39 years after Terrible Tuesday

Wichitans tell their stories

Lauren Roberts, WichitaPublished 3:37 a.m. CT April 10, 2018 | Updated 11:58 p.m. CT June 7, 2018

Years after the April 10, 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls survivors tell their stories of what happened that day. Lauren
Roberts/Times Record News

"Terrible Tuesday" is a day that is remembered vividly by those who experienced it. The
day is also known as the Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak with three super-cell
thunderstorms producing 13 tornadoes that touched down from north Texas
to Oklahoma.

Early on April 10, 1979, the National Weather Service sent out warnings of
possible severe weather. 

"Of course, almost 40 years ago you didn't have the weather technology or expertise that
we have now," Lynn Walker, former KAUZ news director and lead anchor, said. "So we
weren't going to get as specific a warning or early a warning as we would nowadays."
Walker would later serve as city editor for the newspaper.

By the afternoon, the Wichita Falls area was put into a tornado watch. To the west of
Wichita Falls was a large super-cell thunderstorm and behind it was a smaller super-cell
thunderstorm. The larger storm stuck Vernon where a F4 tornado, the second-highest
rating possible, touched down and caused 11 deaths.

That storm would move north of the Red River and head to Lawton, Okla., where three
more people would be killed. A smaller storm began to move toward Wichita Falls. When
it was over Seymour, the storm dropped down an F2 tornado as it continued tracking
towards Wichita Falls. 

A third super-cell thunderstorm started near Harrold and would travel northeast to
Grandfield, Okla., and end south of Marlow. That storm would produced a tornado that
was on the ground for 64 miles.

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Terrible Tuesday and its aftermath - 1979

Tornadoes touch down

 Lee Anderson was on the regional staff at the Times Record News during Terrible
Tuesday. 

"For me it was a typical work day," Anderson said. "For some reason, I left the office at
maybe 4 o'clock that afternoon."

Anderson never thought that a tornado would be a possibility that day. Not severe
weather or even rain. At home he decided to take a nap, and as he was dozing, famed
farm editor Joe Brown called him to ask if he wanted to go to a fatality on U.S. 287
between Harrold and Oklaunion, which is east of Vernon.

"We see this 18-wheeler and a car on the side of 287 headed in the direction of Vernon.
They both pulled over to the side of the road because they could see a tornado coming,"
Anderson said.

The man and woman from the car had hid underneath the 18-wheeler, and the storm
picked it up and slammed it back down.

"Unfortunately this little lady was crushed by the wheels. She was deceased when I got
there," Anderson said.

Contributed photo of the damage that was caused on Terrible Tuesday, April 10, 1979. (Photo: James Patrick
Blacklock)
A highway patrolman suddenly said that he needed to get to Vernon and started running
to his patrol car. Anderson was able catch a ride into Vernon with the patrolman and
asked him what was happening.

"He said Vernon's just been devastated by a tornado." Anderson said, "Before we got
to Vernon I could tell that the city had been hit real hard. Particularly the south and east
sides of town."

Once in Vernon, the patrolman let Anderson out. With no other way to get around he
started walking, talking with survivors and taking photographs. He went to the National
Guard Armory to interview law enforcement, medical personnel reporters who worked in
Vernon and other officials. 

Eventually he headed to the funeral home after meeting back up with Joe Brown. It was
there that he tried to call the newspaper in Wichita Falls.

"I kept calling and trying to get a hold of the newspaper to to let them know what had
happened in Vernon because in my mind at that time I thought I had the biggest story
 imaginable," Anderson said. "I finally got through to the editor of the paper. His name was
Don James and he said, 'Lee, Wichita Falls had been hit. It's been hit hard. Your wife and
kids are OK.'" 

Areial damage of southwest Wichita Falls. (Photo: NOAA)

Anderson said he noticed something strange. Normally you can see the bright lights of
Wichita Falls from on the other side of Iowa Park, he recalled, but it was total darkness.

"It was a very eerie experience," he said.

Once he and Brown reached the  newspaper, they had to write on manual typewriters by
candlelight.

"That's when it started sinking in to me how bad it really was here," Anderson said.

With footage from the Vernon tornado in hand, KAUZ scrambled to get a newscast on the
air.

