The Deadliest Tornado in Texas History
A deadly series of at least 33 tornadoes hit at least 10 different U.S. states on May 9 -11, 1953. Tornadoes appeared daily from Minnesota in the North to Texas in the South. The strongest and deadliest tornado was a powerful F5 tornado that struck Waco, Texas on May 11, causing 114 of the 144 deaths in the outbreak.
Striking the heart of the Downtown Waco area at the end of the work day, many people were caught unaware of the impending severe weather. 30 of those fallen were in the 6-story furniture store called, "R.T. Dennis & Company". One of those 30 was my grandfather, Eleuterio Tristán. My father, John Tristán, in his family memoire, recounts the day:
"On May 11, 1953, in Waco, Texas it was a rainy day with lots of dark clouds in the sky which were moving and turning in all directions. There was no indication of anything coming more than some thunder storms and lightning. It was a regular Monday school day in Waco High School. (I was 15 years old, going on 16.) As usual, school let out at 3:30 pm. Because of the weather, there were no after-school sporting activities – track, football, baseball, etc. (I ran track and played football). So everyone went home by their normal ways. I walked home from school and it started to rain.
"I got soaked, so since I was already wet, I just kept walking. (I even walked by the building where my Dad worked - R.T. Dennis Furniture Co.) Well, getting wet was not a problem for me, but then hail, big balls, started falling. They were hitting the sidewalk so hard that I began to worry that they would hit me on the head. So, I started walking faster, then running, looking for a place to duck out of harm’s way. Well, it happened that going down Franklin, when I got to 4th and turned south, a little distance from the corner was a retail shoe store named Tom McCann."
My dad goes on to tell how he (with the help of adrenaline) ran into the store and held the doors to the store shut behind him, even with part of the roof flying off. He, and the 6 people that took shelter in the store, later found out the storm Downtown only lasted 45 to 50 seconds, and the utter destruction he and others witnessed as they emerged from the store had all of them in shock. He continues:
"The street out front, 4th St. was a disaster area, like the bombed cities we used to see in war news or movies. People in cars were crying out for help to get them out of their cars crushed with brick walls that had collapsed on them. Electrical poles were on the ground with live electric wires sparking with each other or other metal objects."
My dad ended up walking home to ensure his mom and brothers were OK, only to learn there that they were given the news that his dad was one of the victims of the imploding furniture store.
Here are the stats:
- 114 Killed
- 597 Injured
- $41.2 million in property damage.
- 196 businesses and factories were destroyed: 217 sustained major damage, 179 sustained lesser damages.
- 150 homes were destroyed: 250 sustained major damage, and 450 sustained lesser damages.
- Over 2000 cars were damaged or destroyed. 5 people were killed in their cars.
- The First United Methodist Church was severely damaged.
- Over half the dead - 61 - were in a single city block bounded by 4th and 5th streets and Austin and Franklin avenues.
- The destruction was so massive, survivors waited up to 14 hours to be rescued and some bodies could not be recovered for several days following the disaster.
Texas Tornado Warning Conference
As a result of the deadly Waco twister, Texas A&M University and the United States Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) organized the Texas Tornado Warning Conference in June 1953 to discuss tornado warning procedures and weather radar. The purpose of the conference was to use all available resources from the federal government, academic communities, and the private sector to devise an efficient tornado warning system for severe weather. The future goal was to prevent death tolls like that of the Waco tornado.
The conference led to improved communications between numerous agencies, an early development of the SKYWARN storm spotter program, and a national radar network.
The Teardrop Memorial
"This Commemorative honors the memory of 114 people who died in that storm, and celebrates the spirit of the community that survived."
"We honor 114 people killed in the Waco Tornado.
Their souls belong to Heaven; Their memories belong to us."
My grandfather's name is listed as "Luther" [anglecized] Tristán.
TO CLAIM THIS VIRTUAL, I am going to ask you to do TWO things:
1. Please do not put your answer in your log (it will be deleted). Instead, send me a geomessage with the answer to this question: Counting backwards, from the bottom of the list on the memorial, Ca$hQueen's grandfather's name is the ___ name from the end.
AND
2. Take a picture of you or a personal geocaching item in front of the front of the memorial (street-facing side).
Logs without an answer AND a pic will be subject to deletion.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.