Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Palm Sunday tornadoes here in the Starke-Marshall area.
Shortly before 6 p.m. after massive thunderstorms passed through the area, the first tornado of many reported that day touched down in Starke County a few miles southwest of Hamlet. It crossed U.S. 30 and tore directly across Koontz Lake.
One-hundred vacation cottages were damaged. As one of the cottages was blown to pieces, the man inside was lifted into the air and thrown to his death 600 feet away.
