induced a lateral translation of the structural frame to the north-east and, upon rebounding, the frame pushed the south and west un-reinforced masonry walls outward.

A significant missile incident at the Twin Lakes school involves a steel wide-flange beam which formed the roof support along the western edge of a second story classroom (Ref. Figure 26). This beam was lifted over the school building as the second story roof failed upward, and fell on the opposite (east) side of the building in the school yard. (Near white automobile on east side of school, Figure 26). Additional study of this incident using data available at PASC-Detroit is indicated.

As in the Meadowlawn school, hallways would have proved to be safe havens for school children in the Twin Lakes school. The school tornado plan called for building occupants to move to first floor hallways away from outside doors; this plan would have assured protection of building occupants, if warning times would have permitted planned movements of people.


The Roosevelt Junior High School. located to the north and west of the Twin Lakes school sustained less damage than the other two Monticello schools. The significant documentation item from this school is a barograph recording taken on a lower floor in the north central portion of the building. The barograph trace is reproduced in part in Figure 27.

Monroe Central School (Kennard Damage Path. Parker/Farmland)
The Monroe Central School was extensively damaged, but examination of the structure reveals that the principal failure mechanism was related to load bearing masonry walls. Figure 28 illustrates damage to the gymnasium area (near wing) and to classrooms (far wings). Load bearing masonry walls at the ends of the gymnasium failed (Ref. Figure 29). Although this failure compromised the structural integrity of the building the structural frame remained intact (Ref. Figure 30). Failures of masonry walls and failures of precast concrete roof units are also evident. Interior hallways away from areas with roofs supported on exterior walls and away from entrances would have been safe havens in this school.

Kennard, Elementary School
An old three-story elementary school at Kennard was heavily damaged (Ref. Figure 31). Although occupied by more than 100 persons at the time the tornado struck, no one was injured. Failures of load bearing masonry walls provided the basic collapse mechanism (Ref. Figure 32). First floor interior hallways were havens of refuge in this structure.