This is quite touching and well-done. I grew up in Iowa Park, and although I had moved to Odessa by this time, I still had many friends in Wichita Falls. Even today, when I hear the phrase "Tornado Alley," I think of Wichita County.
This tornado looks very similar to the Tuscaloosa, Alabama tornado of April 27, 2011. Many of the fatalities in Wichita Falls that day were people who were trying to escape in vehicles.
Lawton Oklahoma got hit the same day & time on April 10, 1979. They had an F3. No pictures were ever taken because people in Lawton were focused on the ones in Texas. 3 People died in Lawton.
I wish they would a special of Terrible Tuesday and the Tri-State Tornado on the Weather Channel. If i had the money I wouldn't mind making a movie about the Wichita Falls Tornado or the Tri-State Tornado i would stick with what happened.
@coxric this is a good presentation. If I had the money I wouldn't mind making a movie and i will stick with what actually happened. unlike hollywood they might make a love story out of it.
I watched this tornado travel from the far southwest corner of the city until it hit our house on Parker Blvd. just east of Jacksboro highway. It is a vivid memory and your video does an excellent job of recalling the destructive power, great loss and eventual hope that came from this day. Thanks.
Thank you for this video story.I lost my sister that day and have rarely, in the last 32 years, ever talked about or listened to anything relating to this event. For some of us, the scars havent healed. But I truly appreciate your video and the thought and effort put into it. I am glad I watched it.
the reason why the terrible tuesday tornado was so powerful was because separate vortexes were rotating around each other, and eventually all joined together and created the monster. wen the tornado starts to die, the vortexes weaken, not being able to support each other. they then separate and after a few minutes disappear completely
I was only 1 when this hit, so was spared the memory. We lived just SW of the 6 (Ben Milem Elem) on the damage map. My mom grabbed me when she saw it and tried to outrun the tornado. Quickly realized that was a bad idea and we took cover the Albertsons meat locker.
Sad to see a repeat of this event this year in Tuscaloosa and somehow an even worse tornado in Joplin. Those people have a long road to recovery.
Very good video. I was born in Wichita Falls in 1981 and I remember growing up and hearing about all that happened and seeing some of the damage that was still around. My mother and grandparents were all there that day and have vivid stories of what happened. Will definitely never be forgotten. Again, great video.
@HubbyHair There were 42 deaths as a direct result of the tornado. Three other people died from stress-related injuries, like heart attacks, that occurred the day of the storm. I felt like it might be insensitive not to include the additional three. Perhaps I should record the video again and change the line in question, since those people aren't part of the official number and therefore don't deserve to be remembered?
I was 6 years old when the tornado hit, I remember to this day the daycare center I was at in Burkburnett. The gals gave me a blanket and as we ran to the tornado shelter, the blanket caught on a nail. I was so terrified. I remember driving around with Mom and Dad the next day, at that young age you just can't appreciate the destruction. I've since moved away from home, and I miss Texas dearly, Terrible Tuesday will stay with me for my whole life.
If anyone can find a video with a blue van drving in front of the tornado please message me. My uncle and dad where in the van and my dad told me you can see them in one of the videos driving for there lives
are we due for one,,cuz its been 32 yrs,,,im from san antonio moved to wichita and i freak out when there are storms over here,,im like is there gunna be a tornado..scared as heck
I was 13, a student at McNeil at the time and we lived in Briargate, next to the stadium. After the sirens went off, we were looking for it but all we saw was a huge, black cloud that didn't look at all like a funnel, then the power went out and doors started slamming in the house. We heard the classic train roar and I remember to this day my heart pounding, wondering when the whole house was going to be blown away. Luckily we got very little damage even though we were just 1/2 mile away.
My great grandmother was killed in this tornado. I was 11 years old when it happened, and will never forget standing on the concrete slab that used to be her house, and looking around me at the total devastation! Her name was Pearl Morris, and she was the sweetest lady you could ever know.
32 years ago;still not forgotten. We lived in the red zone, a mile east of Kiwanis Park. Our home & cars were a total loss, everything gone; neighborhood looked like a war zone, familiarity was gone. I was 16 at the time. The casualties would have likely been worse had the schools not been out for Spring Break. Of the lives lost to the monster, 5 were my friends & classmates.Kelly Hull, Ember Hull, Renae Graves, Jay Huffer, & Terri Mahon. We still remember them like it was yesterday.
