Wichita Falls Tornado of 1979 Taught Hard Lessons That Help Save Lives

WICHITA FALLS (AP) — Walking through tornado-ravaged neighborhoods after a deadly storm 25 years ago, architect Charles F. Harper saw something strange: small closets or bathrooms that seemed to be rising from piles of debris.

In many cases, the center room of a house or business — even a bank vault — was the only thing standing after a tornado up to a mile-and-a-half wide churned through town, hitting 5,000 houses and several apartments. Some 20,000 people — nearly one-fourth of the city's population — were homeless, while 42 were killed and 1,700 were injured.

Harper, who had developed disaster response plans for nearly 10 years for the American Institute of Architects, started studying his town's damage with researchers at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Deadly tornados Here are the 11 worst tornadoes ever to hit Texas, based on number of deaths and injuries:

4. April 9, 1947 — 68 killed, 272 injured in Texas in tornado that that struck the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and southwestern Kansas

What they learned from Wichita Falls sped up the development of "safe rooms" — center rooms with reinforced walls designed to protect people during storms. Building plans and information about safe rooms are now included in brochures distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"That event was unequivocal proof that you could build an aboveground structure that could withstand tornado winds," said Chad Morris, associate director of what is now the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech.

The April 10, 1979, tornado that hit Wichita Falls is the state's fifth-deadliest and one of the largest in U.S. history.

On that spring day, three large supercell storms developed, each producing a series of tornadoes that moved quickly across the northern Texas and southern Oklahoma plains.

The Wichita Falls tornado stayed on the ground an hour and traveled 47 miles as it wiped out a fifth of the city and damaged even more areas before dissipating in Oklahoma. It is rated an F4, with winds from 207-260 mph.

"I don't know if any tornado in Texas has affected so many people," said Alan Moller, a Fort Worth-based National Weather Service meteorologist who spent a week in Wichita Falls after the tornado. "And we really learned a lot in terms of safety."

Tornado sirens sounded in Wichita Falls about 30 minutes before the storm, and television and radio stations aired warnings until power went out just as the twister moved through town about 6 p.m. Thousands of people crouched in storm cellars or basements; some bank employees huddled in a vault.

Although the mall was heavily damaged, no shoppers died inside. Several who ran to their cars were killed or severely injured.

More than half of those killed, including the girlfriend of Harper's son and her sister, were in cars trying to flee — believing that buildings were more dangerous — or were passing through town and had not heard the warnings.

"The big lesson learned was that if you're in a reinforced structure, you need to stay there when a tornado's approaching," Moller said. "Automobiles are a steel death trap in a tornado."

"I hear more about safe rooms now than I did 20 years ago," said owner Jay Buchanan of Buchanan Construction Co. said.

Today, the town has few reminders of the storm. Near downtown, a memorial park features large sculptures representing crape myrtle trees that bloomed after the storm and became a symbol of the town's resolve. Another park has a plaque with the names of 45 victims, including three who died of heart attacks right after the storm, and a tree planted for each one.

Dale Sanders, now 56, survived by huddling in her neighbor's cellar with three dozen other people and two dogs. Several men struggled to keep the door closed by clutching the rope.

When Sanders emerged, she didn't recognize her surroundings because houses, street signs, power poles and trees were gone. She saw a dazed man, his arm severed, walking down the street.

"I don't want to remember it," Sanders said. "The only thing I do really is watch for storms, and I do a lot of praying."

This post brings back memories of that Apr. 10, 1979, the Tuesday before Easter that year. Our neighboring town, Vernon, Texas, was hit at 3:30 that afternoon just as my 10- year-old son and I were getting out of school. We were fortunate to make it home, but the funnel passed a half-mile from our house. The sirens went off after the storm had touched ground, so there was little time to take cover. Three people of our church were killed and several more severely injured. Many of the injured arrived at Witchita Falls hospitals just as the huge tornado hit there. The spirit of Christian love and helpfulness was strongly evident as strangers helped each other in every way imaginable. One thing we learned that everyone should know is that immediately after a disaster, call one person in your family and have them contact the other family members informing them of your status. This is important, because within 30 min. the phone lines become choked with calls and also the emergency agencies take over the lines for rescue efforts.

World—Disasters

U.S. Tornadoes

1840: May 6, Natchez, Miss.: tornado struck heart of the city, killing 317 and injuring over 1,000.

1880: April 18, Marshfield, Mo.: series of 24 tornadoes demolished city, killing 99 people.

1884: Feb. 19, Miss., Ala., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Ky., Ind.: series of 60 tornadoes caused estimated 800 deaths.

1890: March 27, Louisville, Ky.: twister hit community and caused 76 deaths.

1896: May 27, eastern Mo. and southern Ill.: series of 18 tornadoes; 1 tornado destroyed large section of St. Louis, Mo., killing 255.

1899: June 12, New Richmond, Wis.: tornado struck while circus was in town, causing 117 deaths.

1902: May 18, Goliad, Tex.: tornado killed 114.

1903: June 1, Gainesville, Holland, Ga.: twister caused 98 deaths.

1905: May 10, Snyder, Okla.: tornado killed 97.

1908: April 24–25, La., Miss., Ala., Ga.: 18 tornadoes resulted in 310 deaths (143 of these caused by 1 tornado that moved from Amite, La., to Purvis, Miss.).

: April 24, Natchez, Miss.: twister struck, causing 91 deaths.

1913: March 23, eastern Nebr. and western Iowa: Easter Sunday, 8 tornadoes resulted in 181 deaths (94 in Omaha, Nebr.).

1917: May 26, Mattoon, Ill.: tornado smashed area, causing 101 deaths.

1920: April 20, Starkville, Miss.; Waco, Ala.: tornado killed 88.

