Tornado Poems Author:Arnold Adoff These poems are about one tornado during one series of tragic storms; the Xenia tornado of April 3, 1974. This tornado was part of a massive outbreak of tornadoes that struck thirteen states during a sixteen-hour period; a period in which there were 148 recorded tornadoes, covering 2500 miles, an outbreak of storms that scientists called a "once... more »-in-a-century" event. Here Adoff tells what it is like to prepare for a catastrophe, knowing full well that there is no real defense, and shows how life persists in odd little ways in the aftermath.« less