My son after that was strong for me when storms would appear and i would get nervous. But he is now with God looking down and still protects mom. It thundered and raind just last night and I thanked him for watching over me being by myself. Love you son, Michael David. xo
I was at g-mas house the news showd nothing. sirens go off. no signs of anything. Home called to decide go back. If i did i would not be here today. phone went dead and electricity. Car radio stated Faith Village looked like bomb went off. Back in car. Down Faith Rd. friend gets me. Found someone sd they were n shelter sd no was on phone. Found them. Spent nte off Brook Street listened to sirens. Bless those that helped and those that lost family. My son was 5. I have since lost him.
I was at g-mas house the news showd nothing. sirens go off. no signs of anything. Home called to decide go back. If i did i would not be here today. phone went dead and electricity. Car radio stated Faith Village looked like bomb went off. Back in car. Down Faith Rd. friend gets me. Found someone sd they were n shelter sd no was on phone. Found them. Spent nte off Brook Street listened to sirens. Bless those that helped and those that lost family. My son was 5. I have since lost him. Peace.
I was there as well and this video brought tears to my eyes. I lost a friend on April 10, 1979. One of the teachers in my school was severely injured. It was a horrifying day, but the town truly came together after. Thanks so much for posting this. It was almost cathartic 32 years later.
I went to McNiel Jr. High & lost my home & neighborhood on this day....I learned at 12 y/o how lucky I was to be alive after living thru this disaster. I can honestly say I have never been thru anything like this since and I hope never to live thru something like this again...I remember feeling a sense of what it must be like to live thru the Apocolypse after this...even tho I had no clue what that was at 12 I knew it felt like the end of the world to me then.
As an individual born in Wichita Falls in 1981, to a mother and with an older sister who survived the events of Terrible Tuesday, I would like to say thank you for producing this video. I grew up amidst the aftermath of this tragic event, but my mother and my sister survived through it. To think that something as devastating as the tornado of April 10, 1979 could occur is difficult to say the least, let alone to have family members who lived through it and to grow up in the carnage left behind
@TheMightykaz: There was a lot of debate about that. The school and a bank that was completely demolished except for its vault were the two biggest points of contention. Not everyone agreed on the rating of the storm, which ultimately is a subjective thing when there isn't video to measure debris speeds. In any case, the storm would be considered EF5 if it were reclassified under the redesigned system.
@dragonridley Actually, on the Enhanced F Scale, it would be ranked an EF-5. The estimated winds in the WF Tornado were 230 mph (A low end F-4 on the old scale) that same speed on the EF Scale would be EF-5. The new scale has anything over 200 MPH ranked as a 5.
Tornadoes are rated based on damage, not direct windspeed measurements. The wind speeds provided are estimates. They were adjusted on the Enhanced Fujita scale largely because the original estimates for winds required to do F4 or F5 damage were found to be too high.
@dragonridley I've chased storms all my life , I am a meteorologist and work for the emergency management office. I'm aware of how the F scale works, especially considering I studied under Ted Fujita in Chicago. We lost our home in Wichita in 79, my grandmother was one of 3 that died that day in Lawton. I was also living in Moore during May 3 and had damage to my home there before moving back to Norman.
@TheMightykaz: The last part of what I wrote is wrong. It wouldn't be reclassified. But the rest is accurate, based on what I read in the NWS storm reports.
@TheMightykaz This is clearly F4 damage (on the old F Scale). To be considered F5, there would have had to be much more in the way of foundations being swept clean. There was very little, if any, of that in Wichita Falls. It was big, and many people make the mistake of thinking that a bigger tornado is automatically a stronger tornado. This was a low-end F4.
@fallsreborn : I have lived in Wichita Falls since May of 1995, and there was no Tornado that hit here May of 1999. It hit Moore, Oklahoma because my sisters were there when it hit. The one of '79 was horrible. I didn't live here but I saw the results of it. Thank God your grandmother and you were ok!
@SuperFreddyFingers That's cool with me. We were sitting down for dinner when the tornado sirens went off. We were without potable city water for a week and without power for two. My dad had to replace all the shingles on our roof. A few streets over and there were no shingles. A few streets past that and there was no roof. American Red Cross was there within 24 hours with their MARS radios and drinking water. I'll never forget that experience.
