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parallelled the Sarnia storm to its north and south. One of these tracked from
Strathroy to northeast of London whereas the other originated near Lambton Shores before weakening near St. Mary's. Significant tornado damage in the F2 to F4 range was also reported with these storms, and it is likely that these parent supercells were also of the cyclic variety. As many as nine individual tornadoes may have touched down during this outbreak. Financial losses in Canada totalled $ 15 million; five people were killed, 48 were injured, and 500 were left homeless.
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over 1 mi (1.6 km) wide tornado roared into Canada just south of Sarnia
Harbour (Grazulis, 1990). Moving to the northeast, the tornado passed directly through the downtown area where nearly a hundred commercial buildings sustained damage. A four-floor hotel on the waterfront lost many of its upper floors, as did a furniture store on Christina Street. The auditorium of the Imperial Theatre completely collapsed. Nearby however, a steel-reinforced telephone exchange building received minimal damage, as a result of its sturdy construction.
302:, were also off the air and had sustained even more severe damage than CHOK. In the days to come, radio stations in Detroit, Windsor, and London would aid in the relief effort by relaying messages and emergency information from CHOK to listeners around the region. Nevertheless, the work of local radio announcers such as Karl Monk at CHOK and Robin Busse at WTTH, who had kept listeners informed of the storm as it developed until their stations were knocked off the air, was credited for saving many lives.
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around 7 pm EDT (Grazulis, 1990). This suggests a total path length exceeding 120 km (75 mi), though it is highly probable that this damage path was made up of more than one tornado, possibly as many as four. At the very least, there were two other storm tracks that day both of which
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At least 150 homes on the more suburban outskirts of the city were damaged and in some instances reduced to rubble. Before exiting Sarnia, the tornado curved even further to the northeast and began to weaken, as its path narrowed to approximately 30 m (33 yd) across. The nearby radio
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into Canada, the parent thunderstorm dumped heavy amounts of rain and golf-ball-size hail on the city of Sarnia. This circumstance was credited with clearing the streets of motorists and pedestrians, thus reducing the potential number of tornado-related casualties. By 5:45 p.m., however, the
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before devastating the southern edge of Port Huron some 20 minutes later (Grazulis, 1990) resulting in widespread F3 and F4 damage. Two people were killed in Port Huron and 68 more were injured. Close to 400 homes were damaged or destroyed in the United States with monetary losses
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Both CHOK-AM (1070 kHz) and CHOK-FM (97.5 MHz) were knocked off the air; while the AM station returned to the air later that day, the FM station was never rebuilt and its licence was cancelled in 1957. CHOK would remain an AM-only station until adding an FM rebroadcaster 55 years
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Overall, the tornado was on the ground for 2 hours and 39 minutes, tracked 75–90 miles (121–145 km), and was 1–1.5 miles (1.6–2.4 km) wide at its peak. Seven people were killed, 117 others were injured, and damages were estimated $ 17.6 million (1953 USD).
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Although CHOK returned to the air within a few hours, it remained under emergency circumstances for several days, and Port Huron's two AM radio stations,
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Tornadoes - Atmospheric
Hazards Web Site - Ontario - Adaptation and Impacts Research Group - [Meteorological Service of Canada - The Green Lane]
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Aftermath: the photo here was taken by Gordon Cooke, a chemical engineer at
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totalling $ 2.6 million ($ 24.4 million 2018 USD)(Grazulis, 1990).
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was severely damaged by the tornado as well. As it moved into rural
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On the afternoon of
Thursday, May 21, 1953, a violent F4
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List of North
American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
460:"Imperial Theatre in Sarnia, CA - Cinema Treasures"
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240:(approximately 10 miles (16 km) southwest of
355:National Centers for Environmental Information
530:. U.S. Department of Commerce, Weather Bureau
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434:"Our History – Bluewater Power Distribution"
338:St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films.
220:that also produced two intense tornadoes in
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336:Significant Tornadoes: 1880–1989, Vol. 2.
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528:"Climatological Data: National summary"
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316:List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
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526:Bureau, United States Weather (1953).
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418:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
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662:May 1953 events in the United States
483:. Canadian Communications Foundation
234:exceedingly active and deadly season
130:7 fatalities, 117 injuries
357:(Report). National Weather Service
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351:Michigan Event Report: F4 Tornado
481:History of Canadian Broadcasting
174:Most severe tornado damage; see
218:two-day severe weather outbreak
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81:May 21, 1953, 7:00 p.m.
73:2 hours, 39 minutes
62:May 21, 1953, 4:21 p.m.
162:1953 Sarnia tornado outbreak
22:1953 Sarnia, Ontario tornado
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612:F4 tornadoes by location
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632:Tornadoes in Michigan
440:on September 10, 2011
334:Grazulis, T. (1990).
188:struck the cities of
637:Tornadoes in Ontario
607:F4 tornadoes by date
252:Before crossing the
190:Port Huron, Michigan
147:Port Huron, Michigan
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622:Tornadoes of 1953
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601:Categories
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329:References
242:Port Huron
127:Fatalities
78:Dissipated
477:"CHOK-AM"
290:Aftermath
279:Stratford
206:Stratford
544:cite web
508:Archived
444:June 17,
414:cite web
404:June 15,
310:See also
261:station
159:Part of
70:Duration
574:82°24′W
571:42°58′N
306:later.
267:Lambton
210:Ontario
186:tornado
110:tornado
30:tornado
642:Sarnia
246:Tappan
214:Canada
202:Canada
135:Damage
104:rating
59:Formed
398:(PDF)
391:(PDF)
275:Nairn
556:help
536:2022
489:2019
446:2011
420:link
406:2011
363:2021
300:WHLS
298:and
296:WTTH
269:and
263:CHOK
222:Iowa
196:and
165:and
102:Max.
208:,
83:EDT
64:EDT
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108:F4
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