TORNAD

O
TERRIBLE TUESDAY
Tornado in Wichita Falls,April
Texas10, 1979
 The 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak was a tornado event that occurred
on April 10, 1979, near the Red River Valley. It is noted for the F4 tornado that
hit Wichita Falls, Texas, and is commonly referred to as "Terrible Tuesday" by many
meteorologists. Additional ones were reported across the Southern Plains as well as in
the Mississippi River Valley on April 10–11, 1979.

FORMATION OF THE TORNADOES

A deepening low pressure system formed in Colorado as a warm front lifted
north pulling warm, moist, unstable air. There was strong upper level dynamics all
coming together to produce strong tornado-producing supercells. In the early afternoon
hours, three supercell thunderstorms formed. They moved northeastward, and as a trio
spawned families of tornadoes. These supercells caused the most damaging tornadoes of
the outbreak.
The first tornado formed near Crowell, Texas, at around 3:05 p.m. About 35
minutes later, the first killer one of the outbreak ripped through Vernon and killed 11
people. Then the supercell spawned one that killed three people in Lawton, Oklahoma.
The second supercell spawned one that moved 64 miles (103 km).

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas
The third supercell was the one that formed
the Seymour and Wichita Falls tornadoes as part of a three-
member tornado family. The first one formed near Seymour at around 4:53
pm. The storm spawned a second one and moved through the south and
east sides of Wichita Falls at around 6:00 pm. The third member of the
family formed near Waurika, Oklahoma, at around 8:00 p.m.
The Wichita Falls tornado formed in Archer County and moved
northeast and damaged a few rural homes and high voltage towers. It
rapidly intensified as it entered the city near Memorial Stadium by McNiel
Jr. High on Southwest Parkway, which was located to the west of Wichita
Falls at approximately 6:07 p.m. damaging both structures severely. Hail
the size of golf balls preceded the touchdown and continued for
approximately 15 minutes. It then became calm before the winds began to
pick up.
Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas
 Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas
The massive wedge tornado, which was at its maximum 1.5 miles
(2.4 km) wide, cut a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) swath of destruction through the south
side of town, leveling everything in its path. It destroyed an apartment complex
near the beginning of its path. It also took its first lives there. It later destroyed
a restaurant, the majority of Sikes Senter, the major mall, and another
apartment complex where it took more lives. Neighborhoods all along Southwest
Parkway were leveled and nothing but debris and destruction remained.
A number of people tried to flee as the tornado moved along U.S.
Highways 281 and 287. Roughly half of the 46 people killed were killed in their
cars. It then moved into Clay County and changed its appearance to display
a multiple-vortex structure. There were at times 5 separate vortices visible
within the tornado. It inflicted additional damage south of Dean and Byers, but
no more fatalities occurred. It crossed into Oklahoma where additional damage
occurred before it dissipated.

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

 OUTBREAK DEATH TOLL
State Total County County Total
Indiana 1 Warrick 1
Oklahoma 3 Comanche 3
Wichita 42
Texas 54
Wilbarger 12
TOTALS 58
All deaths were tornado-related

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

AFTERMATH and DAMAGES
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. 
Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas
AFTERMATH and DAMAGES
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 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.  
The suffering and destruction caused by the Wichita Falls tornado is nearly inconceivable. The
passage of a violent tornado through an 8-mile section of a city is an almost unheard-of
natural disaster. In addition to the 42 fatalities directly caused by the tornado, three more
people died of heart attacks and other illnesses during the stress of the tornado's passage. The
number of reported injuries approached 1,800 although hundreds of additional minor injuries
were never recorded.

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

AFTERMATH and DAMAGES
Total property damage in Wichita Falls was estimated at $400,000,000 (in
1979 dollars). Over 3,000 homes were destroyed and another 1,000 were
damaged, and over 1,000 apartment units/ condominiums were destroyed and
another 130 damaged. In addition, approximately 140 mobile homes were
destroyed, two schools were demolished and 11 others sustained serious damage.
Over 100 commercial businesses, some of them large manufacturing concerns,
were destroyed. It is estimated that 5,000 families, containing 20,000 residents,
were left homeless in Wichita Falls. Such a total would mean that between 10%
and 20% of the population of the city was displaced by the tornado. To put the
deaths and property damage in perspective, it should be noted that as many as 42
people have not been killed in the United States by a single tornado in the 20
years since the event, and the total property damage of $400,000,000 still stands
as the most costly tornado in American history.