@BMPmama698 Good. That disproves all the hype about it being 318 mph. Note that the 5/3/99 F5 tornado that hit Bridge Creek and Moore, Oklahoma was the highest winds ever RECORDED on earth. That doesn't mean necessarily that they were the highest winds ever on earth period. There are other F5s that rival that one, such as Xenia, Ohio, 4/3/74, part of the "Super Outbreak".
@ILovestorms -If you are sitting in the middle of a storm likes this and I was, f4 or f5 is pretty Irrelevant. They are fascinating and terrible at the same time.
@ILovestorms Let's remember that the 1999 Bridge Creek tornado's winds of 318 mph were recorded using Doppler On Wheels...many question how accurate that measurement is, not only because of the angle of the radar beam, but also because of distance from the tornado, topography, and other factors.
@billyjames7878 The Wichita Falls tornado of 1979 was the most damaging tornado in U.S. history UP TO THAT POINT. But you are correct. The May 3, 1999 tornado was worse.
@billyjames7878 Well you are busy being rude to other people you might get your facts correct. The May 3, 1999 Moore tornado only had recorded winds of 301 MPH (still the most powerful winds recorded on earth)
I was 9 and living in Faith Village. Needless to say we lost everything. The only part of our house left standing was the hall closet we were in. Debris was piled all around the closet walls, we had to be pulled thru the the top!
I am now seeking stories of those willing to share them for a book I am working on about this tornado. If you have a story you would like to share please PM me.
My mom was in this she was born in 74 so she was young but she still remembers it. Our neighborhood got hit hard. Our street is fleming which is right by the mall. And we still have my great grandpas desk that was dinged and scratched from debris and thats where my mom was taking cover, was under the desk.
I was there when this happened, I was station at Sheppard AFB, my family (wife & 2 daughters) and I lived in an apartment complex which was located on the far southeast side of town on Hwy 287, we were just sitting down for dinner when we heard the sirens, I rushed outside on our front balcony and saw this massive 1 mi. wide dark cloud coming towards us about 3 miles away, I got my family in our car and we took off down the road on Hwy 287 towards
Ft. Worth went down the road a couple of miles and watched as the tornado passed over our apartments then continued on across the hwy NE, drove back to our apartments and saw they were almost completely destroyed, there were probably 20 to 30 cars in our parking lot when we escaped and when we returned you probably couldn't have drove any of them away, some were thrown probably several hundred yards out into the field nearby and crushed like aluminum cans
Great video! Solid editing and use of music. The series of photographs are 2:11 are chilling. In the first photo the tornado just looks like a gloomy cloud behind the houses, then in the next photo the houses are being completely ripped apart. I can only imagine the photographer realizing too little too late what he's looking at.
i really like this. at first i thought Wichita falls was in Kansas but its really in Teaxas. this is a really good video. ok who is the fag that thumbed down?
I was born in '75, so I have some memories of this day. We lived on 3rd street over by Lucy Park. I can remember the sound of this thing even though we were in a storm cellar. Several neighbors were also in the cellar with us. I also remember my mother driving around faith village the day after trying to find my uncle's house.
I live in Iowa Park now, but I will never forget that day.
IM GOING TO MCNIEL JR HIGH !!! (x oh yus, my soc stu. teacher from cunningham elementaryy said her church guyfriend's wife got killed in this because they were in the car and the car floated and the car windows broke and she was being pulled and when he let go of her hand. WOOOSHHH! she's gone and when the tornado left they found her dead bodyy!!
My house was three houses away from the edge of the Tornado. I was out of town at the time and drove back that night. I could of filmed it because the windows facing the Tornado were not broken. The windows on the other side of the house not facing the Tornado were broken. Three houses down everything was flattened.
great video. i didn't realize there was so many pictures of this tornado taken. nor did I realize that this twister was almost a mile wide. none the less, great video.
WF is a black hole. Born here, raised here, moved away and came back. I lived in Ausitn for some years and yeah, it was a more enjoyable city and I plan on going back. WF isn't all bad though. Good, quiet community. Just too boring and conservative for me.
Is it really that bad in Witchita Falls? Because my father lives out there. & Since I want to get the hell out of California I'm going to be moving out there.
I was in the 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls, TX. I meet some of the bravest people I have ever known there. The thing I remember most was the sound as that thing approached. It was so quite at first, then the dogs started howling and then that awful sound. Does anyone have a recording of the sound that monster made?
