TEMPE, Ariz. — Christine and Nigel Sherriff were enjoying a relaxing day at their new Tempe home when suddenly, the wind picked up.
"We had a little pool on the patio and were sitting in it for most of the afternoon, and we could see way to the south, very dark, icky weather, and it did not look good," Nigel said.
Little did the couple know, the day would take a turn for the worst when a category F-1 tornado would rip through the city at 100 miles per hour. The gusts tore roofs off homes, uprooted trees and ripped power poles from their foundations.
The couple had just moved into their home near Southern Avenue and McClintock drive when the tornado hit.
"August 31st, 1971, it shows all the information about the terrible storm," Christine said, clutching an old, worn-out copy of "The Arizona Republic."
Nigel said he was bringing in the garbage bins when the storm started to kick in.
"I got blown threw the breezeway out to the center of the road, and I just measured it, it was over 77 feet, and I didn't touch the ground. It was straight to the breezeway, out to the road. I couldn't get up, I had to crawl to the front door, and I couldn't open the door that's when I started to panic," he explained.
The tornado's strong winds destroyed the couple's first home and frightened them in the process.
"Everything went black, you couldn't see out the window, and all I could hear was glass breaking," Christine said. "Becky had just woken up from a nap and was out in the living room with me and another couple who lived in our neighborhood.
"It was too much pressure from the winds, and finally, it calmed down, and I was able to pick Becky up and get through the kitchen and into the hall. The window blew in, and there were shards of glass embedded in her crib the next day however, Nigel was moving all of her furniture out of her room, and just as he got the last bit of furniture out, the ceiling caved in."
Fifty-one years later, their old home has since been rebuilt after bowing about a foot off the original foundation and is now for sale. As for the Sherriffs, they still live in their second home about 15 miles north of that wild weather moment that changed their lives and their now-grown kids forever.
"Anytime we get a serious storm, Christine would take the children and put them in the bathroom, so it did leave an impression. For them to get picked up and taken out of their rooms, they thought, what's mom doing, what's the matter with mom." the couple said.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there have been 269 tornadoes across the state between 1950 and 2020. But few were more destructive than the one that leveled Tempe 51 years ago.
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