Just past suppertime at about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24, 2003, a devastating F-4 tornado with winds of more than 200 miles an hour struck Manchester from the south, hovered over the town, destroyed artifacts of its 122-year history, then moved north toward the township line and obliterated two farmsteads in its path. Buildings, clothing, family photos, furniture, appliances, and trees were mangled, shredded, and vacuumed into the sky, often dropped miles away, and some of the town's six remaining residents were seriously injured. Friends and neighbors helped however they could, and although the storm changed the town forever, many agreed it could not take away the Spirit of Manchester. The National Geographic Society devoted a cover story, a television special, and an exhibit at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., to the tornado, and tornado researcher Tim Samaras said that as its center approached, air pressure dropped 100 millibars in 12 seconds, the biggest drop ever recorded, like stepping into an elevator and hurling up 4,000 feet in ten seconds.