The front page of the times herald from Port Huron, Michigan from Saturday, May 23rd, 1953.

Michigan, USA

Monday, May 18th, 1953 – A squall line from the north brought cold, damp weather to Oakland County, MI, for over three days. Three days later, on Thursday, May 21st, 1953, severe thunderstorms developed, pushing cold air eastward across Michigan, while a warm front from the south advanced, delivering humid temperatures to St. Clair County. The protracted battle between cooler temperatures and warm, moist air from the south reached its climax over Smiths Creek, Michigan at 3:30pm.

By 4:21pm, local radio stations were receiving reports from the Yale area of severe weather conditions, including heavy winds, rain mixed with hail, and darkening skies. As the winds strengthened to 40MPH, a funnel cloud 200 yards wide began to form. At the WTTH Radio Broadcast Centre in Michigan, host Robin Busse issued an urgent warning to residents, notifying them of a tornado touchdown in Smiths Creek, Michigan and advising them to seek shelter immediately in their basements. Before the signal was lost, Robin Busse made a final plea, exclaiming “OH MY… I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS! PLEASE SEEK SHELTER! HEAD TO YOUR BASEMENTS!” as the wind howled in the background.

The tornado that struck Smiths Creek, Michigan, then entered Port Huron, Michigan, crossing a Lumber Yard on Military Street, and toppling railroad cars along its path before crossing over the St. Clair River. Ralph Polovich, who was a Times Herald Photographer pulled over on Water Street in Port Huron, Michigan to snap a picture of a ‘’White Water Spout’’ as it crossed the river into Sarnia.

Sarnia, Ontario

May 21st, 1953 started off as any other day; a toasty 29 degrees Celsius at 10:24am. By 12:45pm, the temperature rose to 31 degrees Celsius and up to 35 degrees Celsius by 4:25pm. The thunderstorm that led to the tornado dumped golf ball/baseball-sized hail on Sarnia – the hail, which is credited towards saving lives, cleared the streets of motorists and pedestrians as shelter had been found before the tornado struck.

Another radio station (CHOK), located downtown at 148 Front Street North, was broadcasting music and weather updates to the residents of Sarnia. Karl Monk, who served as the stations manager, started his shift at 4pm. ‘’We got some pretty wild weather coming from the West; raining like cats and dogs’’. “Ladies and gentlemen, I just received a note that a tornado has touched down just west of Port Huron. This storm is tracking eastward towards the St. Clair River and has the capabilities to generate a tornado in the Sarnia Lambton Area’’ he announced.

By 5:45pm the tornado hit South of Sarnia Harbor, where it grew in size to 980 yards wide. Moving to the northeast, the tornado hit the downtown area directly, damaging nearly 100 commercial buildings along Front Street and Christina Street.

The Imperial Theatre’s renowned auditorium in Sarnia, suffered a catastrophic collapse. At least 150 homes were damaged, and prior to exiting Sarnia, the tornado veered northeast an began to dissipate as its path narrowed to just 33 yards in width. CHOK maintained continuous coverage throughout the storm, earning recognition for its tireless warnings to Port Huron and Sarnia residents regarding the impending tornado. Much like Robin Busse, Karl Monk was subsequently credited with saving lives through his timely warnings to the public.

the View through the collapsed dome of the Imperial Theatre, Courtesy of the Sarnia Historical Society.

Interesting Facts:

Most residents initially believed that an explosion had occurred at the Imperial Oil Refinery in Sarnia. Unbeknownst to them, this was the sound of the actual tornado on the ground.
The tornado was believed to have been on the ground for almost 2.5 hours.
When the tornado hit, it caused damages exceeding 17 million dollars, left 500 homeless, and made both countries make changes to the way storm warnings were handled.
Many survivors reported severe damage to their homes, while houses across the street remained unscathed.
The acting Mayor of Sarnia read that the Riot Act would be issued at 11pm that night, which forbade people from going downtown to check out the damage to the area. The area was littered with hazards such as debris, mangled power lines, dead birds and animals, etc. It gave permission for the military to take charge, sending in military personnel from the Ipperwash area, and even calling in the RCMP in to help residents clean up. The National Guard was also called into protect abandoned properties in Port Huron.
Just 3 weeks later, on June 8th, an F5 tornado hit Flint, Michigan at about 8:30pm, touching down by a drive-in theatre and killing 116 residents. Coincidentally, on this day, a dinner was being hosted in Michigan honouring Robin Busse from WTTH for his heroic broadcast just 3 weeks earlier.
Mail from Flint was found in the debris in Sarnia days after the tornado struck.

damage on Brock Street, Courtesy of the Sarnia Historical Society.

One of our Moderators at Instant Weather, Miranda, lives in Sarnia. Her mom was 5 years old and living in Sarnia when the tornado hit. When Miranda asked her mom to describe what it was like, this is what she said:

“My mother, my sister, and myself lived on the corner of Maxwell and Indian Road, 926 Maxwell to be exact. Our house was a small bungalow, with no basement and no place to seek shelter. My mom was outside on a ladder at the time, tending to the property, when she heard the radio broadcaster telling Sarnia to ‘’Seek shelter immediately’’. She yelled for my sister and I, who were playing outside, to get inside right away.

I recall the sky transforming into a greenish-yellow hue, sirens blaring, and the wind beginning to pick up. The heat that had been intense all day, suddenly was met by a drastic drop in temperature. Hail started to fall, roughly the size of a tennis ball. I never seen the tornado, but I did hear what sounded like a train coming in the distance. The tornado did some damage to surrounding properties nearby, our house was spared thankfully.

Later that evening, my mom, sister and myself walked downtown to Christina Street and Front Street to see the devastation first-hand. I remember dead birds everywhere, along with the old cars flipped upside down on the roadways. We lost a lot of trees in Sarnia on this day. It was incredibly scary; I can remember it like it was yesterday.”