My Teacher said that she had a friend from church who was a man that man lost his wife on terrible tuesday , he was in the car with his wife till the tornado picked the car up its the tornado pulled her out of the car and when it end they found her dead
Your gay! You're probably some faggot who lives in the crap part of town like all cities have. You just don't know what to do there and you're probably just a loser who has no friends.
No, I only lived there for 3 years. Just enough time to get sick of that shithole. The whole town is the crap part of town. Now I live in Highland Park in Dallas and have plenty of non-white trash friends. And, if I may use the proper grammar, you're gay.
I will NEVER forget the looks of the wandering ppl right after.we lived on Hursh street and has a house on Hanover. I remember the sound,the quite and the animalist wailing of the ppl in shock looking for loved ones.i could not move.we still have a small branch sticking in the house painted but left where the tornado drove it in,.
Still remember to this day coming out of Sikes Center Mall later on that day and seeing the very long very wide path of destruction :-( The impacts of that day lasted for many years, gives me the chills seeing it.
Born in '78, so I don't have personal memories. Mom hid us in an Albertson's meat locker after giving up outrunning it. Guess I was lucky when I was born because the storm had more good impacts on me than bad. All the schools I went to and homes I lived in were nice because they had been rebuilt. And, in hindsight, WF was about a perfect city to grow up in. Great people. BTW, is that slab at the end on Trinidad? If so, I played on that so many times. Memories...thanks for the video.
The slab is actually in Faith Village somewhere. I forget which street. It's such a powerful image of how people have moved on, though--a basketball goal erected on a house foundation.
Thank you. It was a tragic event that happened before video cameras became so common, so there is very little footage of the event. The storm spotter audio came from a shortwave radio operator who placed a audio cassette recorder next to his radio unit. The full recording is around an hour long and you can hear his family getting ready for dinner in the background.
I wasn't around when it happened but I live there and if you look at the south side of the mall you can see were the bricks zig zag and slightly change color from the ground to the roof, that was from the terrible tuesday
I remember hearing about this when I was in school. I think one of my science teachers had us studying tornadoes and told us about this day. I don't wish that kind of weather on anybody, but find tornadoes fascinating and love learning about them and what causes them.
You did a great job on this...esp catching the multiple vortices that gathered into that huge tornado. I was there...and had family go through it...was only five blocks from me. We didn't lose anyone in it thank goodness. Thank you.
People are still recovering economically and psychologically from it now. 30 years and I can still taste the air. I remember that green sky too roz. I remember crying Aw man! cuz Rich Seagal was interrupting Bonanza just as it started. But most of all, I remember sticking my head up and asking if it was over...just before the back side of the eye hit the tiny walk-in closet. You may never forget it, but when I identify that particular brain cell I'm gonna burn that sucker alive.
30 years later and this still breaks my heart to view. Wichita Falls has recovered, but, how I wish this never happened. Prayers to all of those who lost everything, including loved ones. We miss those that were lost!
I started to add them, but I feared the lists I found online might not be totally accurate, and I decided it was better not to have them than to get it wrong.
I remember this tornado like it was yesterday too. My dad owned Underwoods. My parents had to go to there to make sure the employees & customers were safe.
All 60 were ok. It seemed like the tornado blew everything out of the building & flattened the Rifkin Drug Store on the corner. I went to McGaha. I remember hearing the sirens. That was the scarriest sound, almost like a warning of death is coming your way. I seen baseball size hail & then everything was still and quiet. & then it came.
I was there...age 19...we ate at Underwoods BBQ regularly. My dad was the news guy at KTRN radio...the only station that remained on that night. You never ever forget something like this.
This is quite touching and well-done. I grew up in Iowa Park, and although I had moved to Odessa by this time, I still had many friends in Wichita Falls. Even today, when I hear the phrase "Tornado Alley," I think of Wichita County.
robertgferrell 1 day ago
MUSIC is LUV! Youtube/REGGIEWRITEOUS
ReggieWriteous 1 week ago
what a sad day for texas.
GameLover903 1 week ago in playlist Liked videos
This tornado looks very similar to the Tuscaloosa, Alabama tornado of April 27, 2011. Many of the fatalities in Wichita Falls that day were people who were trying to escape in vehicles.
