Disasters of Onondaga County

The city of Syracuse and Onondaga County have a long and storied history of natural and man-made calamity. Although often considered a moderate weather region, Mother Nature has not spared it from destruction. A tornado devastated picturesque Longbranch Park in 1912, and the rare Hurricane Hazel reached Onondaga's borders in 1954. A fire ravaged Syracuse's famed Bastable Block building in 1923. During a children's concert and festival, the floor of the Central Baptist Church collapsed, tragicall