On
March 21st, 1952, a cluster of tornadoes struck the
Mississippi valley. The damage stretched across nine states; 231
people died and 1,829 were injured. In White County, Arkansas, a
pair of cyclones leveled the town of Judsonia, destroyed 650
buildings, and killed 46 people.[Qu5]
Thirteen
days later, as the townsfolk were still picking through the wreckage,
twenty-six scientists arrived in Judsonia from Chicago. Instead of
first aid kits and blankets, they carried tape recorders and
notebooks. They fanned out across White County, picked a
representative cross-section of homes, and asked their inhabitants if
they could interview them.
To
their own surprise, most of the people they asked said yes.