Tornado kills four people, injures others in west Texas town

Associated Press | May 5, 2002

[CedarDave]

This was the storm that drove me from my temporary mobile home to the office for shelter earlier this afternoon.

[Thinkin' Gal]

HAPPY, Texas

That's not very funny!

[Squantos]

Same storm missed my home......south of me about 70 miles and came up from south right at us (within a mile) and then hooked to the east of us . Good Lord looking out for us......

Stay Safe !

[HAL9000]

Amarillo Globe-News -

[Mo1]

Oh WOW .. look at all the damage ..

I hope they find those missing people ..

[Squantos]

Yep , first I saw of it on radar it was down near Clovis NM and moved up highway 60. The one that hit Happy was a bit farther south and moved up towards Canyon and west Amarillo from Happy.

Real weird weather as everything west of I-27 was shooting due north and everything on east side of the highway wound up going East , North East and just skimmed south of my house. Whole lot of damage...... It's a wonder more were'nt killed.

Stay Safe !

[WIMom]

Those poor people are probably not to Happy today. (had to be said.)

[CedarDave]

Sorry -- wrong storm for me; mine went to Lubbock and didn't reach up to Amarillo. Go here for a 12 hour radar summary (Caution -- Java loop -- may freeze your computer).

Twelve hour radar loop

[WIMom]

We live in a tornado area. They are the worst storms imaginable. A little town near here was totaled a couple years ago. It was devastating to the community. Luckily, not one person was killed.

[WIMom]

Here's a picture of that tornado.

Link

[WIMom]

One more:

[gcruse]

Well, I hope it is worked out of the system. I'm
driving from Seattle to Amarillo tomorrow and
don't need a tornado.  Give me an earthquake
any time.  Slam, bam, and it's done.

[Squantos]

Ok I see the path now........the one I saw on Amarillo radar busted to the north and your storm came up to my place and went off towards Oklahoma this evening.

Stay Safe !

[Squantos]

Well if ya get time give me a shout and we'll try to meet up for a meal........my treat of course.

Stay Safe !

[ValerieUSA]

How do you expect to drive from Seattle to Amarillo in one day?

[deport]

At least four killed in West Texas tornado

05/05/2002

Associated Press

HAPPY, Texas -- At least four people were killed and 20 homes were heavily damaged after a tornado swept through this West Texas town Sunday night.

Mary Lenz, spokeswoman for the State Division of Emergency Management, said an unknown number of people were missing after the twister hit the south side of Happy.

City secretary Patricia Simms said the damaged homes were located along Interstate 27, and there were numerous injuries.

Authorities from nearby communities were on the scene helping with cleanup and recovery operations. The Red Cross had set up a shelter in the town of 647 residents.

"We've got departments from all over the area helping at this time," volunteer firefighter Kirk Williams said.

Happy is in Swisher County, about 30 miles south of Amarillo.

Tonya Smith and her husband were driving into Happy when they saw the tornado form.

"It happened so suddenly, we thought it was just a really big dust devil. It was right beside us. We stopped and watched it until we realized what it was," Tonya Smith said. "Our daughter and two grandchildren were here in town by themselves so I was kinda freaking out for them."

The tornado was one of at least six reported in West Texas and the Panhandle. There were no immediate reports of injuries from the other tornadoes.

A frontal system pushing through the area sparked the outbreak of severe weather, which included torrential rain, baseball-size hail and strong, gusty winds.

In Lamb County, a tornado toppled power lines, leaving some residents in Littlefield, west of Lubbock, without electricity, a county dispatcher said.

One home in Littlefield was severely damaged, Lenz said.

There were reports of baseball-size hail about 10 miles south of Littlefield, the National Weather Service said.

In Deaf Smith County, a storm spotter said one tornado briefly swirled about eight miles north of Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 809.

About 30 miles south of Amarillo, another twister touched down several miles west of Dawn, according to the National Weather Service.

Tornadoes also struck in nearby Umbarger in Randall County, as well as in northeastern Hall County.

Happy was made famous in the 1999 film "Happy, Texas." Starring William H. Macy, it follows the offbeat adventures of two escaped convicts who get confused for traveling beauty pageant gurus.

[null and void]

Any particular reason they have a 1996 copyright on them?

[gcruse]

By keeping the windows rolled up? ;)

[WIMom]

Nope, the photos are right there on the link I provided, which is a wisc.edu site. I assume that's fair game (taxpayer supported university facility).