1967 Oak Lawn Tornado Outbreak - Palos Hills - Oak Lawn - Chicago

Chicago

At 5:30 P.M., another strong, later F4-rated, tornado touched down near Palos Hills. Near the beginning of its path, the tornado downed multiple trees and two high transmission electrical towers. It strengthened and in the space of six minutes tore a 16.2-mile (65–mph ground speed) swath of destruction through Oak Lawn, Hometown, and Evergreen Park. It devastated the south side of Chicago before moving offshore to Lake Michigan as people were stuck in traffic during Friday rush hour. Many of the deaths occurred at traffic lights, where vehicles were thrown by the tornado. For that reason, this tornado ended up being the deadliest in the outbreak. Thirty-three people were killed and 1000 were injured, including 16 deaths alone at the intersection of Southwest Highway and W. 95th St. (US-12/20) in Oak Lawn. Several children were killed when a roller skating rink was struck. A high school, grocery store, tavern, market, motel, drive-in theater, restaurant, numerous apartments, and two gas stations were destroyed as well. A mobile home court was also destroyed and a large brick factory structure was damaged as well. It destroyed 152 homes and damaged 900, causing $50 million in damage.