"Just as we were going on the air at six o'clock – just beginning the news of this
tragedy – our sportscaster Bill Jackson came into the studio from the back door and he
was white as a sheet," Walker said. "He said there's a tornado out the back door and it's
coming this way."

Walker said the two options were to stay on the air with the tornado coming at them
and try to warn people or get under the desk.

"Didn't have to think about that too long because the tornado that stuck Wichita Falls had
hit the major power trucks and severed power. The television station went off the air. We
went out the back door and there it was," Walker said. "A huge tornado. It looked like it
was bearing down on the television station on Seymour Highway."

At that point they jumped into cars and got out of the area. He said they got on Seymour
Highway and headed downtown.

"At some point I realized that the tornado was not heading toward us," Walker said. "It
had been so large that it looked like it was."

When they noticed the tornado was to the south, they drove towards Sikes Senter Mall.
Before they got to the mall they began seeing the damage the tornado caused to the
area. Homes were destroyed, cars were toppled with some in Sikes Lake. 
 "By the time we got to Sikes Senter Mall, we were seeing the walking wounded in the
parking lot there," Walker said.

Cars were overturned at Sikes Senter Mall by tornadoes during Terrible Tuesday. (Photo: NOAA)
Walker's co-anchor, Kay Shannon, had a background in medicine and she wanted to get
out of the car to help the wounded.

"By then we could see the extent of the damage. At the time Kemp Boulevard had a
drainage ditch down the center of it and it was full of cars. Faith Village, the
neighborhood to the west of Sikes Senter off of Kemp was totally flattened," Walker said.

Power wouldn't be restored to most of Wichita Falls for a few days which left many
people in the dark as to what was happening in the aftermath of the tornado.

At KAUZ the chief engineer managed to get some power from a generator into the station
so camera batteries could be charged and work lights could be used. Walker said the
engineer was also able to get the lights turned on at the Channel 6 tower and most
importantly was able to power KLUR radio.

"Throughout that night several of us sat on the floor in that little hut there broadcasting
what little news we could. KLUR and KTRN radio were the only two media on," Walker
said. "The town was virtually black except for some power that was on in the north area
of town."

Survivors salvage what they can after Terrible Tuesday. (Photo: TRN File Photo)
The Williams Family

Kristie Smith was 6 years old on Terrible Tuesday. She was home with her 8-year-old
brother, Shane, and mother Karen Williams. Karen and her husband, Freddie, worked at
Sheppard Air Force Base. 

"We had warnings and watches all day long and we had received several pyramid
messages that, you know, the clouds were building, the storms were getting worse,"
Karen Williams said. "At that point I think probably at 2:30 or three o'clock I went by the
fire station where my husband was and I said, 'I'm going to get the kids from the
babysitter and I'm going home.'"

At the time Williams believed that the storms were going to move northeast rather than
moving toward where they lived on the southeast side of town. Once she got home with
 her children, she prepared dinner for them and also got prepared in case a tornado
came.

"I actually had an old mattress that my grandmother had given me for that very purpose
and had pulled it into the hall, but we were still doing our evening things," Williams said.

Not long after a neighbor came over to tell Williams she should have her kids go inside
the house.

"It didn't seem bad until it was there. I don't remember thinking at any point there could
be a tornado. We were going about our business and all of a sudden they were like you
need to take cover," Smith said.

Contributed photo of one of the tornadoes on Terrible Tuesday, April 10, 1979. (Photo: James Patrick Blacklock)
Williams said that around 6 p.m. she heard the sirens start to go off.

"We looked at the TV and it said there's a tornado on the ground in Wichita Falls, take
cover and they went off the air. So I flipped on a radio and it was the same thing. It's here
and they went off the air," Williams said.

"In a tornado briefing that we had at work, they said you need to talk, laugh, scream,
sing, whatever you want to do to keep your ears open so your ear drums don't burst,"
Williams said. "So I said we are going to sing 'Jesus Loves Me' and we're going to sing it
as loud as we can sing it and we're going to sing it until I tell you to stop. That was the
easiest thing for me to do because I knew I couldn't make them laugh. I wasn't going to
be telling any jokes at that point."

After that tornado passed, Smith's mother went to take a look outside and saw another
tornado headed their way. At that point their house was still intact and had a roof.

