1953 Waco tornado outbreak

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Waco tornado
The Dr Pepper Museum, showing damage from the tornado
The Dr Pepper Museum, showing damage from the tornado
Date of tornado outbreak: May 9 - May 11, 1953
Duration1: ~2 days
Maximum rated tornado2: F5 tornado
Tornadoes caused: 33
Damages:
Fatalities: 144
Areas affected: Great Plains

1Time from first tornado to last tornado
2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale


The 1953 Waco tornado outbreak was a tornado outbreak that affected portions of the central United States from May 9 - May 11, 1953. It is most known for the F5 tornado that struck Waco, Texas on May 11, 1953, killing 114 people.

Contents

[edit] Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed
Total		 Confirmed
F0		 Confirmed
F1		 Confirmed
F2		 Confirmed
F3		 Confirmed
F4		 Confirmed
F5
33 3 13 8 4 4 1

[edit] May 9, 1953 event

List of confirmed tornadoes
F#
Location
County
Time (UTC)
Path length
Damage
South Dakota
F1 N of Huron Beadle 0005 1.9 miles
(3 km)
F1 N of Bryant Clark, Hamlin 0100 6.8 miles
(10.9 km)
Nebraska
F0 SW of Randolph Wayne 0300 1.5 miles
(2.4 km)
F3 W of Belvidere to Milford Thayer, Fillmore, Saline, Seward 0345 46.9 miles
(75 km)		 5 deaths
F2 NE of Sumner Dawson 0500 1.5 miles
(2.4 km)
F0 SW of Staplehurst Seward 0710 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
Kansas
F3 N of Courtland to NE of Republic Republic 0310 13.5 miles
(21.6 km)
Oklahoma
F1 E of Vinson Harmon 0700 3.6 miles
(5.8 km)
F1 SE of Russell Greer 0715 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F1 SW of Mangum Greer 0715 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F1 N of Thomas Custer 0720 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
Source: Tornado History Project - May 9, 1953 Storm Data

[edit] May 10, 1953 event

List of confirmed tornadoes
F#
Location
County
Time (UTC)
Path length
Damage
Kansas
F1 W of Bentley to S of Udall Sumner, Ness 0800 42.5 miles
(68 km)
F3 SW of Elmdale to S of Keene Chase, Morris, Lyon, Wabaunsee 1000 52.2 miles
(83.5 km)
F1 N of Cambridge Cowley, Elk 1030 6.9 miles
(11 km)
F1 E of Bassett Allen 1130 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)
Oklahoma
F2 NE of Renfrow, OK to S of Udall Grant, OK, Sumner, KS, Ness 0900 38.8 miles
(62.1 km)
Nebraska
F1 E of Humboldt Richardson 1200 9.7 miles
(15.5 km)
F0 S of Nebraska City Otoe 1930 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
Arkansas
F2 Russellville area Pope 1810 2.3 miles
(3.7 km)
Missouri
F1 SE of Kindersport Texas 2000 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)
Iowa
F4 N of Millerton Wayne 2115 6.4 miles
(10.2 km)
F4 E of Garner to S of Silver Lake Hancock, Cerro Gordo, Worth 2210 26.6 miles
(42.6 km)
F2 SE of Haven Tama 2230 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F4 SW of Chester, IA to S of Prentice, WI Howard, IA, Fillmore, MN, Olmsted, Winona, Buffalo, WI, Trempealeau, Eau Claire, Chippewa, Taylor, Price 2330 162 miles
(259.2 km)		 2 deaths
F3 E of Froelich Clayton 0000 6.6 miles
(10.6 km)
Minnesota
F2 NW of Colntarf to N of Cyrus Pope 2155 17 miles
(27.2 km)
F2 Maple Island Freeborn 2300 6.9 miles
(11 km)		 6 deaths
Wisconsin
F2 SW of River Falls to E of Gordon Pierce, St. Croix, Polk, Burnett, Washburn, Douglas 0030 105.7 miles
(169.1 km)		 4 deaths
Source: Tornado History Project - May 10, 1953 Storm Data