ILovestorms 4 weeks ago
Comment removed
ILovestorms 4 weeks ago
I was 3 months old and still living in wichita falls
txtoaz210 1 month ago
wow I was 9 years old when that hit...we had just moved to New Meixco about 3 months before...close one.
Wehawk100 1 month ago
Lawton Oklahoma got hit the same day & time on April 10, 1979. They had an F3. No pictures were ever taken because people in Lawton were focused on the ones in Texas. 3 People died in Lawton.
LouisBoiBrickSquad 1 month ago
I live in Wichita Falls!
ilovemddm 3 months ago
@imacrazynut321 Tornadoes can happen at any time of the year.
TheTexasTornado10 3 months ago
were having a fall tornado worning right now... im scard.... do u think there can be a fall tornado???
imacrazynut321 3 months ago
I wish they would a special of Terrible Tuesday and the Tri-State Tornado on the Weather Channel. If i had the money I wouldn't mind making a movie about the Wichita Falls Tornado or the Tri-State Tornado i would stick with what happened.
WayneAndSouljaSucks 4 months ago
Well done on this presentation," coxric".
crlaw75 5 months ago
@crlaw75 Thank you.
coxric 4 months ago
@coxric this is a good presentation. If I had the money I wouldn't mind making a movie and i will stick with what actually happened. unlike hollywood they might make a love story out of it.
usgitmo33 4 months ago
I watched this tornado travel from the far southwest corner of the city until it hit our house on Parker Blvd. just east of Jacksboro highway. It is a vivid memory and your video does an excellent job of recalling the destructive power, great loss and eventual hope that came from this day. Thanks.
sweetwi11ie 6 months ago
Thank you for this video story.I lost my sister that day and have rarely, in the last 32 years, ever talked about or listened to anything relating to this event. For some of us, the scars havent healed. But I truly appreciate your video and the thought and effort put into it. I am glad I watched it.
pamelasund102408 6 months ago
@pamelasund102408 Sorry for your loss. Thank for the kind words about the video.
coxric 1 month ago
the reason why the terrible tuesday tornado was so powerful was because separate vortexes were rotating around each other, and eventually all joined together and created the monster. wen the tornado starts to die, the vortexes weaken, not being able to support each other. they then separate and after a few minutes disappear completely
4Grits 7 months ago
I was only 1 when this hit, so was spared the memory. We lived just SW of the 6 (Ben Milem Elem) on the damage map. My mom grabbed me when she saw it and tried to outrun the tornado. Quickly realized that was a bad idea and we took cover the Albertsons meat locker.
Sad to see a repeat of this event this year in Tuscaloosa and somehow an even worse tornado in Joplin. Those people have a long road to recovery.
ZeroRed78 8 months ago
I lived near Dallas, TX at this time, has Wichita Falls been hit by a tornado(s) since? I cannot remember if they did since April 10, 1979.
beatleman69 8 months ago
@beatleman69 No, the city has been lucky and not been hit since.
ZeroRed78 8 months ago
Very good video. I was born in Wichita Falls in 1981 and I remember growing up and hearing about all that happened and seeing some of the damage that was still around. My mother and grandparents were all there that day and have vivid stories of what happened. Will definitely never be forgotten. Again, great video.
brisingr2781 8 months ago
My house got taken in that tornado, it was rigt in the path of it near southwest pkwy.
123mrguy1 8 months ago
you should get your Facts Right in the Video Here' you Said that 45 People Died in that Tornado' when it was Really 42 People that Died.
HubbyHair 8 months ago
@HubbyHair There were 42 deaths as a direct result of the tornado. Three other people died from stress-related injuries, like heart attacks, that occurred the day of the storm. I felt like it might be insensitive not to include the additional three. Perhaps I should record the video again and change the line in question, since those people aren't part of the official number and therefore don't deserve to be remembered?
coxric 8 months ago
I was 6 years old when the tornado hit, I remember to this day the daycare center I was at in Burkburnett. The gals gave me a blanket and as we ran to the tornado shelter, the blanket caught on a nail. I was so terrified. I remember driving around with Mom and Dad the next day, at that young age you just can't appreciate the destruction. I've since moved away from home, and I miss Texas dearly, Terrible Tuesday will stay with me for my whole life.
