April 1974 Tornado Destroys Windsor Curling Club
A tornado crossed the Detroit River and hit the Windsor Curling Club killing nine.
April 3, 1974 is a day that made weather history. 148 tornadoes hit 13 states and Ontario on that day and in the early morning hours of the next day. Meteorologists simply call it the Super Outbreak.
Several tornadoes hit Michigan. But, seldom will you find a mention of what happened just across the river.
A tornado formed over Flat Rock, crossed the Detroit River and hit Windsor. Nine people were killed when the twister hit the Windsor Curling Club. Thirty others were injured.
Here’s what a survivor told the CBC that night:
Survivor: No, no, no warning whatsoever. It just blew in suddenly.
Reporter: It was a big noise?
Survivor: I guess so. I don’t know. We ran. I ran in the men’s room. And I don’t know how I got out of there — and then ran outside and went around the building and fell six, seven times trying to find my husband because I knew that the wall had fallen on him on the other end. Because all the skips were at that end where it blew in.
Rob Miller retired last year as the Executive Producer of News for CBC Radio Windsor. He has clear memories of the 1974 tornado.
