East Coldenham School Downburst
The East Coldenham Elementary School disaster, sometimes known simply as the Coldenham disaster, was a disaster that occurred on November 16, 1989 in the Town of Newburgh, New York, at approx. 11:35 a.m., in which a tornado-strength wind blew down a free-standing cafeteria wall, killing nine students and injuring 18 others. Though the event was officially recorded as a F1 tornado, conclusive evidence from a survey by a team led by Ted Fujita and others indicates that it was a downburst instead.
The East Coldenham Elementary School disaster received a tremendous amount of national and international media coverage at the time of the tragedy because most major news media outlets were at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, just ten miles away, to cover the awarding of the Sylvanus Thayer Award to former President Ronald Reagan, and accordingly were on site within minutes.
Read more about this topic: November 1989 Tornado Outbreak
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