vwkaferman 9 months ago
r u stupid, y r u basicly standing in and out of your house wen a tornado is approaching
yoJoe123 10 months ago
If anyone can find a video with a blue van drving in front of the tornado please message me. My uncle and dad where in the van and my dad told me you can see them in one of the videos driving for there lives
TheMachomaniac 10 months ago
are we due for one,,cuz its been 32 yrs,,,im from san antonio moved to wichita and i freak out when there are storms over here,,im like is there gunna be a tornado..scared as heck
spurs2232 10 months ago
I was 13, a student at McNeil at the time and we lived in Briargate, next to the stadium. After the sirens went off, we were looking for it but all we saw was a huge, black cloud that didn't look at all like a funnel, then the power went out and doors started slamming in the house. We heard the classic train roar and I remember to this day my heart pounding, wondering when the whole house was going to be blown away. Luckily we got very little damage even though we were just 1/2 mile away.
BeetleChaser 10 months ago
My great grandmother was killed in this tornado. I was 11 years old when it happened, and will never forget standing on the concrete slab that used to be her house, and looking around me at the total devastation! Her name was Pearl Morris, and she was the sweetest lady you could ever know.
frazzledjt 10 months ago
1:34 My neighbor hood! 1:14 Over by Cunningham!
ColleenPinksand 10 months ago
32 years ago;still not forgotten. We lived in the red zone, a mile east of Kiwanis Park. Our home & cars were a total loss, everything gone; neighborhood looked like a war zone, familiarity was gone. I was 16 at the time. The casualties would have likely been worse had the schools not been out for Spring Break. Of the lives lost to the monster, 5 were my friends & classmates.Kelly Hull, Ember Hull, Renae Graves, Jay Huffer, & Terri Mahon. We still remember them like it was yesterday.
tuesdaysgone7979 10 months ago
My son after that was strong for me when storms would appear and i would get nervous. But he is now with God looking down and still protects mom. It thundered and raind just last night and I thanked him for watching over me being by myself. Love you son, Michael David. xo
Babydollbtx1 10 months ago
I was at g-mas house the news showd nothing. sirens go off. no signs of anything. Home called to decide go back. If i did i would not be here today. phone went dead and electricity. Car radio stated Faith Village looked like bomb went off. Back in car. Down Faith Rd. friend gets me. Found someone sd they were n shelter sd no was on phone. Found them. Spent nte off Brook Street listened to sirens. Bless those that helped and those that lost family. My son was 5. I have since lost him.
Babydollbtx1 10 months ago
I was at g-mas house the news showd nothing. sirens go off. no signs of anything. Home called to decide go back. If i did i would not be here today. phone went dead and electricity. Car radio stated Faith Village looked like bomb went off. Back in car. Down Faith Rd. friend gets me. Found someone sd they were n shelter sd no was on phone. Found them. Spent nte off Brook Street listened to sirens. Bless those that helped and those that lost family. My son was 5. I have since lost him. Peace.
Babydollbtx1 10 months ago
I was there as well and this video brought tears to my eyes. I lost a friend on April 10, 1979. One of the teachers in my school was severely injured. It was a horrifying day, but the town truly came together after. Thanks so much for posting this. It was almost cathartic 32 years later.
Starchild0224 10 months ago
I went to McNiel Jr. High & lost my home & neighborhood on this day....I learned at 12 y/o how lucky I was to be alive after living thru this disaster. I can honestly say I have never been thru anything like this since and I hope never to live thru something like this again...I remember feeling a sense of what it must be like to live thru the Apocolypse after this...even tho I had no clue what that was at 12 I knew it felt like the end of the world to me then.
SaDonnaR 10 months ago
i go to mcniel...i was told the only thing left was the art room
xxanitatokiohotelxx 11 months ago
This happened before I was born, but yeah.. my house was in the green area, right below the stadium.
wangtangkiki 11 months ago
Hey, I can see my house on there.. crazy.
wangtangkiki 11 months ago
My grandma used to live there :'( until that tornado hit :'( I miss her so much
Snowkitten14 11 months ago
Wonderful video! I am interested in Terrible Tuesday cause my cousin used to live there.
