It happened during a 36-hour stretch between November 21 and November 23, 1992, the weekend before the Thanksgiving holiday.
During that short period of time, 13 states were struck by a rash of tornadoes that killed 26 people and injured another 638.
Of the 95 tornadoes that occurred, 41 were rated F3 or "strong", while six of the tornadoes were rated F4 or "violent" on the Fujita scale measuring the severity of tornadoes. It was the worst November outbreak on record for the United States and it started in Houston.
Nina Hendee was at home preparing for an end of season soccer party for her daughter.
"I had two teenagers in the house and I yelled in my mom voice 'tornado' as loudly as I could, and by then it was quite loud," said Hendee, the west Houston resident. She and the children huddled under the stairwell. It was all over in just 45 seconds.
"All of the homes were destroyed in our neighborhood," she said. "One child was injured and that was just with stitches."
After striking the Kelliwood area, the twister moved northeast and struck the west Houston airport, destroying several hangers and totaling 21 airplanes worth over $3 million.
