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Saugatuck Tornado 1956

Oral History
"Tracking the Storm," a 2006 Grand Rapids channel 8 WOOD TV documentary about the April 3, 1956 F-5 Tornado that killed 17 and injured 340 people in West Michigan. This digital copy of the television program is copyrighted material and includes the commercials framing the original broadcast. The documentary is hosted by Storm Team 8 meteorologists Bill Steffen and Craig James. The first segment presented by meteorologist Joe Sullivan begins at Oval Beach and traces the tornado's northewestern path of destruction from the Presbyterian Camp, to the Oval Beach House, and the Kalamazoo Light House. Joe Sullivan interviews Gene Schoeneich at the Cook-Bennett mansion (Gene's father was the mansion's caretaker) and Jack Sheridan at the site of the lighthouse.
Saugatuck Tornado 1956 picture number 1

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This tornado destroyed the Stoughton Hall at the Presbyterian Camps, the Beach House at Oval Beach, the Lighthouse, homes and farms. The broadcast team rates the 1956 tornado as an F-5 (the highest possible) and theorizes that the damage was actually the work of two tornadoes.

Weather, extreme

Winthers, Sally

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Found in Collection

To view this recording, scroll down to the bottom of this entry and click the blue web link. This video was created by Saugatuck-Douglas History Center volunteers or was donated to the Center in a good faith effort to preserve local history. If you feel this content should not be available to the public — or have additional information that will add context to this interview — please contact the SDHC Archives at [email protected].

Mar 27, 2006

27

DVD version

5 in

5 in

AWS/VidArch SSD/DVD originals drawer

Kalamazoo Lighthouses 1839/1858/1956-presentCook-Bennett-Denison Mansion b.1916/1920Sheridan, John "Jack" O. 1938-Schoeneich, James Carl 1927-1992Schoeneich, Eugene "Gene"Saugatuck Beach House

Torando April 3, 1956

https://sdhc-collections.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/videos/096-Tornado.mp4

06/21/2025

06/22/2025