1989 Coldenham tornado

1989 F1 tornado in New York, US East Coldenham Elementary School wall collapse.webp 300 The collapsed wall, as seen after the tornado. 26 minutes November 16, 1989 November 16, 1989 , 12:31 pm. CDT (UTC−05:00) November 16, 1989 , 12:57 pm. CDT (UTC−05:00) atl ~100 mph km/h on F1 9 (+1 indirect) 18 1989 $25 million (1989 USD) Orange County, New York November 1989 tornado outbreak and Tornadoes of 1989 In the afternoon hours of November 16, 1989, a relatively weak but deadly tornado moved north through Orange County, located in the state of New York. Despite causing relatively little damage for the majority of its path, late in its life the tornado blew down a free-standing cafeteria wall located at the East Coldenham Elementary School, killing nine students and injuring eighteen others. Though the event was officially recorded as a tornado, conclusive evidence from a survey by a team led by Ted Fujita and others indicates that it was likely a downburst instead, although the disaster is still officially attributed to this tornado.November 2025 If this was in fact a tornado, this would make it the deadliest recorded tornado in New York State history. Meteorological synopsis November 1989 tornado outbreak#Meteorological synopsis A destructive tornado outbreak struck a wide swath of the Southern and Eastern United States as well as Canada on November 15 and 16, 1989. It produced at least 40 tornadoes, including an F4 tornado in Huntsville, Alabama. Several other significant tornadoes were reported across 15 states.Huntsville Tornado, Nov. 15, 1989 - Southern Region Disaster Survey https://www.weather.gov/bmx/event_11151989_part1 30 September 2024 weather.gov Tornado summary Official records state that the tornado touched down to the south in Monroe at approximately 12:31 p.m. EST (17:31 UTC), moving north for around 9 mi km in to the East Coldenham area. As the storm struck the elementary school, approximately 120 children were eating lunch in the school cafeteria. One of the walls collapsed onto numerous children, killing seven instantly and injuring at least 20. Two of the injured later died in hospitals. When the tornado began to hit the school, the principal and other staff began trying to move students into the hallways in the immediate seconds before the collapse. Roughly 200 state and local police, fire fighters, and ambulance workers converged on the school to provide assistance, along with 25 ambulances, several fire rescue vans, and a helicopter. The search and rescue operations were completed by 7:15 p.m. EST (00:15 UTC) that evening.Grazulis Thomas P. Significant tornadoes, 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events 1993 Environmental Films 1-879362-03-1 St. Johnsbury, Vermont 116Lietz Joshua Tornadoes on November 16, 1989 http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/1989/11/16/map usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20200630194315/http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/1989/11/16/map June 30, 2020 June 29, 2020 Tornado History Project16 November 1989 1989 — Nov 16, Tornado, East Coldenham Elementary Sch., Newburgh, NY https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/1989-nov-16-tornado-east-coldenham-elementary-sch-newburgh-ny1-9-10/ November 16, 2021 U.S. Deadly Events Aftermath Fatalities Ten people were killed by the tornado; nine of these fatalities were direct. All ten people killed were children, and a tenth child was hit and killed by a distracted driver who was staring at the damaged elementary school.November 16, 2021 East Coldenham Elementary remembers students killed by tornado 32 years ago https://westchester.news12.com/east-coldenham-elementary-remembers-students-killed-by-tornado-32-years-ago 2024-12-03 News 122021-11-17 Remembering the Lives Lost During the 1989 Coldenham Tragedy https://hudsonvalleycountry.com/remembering-the-lives-lost-during-the-1989-coldenham-tragedy/ 2024-12-03 The Wolf en The other nine deaths occurred when a brick-laden wall that supported the cafeteria ceiling gave out while children were eating lunch, collapsing into the building and killing seven, with two more children dying at hospitals days later.November 16, 1989 DEATH TOLL FROM VIOLENT WINDS REACHES 27 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/11/17/death-toll-from-violent-winds-reaches-27/a410cc22-0585-4c8a-ad47-988699876ac6/ December 3, 2024 Washington PostJennings Lisa 1989-11-22 School Wall Collapses in Storm, Killing 7 N.Y. Pupils https://www.edweek.org/education/school-wall-collapses-in-storm-killing-7-n-y-pupils/1989/11 2024-12-03 Education Week en 0277-4232 The 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.The Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald Record, November 17, 1989 See also 1978 Whippoorwill tornado Notes and footnotes Footnotes References 1989-11-16 11-16 Category:Orange County, New York 1989-11-16