May 6, 1967 GES Tornado

It was a busy Saturday night at the GES store near the Alabama State Fairgrounds in the West End section of Birmingham. The date was May 6, 1967.

The department store was filled with shoppers about 7 p.m. when a store manager saw a tornado approaching. He yelled for customers to get down seconds before the twister struck the store.

A 57 year old woman who was visiting her daughter on First Court West as she watched the tornado from the front door. She was killed when 2×12 timbers launched airborne from a nearby lumber yard was hurled into the house.

Birmingham Deputy Fire Chief Neal Gallant watched the storm as it tore down Lomb Avenue. A five block area near the Fairgrounds was hardest hit.

The evening feature at the Fair Park Drive Inn was cancelled when the tornado ripped the screen down. No big loss. The feature was “Weird World of LSD.”

Twenty five people were injured along the F2 tornado’s four mile path. Two homes were destroyed and sixty damaged. Another thirty industrial buildings were damaged.

Do you have memories of this storm? Please add your post…

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