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VORTEXX
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 29th, 2008 09:10 pm |
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Today is the 25th anniversary of the deadly and destructive F3 tornado
that struck SW and south Springfield...On 4/29/1983, a category F3
(max. wind speeds 158-206 mph new scale EF4 or EF5) tornado 6.9 miles
away from the city center killed one person and injured 22 people and
caused millions in damages. I remember this like it was yesterday...My wife was pregnant with our daughter and Dave was not quite 3...We had about 15 people in our basement...The tornado tracked from near Battlefield Road and Fort
Ave. northeast to just southeast of the National Cemetery east of
Glenstone Ave. damaging or destroying over 800 homes and scores of
businesses...My boss called me into work and I spent the night
installing phones for the police/fire forward command post at Sunshine
and Campbell and then spent weeks restoring phone service in the
damaged areas...I remember the photo from the Springfield News-Leader
of a woman talking on her Trimline wall phone amid debris and without
a roof...What a day!!!Last edited on Tue Apr 29th, 2008 09:13 pm by VORTEXX
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XGM
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 6th, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 262 |
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Posted: Tue Apr 29th, 2008 10:05 pm |
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| I recall it well also. KY3 called us at KTTS and asked if they could carry our audio, we of course said yes. Also...a friend of mines daughter was in some sort of HS choir that had been out of town and the bus carrying them was going west on Battlefield Rd., going back to Kickapoo. Because of what the bus driver heard us say on the air, he cut south several blocks before Campbell and figured we saved the whole bus load a young gals...thank goodness. I think it is the all time worst Tornado to hit Spfd. We had several reporters out in news units doing live cut-ins.
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artmorris
Administrator
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Posted: Tue Apr 29th, 2008 11:46 pm |
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I remember it well.
We hadn't actually moved here yet, but we were in town. We were coming down highway 13, and were near Bolivar when the tornado hit the south side of Springfield. We were listening, of course, to KTTS.
Wasn't that the same storm that took the roof off KWTO's building at 2750 S. Campbell? I heard some stories about announcers hiding under the consoles.
Wow, what a night!
Art
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VORTEXX
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 30th, 2008 12:51 am |
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You're right Art....The tornado basically hit the Dillion's store head on...(The Incredible Pizza Company is there now)....I can't remember who was at KWTO then....I think Wan and Monte were there at the time as engineers....The parking lots were full of splinters, wood, shingles, nails, tarpaper and associated debris....I think I had 3-4 flat tires the first week...I don't know who was on the air at the time...If they are "LURKING" and could add a first person observation like you and XGM did or if anyone has a snippet to add please do so....Jim
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Respect the history of radio
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 19th, 2008 |
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Posted: Wed Apr 30th, 2008 01:34 am |
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If I am not mistaken -- Brent Dunn was on the air at Rock 99, that was back when they (Rock 99) owned the younger market in Springfield and the area with Woody in the Morning. Correct me if I am wrong.
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Buddy Dornster
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| Joined: | Sun Feb 4th, 2007 |
| Location: | Missouri USA |
| Posts: | 144 |
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Posted: Wed Apr 30th, 2008 03:05 am |
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I remember that I still did some part time work for KTTS then, and my job was to stand in the doorway of the FM transmitter shack behind KOLR-10 to reset any overloads and keep the thing humming. The KOLR folks kept the back door unlocked for me, and the film vault was just inside the back door. That was the shelter for TV folks then.
As I was standing in the doorway, listening to all the cut-ins, I could see from that vantage point the lights going out in the various parts of southern Springfield. Several of the KOLR-10 folks watched with me.
'Tis an image that will stay there for quite some time.
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artmorris
Administrator
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Posted: Wed Apr 30th, 2008 10:53 am |
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RE: Rock 99
Was Rock 99 live by then? Or were they still automated? I think that was still when they were running the "TM Rock" format. Their numbers were still huge in the youth market. Woody & TK were still at the old KGBX at that point, I believe. But, it wasn't long before things changed.
Clearly KTTS was the hero of the night. I remember Dan Shelley at one point saying, "I'm getting the hell out of here" from one of the mobile units in the middle of a storm.
We moved to Bolivar shortly after this event, when I took a job with Mel Pulley at KYOO. He was so affected by the storm that he plunked down the cash for one of those Bill Ellason color radar units (http://www.ewradar.com). Or, as Mel so memorably described it on the air, in his deep Mississippi accent, "now lets look at the KYOO colored radar"........
Art
Last edited on Wed Apr 30th, 2008 11:01 am by artmorris
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