Tornado Hill

The book is Ivy Ruckman's Night of the Twisters, a young adult novel Harper & Row published in 1984. Ruckman, a native of Hastings, built it on the experience of her first cousin's family, whose house on Bismark Road was destroyed by the F4 tornado, and she began her research in May 1982, when most of the ruined areas had been rebuilt. Kelly Buck, a Hall County sheriff's deputy who spotted the first of the seven tornadoes, inspired the character Officer Kelly. The 1996 Family Channel film moved the story to a fictional town called Blainsworth.

What the plaque says

Tornado Hill Seven tornadoes struck Grand Island and surrounding areas on the night of June 3, 1980. They were part of a supercell thunderstorm complex that produced eighteen tornadoes from Nebraska to West Virginia. The complex approached Grand Island from the north during the early evening. It moved slowly south- southeast through the city at around eight miles per hour. All seven tornadoes struck within a three-hour period. One reached F4 intensity, leaving a six-mile path of destruction more than a half-mile wide. Two other tornadoes were rated F3. The storm killed five people and injured about 200. It destroyed hundreds of homes and many businesses. Total damage was estimated at over $200 million. The event was also unusual for producing three tornadoes that rotated clockwise. This is rare in the northern hemisphere, where over 99 percent of tornadoes rotate counter-clockwise. The disaster inspired a book and a made-for-television movie entitled 'Night of the Twisters', as well as tornado and engineering research. The debris from the devastation was collected here, creating a park for the people of Grand Island. Community of Grand Island Hall County Historical Society History Nebraska, 2020

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer — 2.6 mi
  Edward Durell Stone's island pavilion in Grand Island and an 1890s railroad town of moved buildings, among them the cottage where Henry Fonda was born in 1905.

More markers nearby

• La Grande Isle — 1.4 mi
• The Lincoln Memorial Highway — 1.5 mi
• Pioneer Park — 1.5 mi
• Old Dodge School - World War II POW Branch Camp — 1.7 mi