tornadoes – Texas History Notebook

Lubbock Tornadoes – May 11, 1970

Spring is often a vulnerable time for West Texas residents when supercell storms pass through the area. Newspapers noted that two people were killed the evening of May 6, 1949 when a tornado struck the north side of the small oilfield community of Sundown, roughly 45 miles west of Lubbock in Hockley County. The next morning, reports announced that two individuals were killed including a young Church of Christ pastor and his three year old daughter. Two more unnamed people were reported missing. Several others were injured and more were said to be trapped in the rubble but no more fatalities were reported. All the missing individuals were located. That same night, tornado activity, part of the same huge storm, was reported in Morton and the wheatland outside Dalhart but there were no fatalities. Near Dalhart, the tornado was said to be on the ground for about twelve miles, but it only destroyed crops. About two weeks later, a twister dropped down in the Soldier Mound community a few miles north of Spur, killing one person and injuring several others. The fatality and a number of those injured were in a residence that was destroyed. A small child, a grandchild of the deceased, was found 100 yards away from her, the but miraculously the child was uninjured. A Baptist church and five farm houses were also destroyed, but there were no other fatalities.

Zephyr Tornado, 1909

Zephyr, Texas was a quiet little town of several hundred residents when on early Sunday morning of May 30, 1909 a late spring storm generated a tornado a little after Saturday at midnight. The tornado was rated F4 under the old Fujita scale (winds exceeding 200 mph). Virtually all the structures in town were affected in some way. Destruction was described as having completely destroyed some fifty residences, six businesses, two churches and the high school. The casualty totals usually cited are 34 deaths and 70 or more injured. The twister appears to have formed to the southwest of town and touched down long enough to damage most of the residential and business areas. A lightning strike started a lumber yard fire that spread to other businesses. Tornado survivors had no way to fight the flames as they spread. Heavy hail was reported in the surrounding areas as well.

Saragosa Tornado, 1987

On May 22, 1987 a violent tornado touched down outside of the small community of Saragosa, Texas and stayed on the ground for about three miles with a width of roughly 1,000 yards. When the twister left the area, the residents began to recover from the storm to find that dozens of people had been killed and many more were injured.

Jarrell Tornado, 1997

Jarrell, Texas is located in the northern part of Williamson County, about thirty miles north of Austin. It was founded in 1909 and named for O. D. Jarrell. It has been the site of two recorded tornadoes. The first occurrence was on May 17, 1989 when an F3 tornado touched down. The second and more devastating F5 tornado struck the area on May 27, 1997.