"Once the second one came through you could feel your ears popping and my mom was
still making us sing 'Jesus Loves Me' mainly because I think we were just trying to not
hear all the noises and our ears were popping. But you could hear things hitting and
cracking and breaking," Smith said.

"There was so much pressure on your head. You could tell when the roof went. It was
almost like a cereal box ripping off and that pressure just kind of subsided," Williams said.
"I couldn't stand to play the radio in the truck for about three weeks because my ears still
hurt."
 The second tornado left the house they were moving out of destroyed. But some things
were left untouched by the tornado. The dinner plates, glasses and silverware that had
been set on the table before the tornadoes hit were still there. Williams' wedding rings
were still sitting on the windowsill from when she had done the dishes. A camera that had
been left on top of their refrigerator was still there. She would use that camera later to
take photos of the destruction. 

"There was insulation in all of our stuff so we couldn't even use it. The clothes and
everything in boxes had insulation in them. The food had wood pieces inside of them,"
Smith said.

Contributed photo of the damage that was caused on Terrible Tuesday, April 10, 1979. (Photo: James Patrick
Blacklock)
"We were all barefooted," Williams said. "My son's coat was in the hedges about two
yards down so I went down there and got him that coat."

With her car wrapped around a tree, all they could do is sit on the curb and wait for help.

"It was sprinkling and cold and you're just terrified because people are running up and
down the street that you don't know and it was pretty scary," Williams said. "But finally
looked up and saw my husband running down the street. So I thought OK you can do this
now, I'm going to cry. Until that point I didn't really do that because I had to take care of
my son and daughter."

Thirty-nine years later, all that remains of their house on Glendora Drive is the
foundation. The Williams' keep a close eye on storms and stay prepared. 

"Now I'm kind of obsessed with weather. My husband thinks I'm crazy," Smith said.

Contributed photo of the damage that was caused on Terrible Tuesday, April 10, 1979. (Photo: James Patrick
Blacklock)
Aftermath

One week before Terrible Tuesday the Wichita Falls emergency corps held a mock
disaster drill. Volunteers practiced moving victims from rubble with rescue operations
directed by radio from a command center. But, according to the April 11, 1979, article,
the planning went for naught. 

"There was one difference, and it was a big one," city attorney H.D. Hodge said. "We lost
all our damn power."
 At the downtown police station, those who were supposed to direct disaster operations
were forced to sit with silent radios. The townspeople were left to fend for themselves like
blind men lost in a wilderness.

More than 1,700 people were injured and 6,000 families were left homeless in Wichita
Falls. The final estimate of property damage was $700 million. 

One of the challenges faced after the tornado was loss of power. With the main lines cut,
it took days for power to be restored to all of Wichita Falls. Price gauging was short lived
as the city made sure that those caught participating in the activity would be prosecuted.

Another challenge came during the recovery effort. In a April 20, 1979 Wichita Falls
Times article the Texas Attorney General Mark White warned residents in Wichita Falls
and Vernon to be wary of fly-by-night builders and contractors moved into the area.

"It is unfortunate that this type of warning must be given," White said, "but our experience
is that a small element of our society will use unlawful and deceptive practices to take
unfair advantage of the victims of a disaster."

Susan Tyner lived in Dean and was 14 years old at the time of the tornadoes. Her
stepfather died of a recurring cancer in 1980.

"So my mother had to deal with the builders and they took her money and ran off," Tyner
said. "So this 90 pound Japanese woman learned how to do carpentry and she redid the
house herself."

Photo of home being rebuilt in Dean, TX. (Photo: Contributed photo from Susan Tyn)
Volunteers came from all over the country and even Canada to help rebuild. Many
Mennonites came and would help rebuild homes for free. One couple Mr. and Mrs.
Norman Scott spent their honeymoon helping the disaster victims.

In 1978 Wichita Falls was the host of the first NCAA Division I-AA championship game.
The tornadoes destroyed the press box and lights at Memorial Stadium, which lead to the
Pioneer Bowl being moved to Florida.  

Forty one of 45 deaths were due to trauma; 25 died because of vehicles, eight were
outdoors, four were inside public buildings and four were inside private homes. In 16 of
the vehicle related deaths the victims tried to escape the tornado's path only to be caught
by the tornado. The homes of 11 who tried to escape didn't suffer major damage with
some undamaged.