Benton County F4 Tornado

August 26, 1965

On the evening of August 26^th, a strong tornado torn through Benton County Iowa. The F4 tornado hit numerous farms causing one fatality and about seventeen injuries. The hardest hit area was northwest of Mt. Auburn, IA. The tornado first touched down around the city of La Porte, IA and traveled southeast for about 5 miles. The La Porte city police department received the first report of the storm at approximately 8:30 p.m.

There were about 31 farms that had damages and numerous livestock were lost as a result of the tornado. The fatality occurred as a man was trying to get from the trailer where he was staying at the time to the farm house. He was found laying in the yard and died a few minutes after being taken to the hospital.

Total storm damages were estimated at 2.5 million dollars.

National Climate Data Center August 26, 1965 event record for Benton County

Pictures from Cedar Rapids Public Library Digital Newspaper Archive (Cedar Rapids Gazette August 27, 1965)