1968 Wheelersburg, Ohio tornado outbreak

Falmouth–Dover, Kentucky–Ripley, Ohio

This tornado began in Kentucky where 380 homes were damaged and 180 others were destroyed in and around Falmouth. 115 of the 127 homes in the small town of Dover were badly damaged. Many homes and barns were also destroyed around the towns of Berlin, Augusta, Bladeston, and Chatham as well. The tornado crossed into Ohio and struck the Ripley area, where 30 homes were damaged, 40 barns were destroyed, and a tobacco warehouse and a shoe plant were badly damaged. It then continued through Brown County, destroying 17 barns, before moving through Adams County, where 25 homes and barns were damaged or destroyed and four trailer homes were destroyed. Hundreds of people were injured. The tornado occasionally lifted as it dipped into valleys but mostly remained on the ground, though it may have been a tornado family. It produced high-end F4 damage and may have been an F5 like the Wheelersburg–Gallipolis event, but is officially rated F4.

Wheelersburg–Gallipolis

At around 4 PM EDT, the deadliest tornado touched down. Touching down just east of the Ohio River in Scioto County east of South Shore, Kentucky, the F5 tornado tore through the Wheelersburg area causing extensive damage to many structures. There, it first destroyed a transfer company and a farm supply store. A train was derailed and thrown from the tracks nearby. 550 homes were damaged or destroyed in the Dogwood Ridge area of Wheelersburg, some of which were swept away. A greenhouse was destroyed and a furniture company had its roof torn off. A large metal power line truss tower was ripped off at the base and thrown by the tornado. Cars were tossed from route 52 and Wheelersburg Cemetery was damaged. Damage was estimated at around $2 million (in 1968 dollars). The storm moved east into Lawrence and Gallia counties and affected areas near and around the communities of Cadmus, Buckhorn, Centenary and Gallipolis, where the storm dissipated 34 miles (55 km) after its initial touchdown. The tornado caused damage in and around the rural communities of Flat Hollow, Little White, Oak, East Tygart, Siloam Bottoms, Lyra, and Sunshine. Sunshine Elementary School was badly damaged. The tornado caused damage in the Gallipolis area before dissipating, where six house trailers, eight homes, and four farm buildings were destroyed. 15 buildings were damaged at Gallipolis State Institute. The tornado injured 92 people and caused at least $2,000,000 in damage. The F5 rating is disputed due to the fact that the homes that were swept away were not properly anchored to their foundations. Some National Weather Service records show that the tornado began in Greenup County, Kentucky, making its track 38 miles (61 km) long and 400 yards (0.23 mi) wide.

In all, the tornado killed seven people and injured nearly 100 others. Approximately 69 homes and 28 other buildings were destroyed and another 476 structures were damaged. Then-Governor Jim Rhodes called in the National Guard to assist the rescue and cleanup efforts. This was the first official F5 tornado in Ohio since tornado records began in 1950. Initially though, a tornado in Pittsfield, Ohio, during the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak was the first official F5 in Ohio before being lowered to an F4, thus making the Wheelersburg–Gallipolis F5 the first. Other F5s in Ohio took place in Cincinnati and Xenia (near Dayton) on April 3, 1974, and in Niles near Youngstown and Warren on May 31, 1985. In 1968, the Wheelersburg–Gallipolis F5 was one of four F5s recorded across the US—the others being in Charles City and Oelwein in Iowa on May 15 and in Tracy, Minnesota, on June 13.