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

F-Scale of the Wichita Falls Tornado
After the tornado, a thorough investigation of the damage was performed by Texas Tech University,
Institute for Disaster Research, and the University of Chicago. Dr. Ted Fujita of the University of Chicago
used these surveys to estimate the F-scale and probable wind speeds associated with the tornado. A
detailed mapping of each house and public/commercial building in the city led to the construction of an
F-scale map. Damage as severe as F4 was found along most of the track across the city. One somewhat
unique characteristic of the damage was the wide swath F4 damage; many violent tornadoes produce
only a narrow swath of their most intense damage. The width of the F4 damage in the Wichita Falls
tornado approached 0.5 miles in the area of Faith Village and Ben Milam Elementary School.
The wide swath of damage can also be seen by viewing the NASA aerial photographs. The width of
the F1 damage was generally as wide as one mile, and the extent of the F0 damage was even wider, but
so widespread that it was not mapped. Strong inflow winds associated with the tornado and the larger-
scale mesocyclonic winds rotating around the tornado produced light damage over almost all of the city.
There was much scientific discussion and debate concerning the possibility that the some of the
damage was severe enough, and wind speeds high enough, for the tornado to be rated F5. The two worst
damage points appeared to be McNiel Junior High and the Southwest National Bank. After extensive
engineering analysis of the winds necessary to produce the observed structural failure to those
buildings, it was concluded that all of the damage could have been produced by winds in the upper part
of the F4 range (230 - 260 mph). Thus, the tornado damage/intensity was officially rated as a strong F4
tornado.

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

Lessons to be Learned from the Wichita Falls Tornado
1. Tornado warning and preparedness systems are worth the time and effort it takes to
maintain them. All who have looked at and studied the event agree that the death toll
would have been much larger had there not been not been such systems in place and
functioning on April 10.
2. Vehicles (cars, pickups, and trucks) are poor protection and should be avoided during
tornado situations in larger cities where travel is congested and tornado escape routes
are not readily available and open for use. The majority of the fatalities were in vehicles,
and a number of those victims left homes that were undamaged by the tornado only to be
caught in its deadly path as they tried to flee.
3. Well-built modern houses, in general, offer fairly good protection from tornadoes. Some
or all of the walls remained for well-built homes and bathrooms in particular provided
good protection. Although roughly 4,000 homes were struck by the tornado, there were
only five fatalities of people inside homes along the path of the tornado. Many of the
1,800 injured, however, were in homes. This means that those people who moved to the
center part of their houses, got down low, and covered themselves, by-in-large escaped
with their lives, sustaining injuries instead of death.

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

Lessons to be Learned from the Wichita Falls Tornado
4. Even though lesson stated in number 3 is true in a violent tornado, the only
complete guarantee of safety comes from an underground shelter, an above-ground
shelter, or an extremely strongly-built building. McNiel Junior High, a new
concrete/steel-reinforced building was not built well enough to provide safe shelter
from the tornado. The Southwest National Bank Building was totally destroyed
except for its concrete vault, a proxy for an above-ground shelter.
5. As bad as the tornado was, it could have been worse. If McNiel Junior High had
been fully occupied by students and teachers at the time of the tornado, there would
have been hundreds of additional casualties and many more deaths. Very large
groups of people gathered in tornado-vulnerable places, such as schools, stadiums
(such as Memorial Stadium), and outdoor events, are disasters waiting to happen.
Every year in the United States the threat of a catastrophe looms whenever tornadoes
approach large gatherings of people. Fortunately, on April 10, 1979, McNiel Junior
High was almost totally unoccupied when the tornado struck and a worse
catastrophe was avoided.

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

PICTURES

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

PICTURES

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

PICTURES

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

PICTURES

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

PICTURES

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

PICTURES

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

PICTURES

Tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas

VIDEO
SUBMITTED BY:
Joefrey P. Baluma
GRADE 12- ICT PROGRAMMING
SUBMITTED TO:

Dr. Christine V. Cubillo

Instructor