Palm Sunday Tornado

There are two eras in Manitou Beach, Michigan's history:

Before April 11, 1965 - and after....

THE PALM SUNDAY TORNADO - APRIL 11, 1965

[Page 2 - tornado witnesses] [Page 3 - the damage path] [Page 4 - aftermath]

When residents of Manitou Beach, Michigan awoke to the beautiful morning of Palm Sunday, April 11, 1965, no one could have possibly imagined that the day would end like no other they had previously experienced. The sun shone over the lake resort though a mix of hazy clouds, warming the countryside about 15-20 degrees higher than the predicted maximum temperature. Many took advantage of this pleasant day doing outside chores and spring cleanup around their cottages.

By early afternoon, the rain came around more regularly, and a few clusters of showers produced small hail, yet many noted the sun always seemed to shine while it rained. As the afternoon progressed, the sky began to take on a strange, yellow-pink hue (see graphic below).

The sky over lower Michigan, April 11, 1965

A few residents turned on their radios or televisions to get the evening weather forecast, but no reports out of the ordinary were broadcast. Ordinary daily tasks continued with little thought, though those who lived to see April 12, 1965 would remember everything they did this day, before their world literally crumbled around them. By dinnertime, the golden sky slowly transformed to grayish-green, then black as the storm systems began to march across lower Michigan. Still, no one saw this as a warning of horrible things to come. Dinners were still prepared, evening drives were taken, while still others prepared to attend evening Palm Sunday services.

Around 50 people gathered at the Manitou Beach Bible Church, the newest house of worship built at Manitou Beach. The stone church was built in 1964 and dedicated in January 1965, just 4 months before it was to be destroyed. It was nearing 7:45 p.m, and a huge, F-4 tornado was crossing into Lenawee County at this moment, cutting a deadly swath across the rural landscape. It would hit the quiet lake resort head on. A family of six were killed in their home, which had no basement, on the outskirts of Manitou Beach. At the Manitou Beach Bible Church, Pastor Jack Nicholson was giving his sermon when a loud crash was heard above their heads. The steeple became dislodged in the rapidly building wind and tumbled down the roof. A few people in the back of the church went to investigate, but promptly returned. They told everyone in the sanctuary to head for the basement.

Despite a rapid evacuation, nearly two-dozen people were still upstairs when the south wall of the church disappeared. The entire building exploded, trapping some in the debris, while scattering others out into the church yard. (See picture below). No one at the church died that night, but in the days after, three would perish as a result of their injuries. The St. Mary on the Lake Catholic Church just east of the Bible church was nearly destroyed. Only the confessional remained, as well as the statue of Mary in the church courtyard. The famed dance pavilion, built to replace the original hall that burned just a year and a half before, was also destroyed in the winds. Nearby, the Manitou Beach school was leveled, scattering desks and students' personal effects for miles around.

The tornado, after heading almost due east, turned on a northeasterly path, mincing nearly every cottage between Devils and Round Lakes. Residents doing their laundry at the laundromat (see photos at bottom of page) dove under tables or into dryers to escape flying debris as the tornado whisked past. The Devils Lake Yacht Club, a three-story, former hotel from the early 1900s, lost portions of its roof, its interior walls blasted with bits of debris. People emerged from their wrecked homes and businesses, attempting to determine what had happened. Approximately 45 minutes after the tornado passed, the winds increased again, sending them scrambling for cover again. An unprecedented second tornado followed on nearly the same path as the first. This smaller twister did not tear through Manitou Beach. Instead, it passed about a mile to the south. Many residents who escaped the wrath of the first caught the brunt of the second. Most had little or no warning - media failed to pass along initial warnings and by the time warnings were given out about the second tornado, most along the damage path had no electricity to hear them.

The original Devils Lake dance pavilion was destroyed by fire Labor day morning, 1963. The dance hall was rebuilt and opened in early 1964, only to be destroyed again by the Palm Sunday tornado on April 11, 1965. Again, the owner reconstructed the dance hall. When the Pavilion closed in 1973, an era of dancing spanning some six decades came to a close. The building was converted into a grocery store and remains so, to this day.
Devils Lake Pavilion - destroyed

At the time of the tornado, Manitou Beach was primarily a seasonal resort, and many of the homes and cottages were unoccupied. Still, area hospitals had many injuries to contend with. Dozens of people were injured, several critically. The immediate death toll was nine, but rose to over a dozen in the aftermath. Manitou Beach was rebuilt during the summer of 1965. The two churches were replaced, as was the dance pavilion. The yacht club was repaired, along with many cottages and homes. The Manitou Beach school was not reconstructed, however, and students were transferred to nearby Addison. Some residents also chose not to rebuild their summer getaways and sold the lot, debris and all, to people interested in putting up a lakefront cabin. Since 1965, most of the Manitou Beach cottages have been transformed into year-around homes, and a tornado siren system was installed in the 1970s to give residents ample warning should another tornado threaten the area.

Laundromat - 1965

Laundromat - 2002

Many of the survivors interviewed in the years after the tornado remarked about the odd weather on April 11, 1965, but few of them recognized it as tornado weather. The local temperature had reached 72 degrees on April 6, and one degree higher on Palm Sunday. Most of them thought it was merely a humid spring day, a welcome change in the weather which had produced a typical long, cold Michigan winter. A significant snowstorm on February 25, 1965 had buried the region in several inches of blowing and drifting snow. Just three weeks prior to Palm Sunday, the temperature barely crept out of the single digits. Sunday, April 11, 1965 was a promising spring day, even when the sky began to turn salmon color sometime around 2-3 p.m. Most dismissed it as they did other days in memory prior to this day, where the sky turned colors and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Survivors only knew something was amiss when their animals started acting restless, or an eerie rumbling roar began to shake their house.

By then, it was too late.

The author of this page compiled a manuscript on the Palm Sunday Tornado's path through the Manitou Beach, Michigan area from 2000 to 2002. The manuscript was published in book form in August 2004, distributed by the Lenawee County Historical Society, and as of August 2007, several dozen copies are still available for sale. Email here for more information.