Atwood, Indiana

April 3, 1974

From Mark McConnell:
I was a 13-year old Boy Scout -born & raised in Warsaw when the tornados hit in 1974. That was the first time I remember seeing mammatus formations (I didn't know what they were called then). I do remember seeing the storm warnings on TV then -'seek shelter immediately -these warnings include all of northern Indiana'. We did seek shelter in our closet. During the aftermath my Boy Scout group did help the Red Cross to make & distribute sandwiches to the relief workers in Kosciusko County, as well as help clean up at various sites. My family & I, as well as some scout friends were helping clean up a chicken farm near Atwood which was totally demolished. Most memorably, I recollect carrying 6 live chickens in each hand while walking on 2x4's across the dreaded chicken sewage pits. The ammonia fumes rising from the pits were quite noxious. I'll never forget the sight of those chickens who did not survive -they were impaled between the wires of the cages they were in & stretched just as thin as the wire of those cages.

---