When I was a kid, relatives who barely survived the 1953 Waco tornado told me stories that made the date May 11th stick in my mind like December 7, 1941 for my parents' generation. Of course like a lot of kids my age, my impression of tornadoes was formed first by the Wizard of Oz which, between tornadoes and flying monkeys, was scary as hell for a little kid. Eight of the eleven most deadly tornadoes in Texas history have occurred in the month of May. (The other three were in April, including the terrible Rocksprings tornado in 1927 that killed 74 townspeople.) Those who had seen World War II devastation said the downtown Waco area looked like it had been bombed that day, and it all happened in about 5 minutes. That tornado killed 114 people, matched only in death toll by the horrific Goliad tornado of May 18, 1902.
Most of the deaths in Goliad occurred in the African-American church just a couple of blocks west of the courthouse square, where a large group had taken refuge. The tornado started to the southwest, crossed the San Antonio River, and demolished that side of the town, including the church. Odd because tornadoes that deadly almost never occur in South Texas.
Of course many OBs remember the Jarrell tornado on May 27, 1997 that ranks tenth in loss of life for Texas tornadoes. I was in downtown San Antonio that day, and the thunderstorm there that late afternoon/evening, spawned by the same system that hit Jarrell, was probably the most severe I've ever experienced. The skyscraper we were in started making strange sounds and the large windows were bowing in and out, so security made everyone evacuate to the ground floor. The rain and hail were flatlining outside. I thought for sure we were in the middle of a tornado there.
Most of the deaths in Goliad occurred in the African-American church just a couple of blocks west of the courthouse square, where a large group had taken refuge. The tornado started to the southwest, crossed the San Antonio River, and demolished that side of the town, including the church. Odd because tornadoes that deadly almost never occur in South Texas.
Of course many OBs remember the Jarrell tornado on May 27, 1997 that ranks tenth in loss of life for Texas tornadoes. I was in downtown San Antonio that day, and the thunderstorm there that late afternoon/evening, spawned by the same system that hit Jarrell, was probably the most severe I've ever experienced. The skyscraper we were in started making strange sounds and the large windows were bowing in and out, so security made everyone evacuate to the ground floor. The rain and hail were flatlining outside. I thought for sure we were in the middle of a tornado there.
