The Northwoods Tornado Outbreak – August 6, 1969

The tornado formed near the southeastern side of Stewart Lake, in Timothy Township at around 3:48 pm CST. Not much is known about the damage along its path between the starting point and the southwestern side of Crooked Lake Township. As the tornado approached the southwest part of the township, it crossed into areas between Andrus and Wood Lake, about 2.5 miles west of the tiny resort town of Outing, population 296. Per the NWS Duluth, while approaching the area on the west side of Roosevelt Lake, the tornado grew to about 1.5 miles in width and reached its peak intensity of an F4. The tornado hit the Roosevelt Narrows/Simmons Resort, located on the western shoreline, at 4:05 pm CST. Cabins, cars, and trees were tossed into the lake. In the Simmons resort, the tornado ripped the roof off of the main lodge. Three additional cabins further down the hill and the road were swept away by the winds. A large home, which had belonged to the former owners of the resort, was demolished and swept away. Unfortunately, there were two deaths confirmed at Simmons, along with 22 injuries.

The tornado then crossed the waters of Roosevelt Lake, and moved towards Bethany Bible Camp on the other side. 28 people from the Bethany Fellowship hunkered down in three cabins (two along the lakeshore and one on the hill above) as the tornado struck. The compound took a direct hit. One of the cabins was thrown into the lake, about 100 yards from where it had originated. Seven people were killed at Bethany, four of which were thrown into the lake. Outside of the compound, two others were killed along the shoreline. Two cabins to the south of the Bethany compound were swept away.

While doing research for this summary, Matt came across a few stories from people who were either in the area or directly in the path. Among these stories, there were descriptions of the tornado covering the northern sky and feeling the ground rumble as it passed by their location. There was one story that caught his eye. It came from the daughter of the then-owner of Simmons Resort on Roosevelt Lake. This is her story that she sent to us via email:

“On August 6th we had walked into Outing and had just arrived back at the resort around 4:00. We were sitting on the screened-in porch/office of the lodge, visiting with my mom, dad and grandmother. The phone rang and it was Floyd telling my dad that he had just received a call from Clint Converse, the local Forest Ranger, who said that there was a tornado coming our way from the west and that it would be a good idea to warn all of the resort guests to stay off of the lake. Floyd was helping Mr. Converse by calling several people in the community to warn them. My dad hopped in his truck and headed down the hill to notify everyone. We had been exposed to tornado warnings in Iowa, but had never really been affected by an actual tornado. Northern Minnesota rarely ever saw tornadoes at that time, so I don’t think any of us really felt too much fear or concern. After my dad arrived back at the lodge, we continued our visit on the porch and he stood by the front door looking to the west. All of the sudden he turned to us and said ‘we’re going to the basement.’ I remember seeing a black wall of clouds, but still had no idea of what was about to happen. We quickly gathered our dog and all of us, dad, mom, grandma, Roberta and me, headed down the stairs. We were not there very long when we heard the roar…and it is exactly like a train coming. It got really, really loud, and my dad said ‘we’re going into the fruit cellar, so we moved into a very tiny room off of the basement and shut the door. It was only a matter of minutes and it was perfectly quiet again. Dad opened the door and walked to the bottom of the steps with all of us following close behind. When we looked up the stairs, all we could see was blue sky where the top of our stairway should have been. Dad led the way and the rest of us followed and then realized the whole roof of the lodge was gone. There were very odd things, like the cake pan that was sitting on the kitchen counter from the cake my mom had just baked, but the cake in it was gone. I remember where we had been surrounded by huge, tall beautiful pines that were now completely barren with no trees in sight. We could see straight across the lake to where Bethany Camp had been and was now totally gone, and all the way down the highway to where Floyd and Thelma’s house was no longer there…There were several people injured and two people died at our resort, an elderly gentleman, who I was told had a heart attack and a middle aged woman, who died from injuries. A young couple from Iowa, that was in Cabin 4 with their parents and other family members, told of the young dad being picked up and thrown out of the cabin and finding their baby close by on top of a mattress completely fine.”