A tornado, reportedly the equivalent of an F5, struck in 1966 and devastated the campus. Several buildings were so badly damaged that they couldn't be saved. The most common pictures of the damage sustained by Stoffer Science Hall depict the southern view of the building. Although the damage portrayed on the southern side is considerable, few people are aware that the worst damage was on the northern side of the building.
At top is the damaged north side of the building. Few windows are left intact. This photo is a testament of a tornado of such power that even after having traversed several miles and demolishing multiple campus buildings, it still had the strength left to lift and remove the observatory dome.
The northwest damage can be seen (second from top) in this picture taken from the driveway into the Morgan Hall front parking lot. It appears almost like the tornado, as an afterthought, gave the building a parting shot. The western-most lecture hall, ST101, was nearly destroyed, although the other lecture hall appears to have escaped major damage. The three lower pictures show the extent of the destruction from three different angles: the western entry, the north side and from inside the lobby.
All photos by Mike Worsick, courtesy of Mabee Library Archives.