[edit] May 11, 1953 event

List of confirmed tornadoes
F#
Location
County
Time (UTC)
Path length
Damage
Texas
F4 N of San Angelo Tom Green 2015 9.9 miles
(15.8 km)		 13 deaths-A 15-block area of San Angelo was devastated. Approximately 320 homes were destroyed and 197 damaged. Nineteen businesses were hit including a theater that was demolished. A high school was destroyed and 150 vehicles were hit. There were 13 deaths and 159 injuries. Damage totalled $3.25 million which is $25.407 million in 2008 dollars.
F5 Waco to Mount Calm McLennan 2210 20.9 miles
(33.4 km)		 114 deaths
F2 W of Corinth Leon 0030 9.5 miles
(15.2 km)
Oklahoma
F1 W of McAlester Pittsburg 2100 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F1 N of Wynnewood Garvin 2230 2 miles
(3.2 km)
Source: Tornado History Project - May 11, 1953 Storm Data

[edit] Event summary

Map track of Waco Tornado (courtesy of NWS Fort Worth)
Map track of Waco Tornado (courtesy of NWS Fort Worth)

The Waco Tornado struck at 4:36 p.m. The tornado, over two blocks wide, hit the downtown area. Many people on the streets crowded into local businesses for shelter. However, few of the buildings were constructed sturdily enough to withstand the winds, and they collapsed almost immediately. The best-known example was the six-story R.T. Dennis furniture store, which crumbled to the ground and killed 30 people inside. Newer buildings with steel reinforcement, including the 22-story Amicable office building (now called the ALICO Building) just across the street, weathered the storm.

Outbreak death toll
State Total County County
total
Minnesota 8 Fillmore 1
Freeborn 6
Olmsted 1
Nebraska 5 Thayer 5
Texas 127 McLennan 114
Tom Green 13
Wisconsin 4 Burnett 1
Polk 2
St. Croix 1
Totals 144
All deaths were tornado-related

[edit] Waco tornado

According to an old Huaco Native American legend, tornadoes could not touch down in Waco.[citation needed] Most storms in the area travel from west to east and split around the Waco area due to the bluffs around the Brazos River, making tornadoes and extreme weather relatively rare and mild in the city. The 1953 storm, however, traveled against the prevailing winds, and the tornado approached Waco from the south-southwest.

Five people were killed in two cars crushed in the street, one of which was crushed by a traffic light to only 18 inches in height. The Dr Pepper bottling plant, today the Dr Pepper Museum, was severely damaged.

Bricks from the collapsed structures piled up in the street to a depth of five feet. Some survivors were trapped under rubble for 14 hours, and it took several days to remove the bodies from the rubble.

114 people were killed in the Waco area, with 597 injured and up to $41.2 million in property damage. 196 businesses and factories were destroyed, 217 sustained major damage, and 179 sustained lesser damages. 150 homes were destroyed, 250 sustained major damage, and 450 sustained lesser damages. Over 2000 cars were damaged or destroyed and 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 Waco Tornado remains tied with the 1902 Goliad Tornado as the deadliest in Texas history and the tenth-deadliest in US history. No deadlier single tornado has struck the US since then, making it the worst storm of the last 50 years. The storm was one of the primary factors spurring development of a nationwide severe weather warning system.

The tornado had long-lasting effects on the Waco economy. Waco's population was approximately 85,000 in 1953, but failed to grow substantially in subsequent years while nearby cities like Austin boomed tremendously in size[citation needed].

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

v • d • e
10 deadliest American tornadoes
Rank Name (location) Date Deaths
1 "Tri-State" March 18, 1925 695
2 Natchez, MS May 7, 1840 317
3 St. Louis and East St. Louis May 27, 1896 255
4 Tupelo, MS April 5, 1936 216
5 Gainesville, GA April 5, 1936 203
6 Woodward, OK April 9, 1947 181
7 Amite, LA and Purvis, MS April 24, 1908 143
8 New Richmond, WI June 12, 1899 117
9
 Flint, MI June 8, 1953 115
10
- - -		 Waco, TX
Goliad, TX		 May 11, 1953
May 18, 1902		 114
114
Source: Storm Prediction Center