Saturday,  May 3, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 289 • 39 of 55

(Continued from page 38)

flooding, several roads were underwater. Highway 212 just south of La Plant was flooded for a few hours along with Highway 8, 15 miles south of La Plant. The flash flooding resulted in some road and bridge damage.


2002: With low humidity, very dry vegetation, and increasing South winds, embers from a day old controlled burn initiated a large grassland fire in the early afternoon hours west of Claremont. South winds of 30 to 40 mph gusting to 50 mph caused the fire to spread quickly. The fire expended to 4 miles wide and spread 4 miles north before it was contained late in the evening. Many trees along with a mobile home, an abandoned house, and an old barn were also burned. Seven miles of road had to be closed due to poor visibility for smoke. Eleven fire departments with nearly 150 firefighters extinguished the fire. The fire was completely put out during the afternoon hours of the 4th. This was one of the largest grassland fires in Brown County history.

1895: Four schools were leveled by what was probably an F5 tornado in Sioux County, IA. A teacher killed at the first school struck was the brother of a teacher killed at the second school struck, several miles away. School children were carried for up to half a mile, sustaining severe injuries. There were 9 fatalities in the tornado.

1968: A severe thunderstorm moved into the path of a Braniff Airlines plane between Houston and Dallas, TX. The plane got caught in hail and severe turbulence. The aircraft broke up in mid-air, resulting in 85 casualties.

1999: In less than 48 hours, a total of 76 tornadoes touched down across Oklahoma. An F5 tornado tracked for 40 miles, skirting south of Oklahoma City through the communities of Moore and Chickasaw. The tornadoes killed 42 people and caused $1 billion in damage. It was the NWS's first use of "tornado emergency" wording in its Tornado Warnings.

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