1924: June 28, Lorain, Sandusky, Ohio: tornado swept through cities, causing 85 deaths.

1925: March 18, Mo., Ill., Ind.: the “Tri-State Tornado” was the most violent single twister in U.S. history. It caused the deaths of 689 people and injured over 2,000. Property damage was estimated at $16.5 million.

1927: May 9, Poplar Bluff, Mo.: twister killed 98.

: Sept. 29, St. Louis, Mo.: a five-minute tornado ripped through the city and caused 79 deaths.

1932: March 21–22, Ala., Miss., Ga., Tenn.: outbreak of 33 tornadoes killed 334 (268 in Ala.).

1936: April 5–6, Deep South: series of 17 tornadoes; 216 killed in Tupelo, Miss., and 203 killed in Gainesville, Ga., a small mill town that was obliterated.

1944: June 23, W.Va., Pa., Md.: 4 tornadoes caused 153 deaths.

1947: April 9, Woodward, Okla.: tornado demolished town, killing 181.

1952: March 21–22, Ark. and Tenn.: 28 tornadoes caused 204 deaths.

1953: May 11, Waco, Tex.: a single tornado killed 114.

: June 8, Flint, Mich.: tornado killed 116.

: June 9, Worcester, Mass.: tornado hit town, causing 90 deaths.

1955: May 25, Udall, Kans.: tornado killed 80.

1965: April 11–12, Midwest–Great Lakes region: tornadoes in Iowa, Ill., Ind., Ohio, Mich., and Wis. caused 256 deaths.

1967: April 21, northern Ill., also Mo., Iowa, lower Mich.: series of 52 tornadoes caused 58 deaths.

1971: Feb. 21, Miss., La., Ark., Tenn.: series of 10 tornadoes resulted in 121 deaths.

1974: April 3–4: a series of 148 twisters within 16 hours comprised the deadly “Super Tornado Outbreak” that struck 13 states in the East, South, and Midwest. Before it was over, 330 died and 5,484 were injured in a damage path covering more than 2,500 mi.

1979: April 10, northern Tex. and southern Okla.: 11 tornadoes caused 59 deaths.

1984: March 28, N.C. and S.C.: 22 tornadoes caused 57 deaths.

1985: May 31, Pa. and Ohio: 27 tornadoes resulted in 756 deaths. Estimated damages were $450 million.

1990: Aug. 28, northern Ill.: fast-moving tornado struck the southwest suburbs of Chicago, killing 29 and injuring more than 300.

1992: Nov. 21–23, southeast Tex. to Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley: total of 94 tornadoes caused 26 deaths and $291 million in damage.

1994: March 27, Ala., Ga., and N.C.: Palm Sunday tornado outbreak resulted in 42 deaths, 320 injuries, and $107 million in property damage. Twenty people died and 90 were injured when a tornado caused the roof of a church near Piedmont, Ala., to collapse.

1997: May 27, central Tex.: multiple tornadoes, including one particularly strong twister that devastated the town of Jarrell, caused 29 deaths and an estimated $20 million in damage.

1999: Jan. 17–22, Tenn. and Ark.: a series of tornadoes left 17 dead. Damages were estimated at $1.3 billion.; May 3, Okla. and Kans.: unusually large twister, thought to have been a mile wide at times, killed 44 people and injured at least 748 others in Okla. A separate tornado killed another 5 and injured about 150 in Kans. Damages totaled at least $1 billion.

2000: Feb. 14, southwest Ga.: at least 5 tornadoes struck southwest Ga., killing 19 people and injuring over 100.

2002: Nov. 9–11, central and southeast U.S.: series of more than 70 tornadoes across 9 states from Miss. to Pa. killed 36 people.

2003: May 1–10: southern and midwestern U.S.: a record-breaking number of more than 400 tornadoes in the first 10 days of May killed 42.

I was just north of Wichita at the time, got caught in the tornado while driving. It was like being on a roller coaster next to a jet engine in total darkness. Worse actually, but I can't describe it any better. I swear (though I can't know for certain) that my big old Buick station wagon went up in the air for a while, I was way off the road when it was over. I immediately headed into Wichita after it was over. It was the worst destruction I have ever seen. There was almost nothing for what seemed like miles except sidewalks, concrete pads and streets where a housing division used to be. There was some kind of big discount store (a Walmart type of thing, it was gone and I don't know what it had been) that had a gigantic sign in front supported by three I-beams that must have been 36 inches across. The sign was gone and those steel I-beams had been twisted and laid over like they were made from soft plastic. I can't imagine anything more destructive, except maybe an atom bomb, than this tornado was.

My mother was at Wichita General working as a nurse. They had been warned that patients were coming from Vernon that had been injured by a tornado. She looked out the window and patients were coming in the back of pickup trucks and she thought surely, they didn't travel all the way from Vernon like that!. That is when they were told that a tornado was on the ground on the south part of Wichita Falls. My sister was at the Burger King at Callfield and Kemp right across from Sikes Center. She was the manager and when it was obvious that the tornado was going to make a direct hit on them she put everyone into the food refrigerator. The building was damaged significantly but all in the fridge were ok. She spent the next three hours as a traffic cop at the intersection of Callfield and Kemp until relieved by the Wichita Police. On the eleven o'clock news in Knoxville, Tennessee, the news showed that corner of Wichita, Callfield and Kemp, her Burger King and Sikes Center (what was left of it) and I knew my sister was at work when the twister hit. It took three days to find out that my sister and mother were ok. What you say about the telephone is so true. My sister just lost her job and car, my mother lost the roof of her house in Wichita. They moved to Burkburnett only to lose their roof two more times in the last 25 years while living there in Burkburnett.

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