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On April 27, 1943, a massive tornado swept through Mogadore and Akron, Ohio. This storm resulted in huge damage to these two towns. At the time, the country was engaged in World War II. Akron was the main supplier of tires and aircraft parts for the war effort.

Actually, I had not heard of this tornado and I have lived in the Akron area all of my life. I was born in 1951 but had not heard anything mentioned of this storm. After my mother-in-law passed away in early 2008, my wife and I was going through some of her things and found that she had boxes and boxes of old family photographs. In one of these boxes was an old brown envelope that contained these pictures. They were taken on April 28, 1943, the day after the storm. They had been taken by a family member and are the "only" pictures of their kind.

I wanted to know more about this event but had no luck. First, I asked my sister, who is older than me. She was a teenager in the 1940s. She remembered a tornado but couldn't remember when it happened. I knew that it had to have been around the 1940s because of the people's dress and the vehicles in the pictures.

I then began looking all over the internet but was amazed at the fact that I could not find anything on this topic. No listings for the tornado of '43 anywhere. So I decided to check with my old friend, Mark Price.

Actually, Mark and I have never met. But he writes history for the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper here in Akron and I have had several dealings with him over the last few years. Sure enough, as soon as I e-mailed Mark, I got an answer. The storm went through this area on April 27, 1943. Mark wrote that Mogadore, Ohio was hit hardest. The storm then came through Akron with devestating effects.

Thanks to Mark Price at the Akron Beacon Journal, the pictures that I have now tell the story of that great storm. I still don't know which of the family took the photos, and probably never will. All of the elderly members of my wife's family are now deceased. But the pictures have survived, locked away for over 65 years in an old box in the attic.

Since I couldn't find anything on this storm on the internet, I thought that these photos should be added so that if anyone wanted to know about this tornado, there would be something here for them.

By the way, I don't think anyone was seriously injured by this storm, but that is yet to be found. I plan to research this event and will add anything I can find to this blog in the future. If anyone out there can tell me anything at all about this storm, please, by all means, e-mail me at bomurs@aol.com.

NOTE: Mark Price and I finally met at an outting in 2013.


I would like to thank all of those who have sent letters about their experiences during this tornado. I have posted most of the letters here which follow. Thank you all! To others who wish to send an e-mail, please do. I will post all that I get unless you state that you do not want your letter posted.