My grandfather, Wayne Hershberger, was 31 years old in 1974 when the devastating tornado tore through the area.
On the evening of April 3, he was driving into Xenia with a friend on Lower Bellbrook Road in a 1961 Ford Falcon when the tornado appeared to come within 100 yards of them.
“She had said, 'I'm going to stop and let you drive. I said, no, don't you dare," Hershberger said. "It was right on the road. And so I told her to put the pedal to the metal and go. And she did.”
They pulled into a gas station and ran inside. He pinned her against the wall to protect her as they stood near fragile plate glass windows.
“I looked off to my right towards downtown Xenia, and that was a SuperValu warehouse at that time,” Hershberger said. “And I seen the tornado just peel that roof back on that SuperValu, just like it was a sardine can.”
Across town, Marsha Bayless was home with her family. The Greene County Historical Society connected me with Marsha, who was 22 years old when the tornado hit.
Bayless recalls her mother looking out the window.
“She thought it was a fire ‘cause it was actually debris. But it looked like smoke, and so she wanted to go down the street to see this big fire,” Bayless said. “What came to mind was 'The Wizard of Oz.' And I just remember that tornado. And so I said 'No, this is something else. You need to stay here.'”
My grandfather’s home survived the storm, but Bayless’ home suffered some damage.
“That's the one thing that I remember about the tornado was everybody pulled together."
A few hours after the storm passed, she walked through downtown Xenia on Market Street. She said she’d walked these roads her entire life, but had trouble recognizing where she was.
“As I walked a little further, I saw my mother's school and her classroom was on the second floor, right on the corner, and that whole room was completely gone and I remember, you know, I felt so blessed that she had come home a little earlier than she normally did, because she loved to work late in her classroom,” Bayless said.
Tornado aftermath
The next day, my grandfather and Bayless were among the many local residents who assisted with the cleanup efforts in Xenia, doing whatever they could to help.
“That's the one thing that I remember about the tornado was everybody pulled together,” Bayless said.
Looking through the wreckage, my grandpa helped search for victims pinned by the rubble.
“They would tell you just listen for voices or just people calling or whatever," Hershberger said.
Bayless remembers that communication to friends and family outside of town became a challenge due to the downed telephone and power lines.
“That's when people first got real clever about putting up plywood and writing on there we are. And as TV cameras would come to the area, that was kind of the way of communication,” Bayless said.
Forever changed
A total of 34 people died, over a thousand were injured. Adjusted for inflation, the tornado left over $500 million in damages.
Bayless said the experience changed her and people in the region forever.
“And that's the way you can tell the difference in people who have lived around here for a long time, and those who are new to the area. They don't take it seriously. It's a feeling that has never left me,” Bayless said.
Bayless has two nephews, one in Dayton and one in Trotwood.
“I remember they never cared about a tornado watch or even a warning," Bayless said. "And then that last tornado in Trotwood hit my nephew's home. So he feels differently about it now, too. He's serious about it as well.”
