Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Sunday, November 10, 2002 was a broad late season high risk severe weather outbreak day across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mississippi Valley, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The storms resulted in over 76 tornadoes and 36 deaths across 17 states over a 24 hour period. Van Wert, Ohio was perhaps one of the more noteworthy of events as a significant F4 tornado swept through the countryside and town. This is a video compilation of home video, local coverage, photographs (no audio is included between 31:31 to 37:40) and a History Channel documentary on the event from a year afterwards. A quick aerial survey of portions of the damage track conclude the video.
All of the video featured was assembled and originally provided by Rick McCoy and the Van Wert County Emergency Management office for a presentation at the Iowa National Weather Association Severe Weather and Doppler Radar conference in March 2003. The video begins with a recreation of events that Rick McCoy could speak over to the audience at the conference. All material is presented here for historical posterity and general interest.
Sunday, November 10, 2002 was a broad late season high risk severe weather outbreak day across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mississippi Valley, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The storms resulted in over 76 tornadoes and 36 deaths across 17 states over a 24 hour period. Van Wert, Ohio was perhaps one of the more noteworthy of events as a significant F4 tornado swept through the countryside and town. This is a video compilation of home video, local coverage, photographs (no audio is included between 31:31 to 37:40) and a History Channel documentary on the event from a year afterwards. A quick aerial survey of portions of the damage track conclude the video.
All of the video featured was assembled and originally provided by Rick McCoy and the Van Wert County Emergency Management office for a presentation at the Iowa National Weather Association Severe Weather and Doppler Radar conference in March 2003. The video begins with a recreation of events that Rick McCoy could speak over to the audience at the conference. All material is presented here for historical posterity and general interest.
![Wrath of God: 1974 Super Outbreak Tornadoes [Documentary] 1999](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WMnuLOf9mSg/mqdefault.jpg "Wrath of God: 1974 Super Outbreak Tornadoes [Documentary] 1999
2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the devastating Super Outbreak of 148 tornadoes in 18-hours across the Midwest, Great Lakes, Northeast, Southeastern United States and Southern Ontario, Canada on April 3-4, 1974. It was the most widespread and vastly studied mega tornado outbreaks in the 20th century, elapsed in April 2011 by an even larger outbreak over many of the same geographic areas.
Numerous documentaries, television/cable programs, and many videos found on YouTube discuss the event in assorted detail. In 1999, Towers Productions produced this 45-minute documentary for A&E Home Video and The History Channel. Part of The Wrath of God series, it was one of the more comprehensive ever produced, and complemented a segment on the Roar of 1974 included in the Target Tornado program by The Weather Channel in 1994. While producers of this program took some visual liberties with assorted tornado stock footage; from a combination of meteorological overviews, eyewitnesses and survivor perspectives, this remains an excellent in-depth overview for anyone interested in learning about the event.
Further reading can be found here via the National Weather Service @NWSWilmingtonOH: https://www.weather.gov/iln/19740403
Remastered from videotape and presented in 1080p high definition.
© 1999 Towers Productions, The History Channel. All Rights Reserved")
