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F4 Tornado Slams into Southern Hamden
Monday, July 10, 1989
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Originally Posted July 2009
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20 years ago - Hamden Tornado - July 10, 1989
It is hard to believe that it has been twenty years since an f4 tornado ripped through southern Hamden, leaving damages in the millions of dollars. The 1989 tornado was an incredible challenge for the department. The following day, I grabbed my VHS camcorder and documented much of the damage for the Department's training division - and, of course, for posterity. While shooting the video, I added commentary occasionally to establish exact locations because many areas were unrecognizable.
Afterward, I edited the raw video and made VHS copies for our department and for the Connecticut Commission on Fire Prevention and Control video library. Just recently, using a Mac, I digitally re-edited the original master tape to just under ten minutes (YouTube's limit), with better transitions and graphics. It is now available for viewing on YouTube. CLICK the picture on the right to view it.
Dave Johnson
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| Whitneyville Condos - Newhall and Augur (Photo by Ed Doiron, Jr.) |
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Ed. Note: Years later former Mayor John Carusone reported that the tornado had been reclassified as an ef5, due to estimated winds having reached 250 mph, when a spool of heavy cable from the Morse Street SNET warehouse was found in an upper floor of the middle school.
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| Tornado - July 10, 1989 - CLICK to enlarge pictures |
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John Corbett donated 60 photos and negatives of the aftermath of the 1989 Hamden tornado to the archives. Some of them are displayed below. He took the photos when he was held over for 72 hours straight with other personnel. John recalled that he and Ray Dobbs were on one of the rescue units the day after the tornado, when he was able to take these photos.
Many thanks to John and also to Ed Doiron, Jr. who donated his photos taken the day after the tornado struck.
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| Putnam Avenue near Newhall Street, looking toward Whitney Avenue (Photo by John Corbett) |
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| Ferraiola's is gone, and California Hair Designs is next (Photo by John Corbett) |
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| Conference (Photo by John Corbett) |
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| H.A. Leed |
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| Blake Circle Devastated (Photo by John Corbett) |
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| Condos on Putnam Avenue (Photo by John Corbett) |
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| Ferocity of the tornado flipped this Ford truck (Photo by Ed Doiron, Jr.) |
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| Unidentified news reporter looks on as Cmdr. Jack Laffin, Department chaplain Rev. Owen Sanderson and Local 2687 John Corbett converse. (Photo by Ed Doiron, Jr.) |
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| Whitneyville Condos - Newhall and Augur (Photo by Ed Doiron, Jr.) |
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| Dixwell at Dudley (Photo by Ed Doiron, Jr.) |
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| 1951 Maxim - 1989 |
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1951 Maxim: The Final Run
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When the 1989 tornado hit on July 10th, all off duty career firefighters were requested to report for duty. The calls were made from the Emergency Operations Center by Town Clerk Nancy Hurlburt, making me probably the only firefighter ever ordered to duty by his mother.
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Instructed to go to the nearest station, I reported to Station 9 along with Dave Strawhince and Paul Durkin. The only apparatus there was the spare 1951 Maxim, formerly Engine 59, once assigned to the now-defunct Vol Co. 9.
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We jump-started the Maxim off of Dave's pickup truck, checked to see if it would pump and roll, then gave it a quick wash as there was so much dust you couldn't see out the windshield.
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With a crew of Strawhince as the officer, myself as driver, and Durkin riding the tailboard, we put ourselves in service and were instructed to report to Station 4. From there, as "Engine 59" (as we used the nostalgic call sign) we responded to a few calls including a reported structure fire at Jimmy's in the Plaza.
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We remained in service until the northend pieces came back in service. We then put the old girl away at 9s. She was sold a short while after. A good way to send her off, sorrily to a poor fate.
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Clark D. Hurlburt
Asst. Chief (Ret.)
Posted 8/6/2021
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| Dolores Fortuna (center) flanked by daughter Anna-Marie and husband Tom. |
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| Sears Building Proved a Safe Haven in '89
Dolores Fortuna's memory of the event is a vivid as anyone's. It was approaching five in the afternoon and she was about to leave the Hamden Sears store, where she worked in the accounting department. Her father was supposed to pick her up, but he was still at the H.A. Leed Company on Leeder Hill Drive.
It was getting very dark as Dolores waited for her dad by the plate glass doors. She says that she remembers that the doors and windows were rattling something awful, and she wanted to get out of there fast. Just like everyone else in Hamden that afternoon, Dolores could not have imagined that an F4 tornado would be ripping up the south end of town at that very moment - and the H.A. Leed building was among its many casualties.
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Fortunately, noted Dolores, her father was in that part of the Leed building that withstood the estimated 200 m.p.h. winds, although his car was totaled out in the front parking area. As for Dolores, she probably could not have had any better protection than the Sears building. Five years later, it would take a lot more than high winds to bring that baby down.
Posted 8/18/12
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| July 1989 - Rear of H.A. Leed Building |
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| Only heavy machinery could bring the Sears building down - CLICK to read about the demise of the Sears building. |
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