MaeTheMae 1 year ago
As an individual born in Wichita Falls in 1981, to a mother and with an older sister who survived the events of Terrible Tuesday, I would like to say thank you for producing this video. I grew up amidst the aftermath of this tragic event, but my mother and my sister survived through it. To think that something as devastating as the tornado of April 10, 1979 could occur is difficult to say the least, let alone to have family members who lived through it and to grow up in the carnage left behind
liongoth 1 year ago
@liongoth You're welcome. Thanks for your comment.
coxric 11 months ago
@liongoth sorry i meant to press like
yoJoe123 10 months ago
Is it just me or does that damage look to be f5? I know it wS rated f4 but the junior high damage looks f5.
TheMightykaz 1 year ago
@TheMightykaz: There was a lot of debate about that. The school and a bank that was completely demolished except for its vault were the two biggest points of contention. Not everyone agreed on the rating of the storm, which ultimately is a subjective thing when there isn't video to measure debris speeds. In any case, the storm would be considered EF5 if it were reclassified under the redesigned system.
coxric 1 year ago
@coxric
IF it were rated F4 on the old scale it would be EF4 on the new on as well.
dragonridley 1 year ago
@dragonridley Actually, on the Enhanced F Scale, it would be ranked an EF-5. The estimated winds in the WF Tornado were 230 mph (A low end F-4 on the old scale) that same speed on the EF Scale would be EF-5. The new scale has anything over 200 MPH ranked as a 5.
BMPmama698 1 year ago
@BMPmama698
Tornadoes are rated based on damage, not direct windspeed measurements. The wind speeds provided are estimates. They were adjusted on the Enhanced Fujita scale largely because the original estimates for winds required to do F4 or F5 damage were found to be too high.
dragonridley 1 year ago
@dragonridley I've chased storms all my life , I am a meteorologist and work for the emergency management office. I'm aware of how the F scale works, especially considering I studied under Ted Fujita in Chicago. We lost our home in Wichita in 79, my grandmother was one of 3 that died that day in Lawton. I was also living in Moore during May 3 and had damage to my home there before moving back to Norman.
BMPmama698 1 year ago
@TheMightykaz: The last part of what I wrote is wrong. It wouldn't be reclassified. But the rest is accurate, based on what I read in the NWS storm reports.
coxric 11 months ago
@TheMightykaz This is clearly F4 damage (on the old F Scale). To be considered F5, there would have had to be much more in the way of foundations being swept clean. There was very little, if any, of that in Wichita Falls. It was big, and many people make the mistake of thinking that a bigger tornado is automatically a stronger tornado. This was a low-end F4.
wxtulsa 1 year ago
@wxtulsa i know this was F4 but there was F5 damage at the school
usgitmo33 10 months ago
@TheMightykaz no no no, no concrete building were badly damaged
yoJoe123 10 months ago
@ClubPenguinRises um, no. it did not touch Rider highschool.
not even alittle wind damage, i've recentlyy graduated from Rider.
fallsreborn 1 year ago
My grandmother was in this one.
i was in may 3rd 1999.
i was around 5 years old, no where to go, i still have nightmares.
fallsreborn 1 year ago
@fallsreborn That's pretty scary.
XBLCole1497 1 year ago
@fallsreborn : I have lived in Wichita Falls since May of 1995, and there was no Tornado that hit here May of 1999. It hit Moore, Oklahoma because my sisters were there when it hit. The one of '79 was horrible. I didn't live here but I saw the results of it. Thank God your grandmother and you were ok!
TheAnn1948 1 year ago
@TheAnn1948 Yeah, I was up By OKC, Hydro oklahoma that day.
and glad your sisters are okay.
fallsreborn 1 year ago
@rolfesangel absolutely, so sad.
koikoiboi 1 year ago
Not even the oklahoma city tornado left that high of a percentage of people homeless!
Brian211978 1 year ago
Wichita falls... we are the strongest of the most.
mapler1995 1 year ago
i lived the day it happend
slugdude000000 1 year ago
Just decided to look up my birthday (april 10th 1979) on youtube and this is what I found.
koikoiboi 1 year ago
wichita falls sucks ....i live there
SuperFreddyFingers 1 year ago
@SuperFreddyFingers
There's a simple solution. Move. Get a job in another city, pick up and move on up in the world.
lacquerheadTX 1 year ago
@lacquerheadTX i will give you a pass on account of your screen name
SuperFreddyFingers 1 year ago
@SuperFreddyFingers That's cool with me. We were sitting down for dinner when the tornado sirens went off. We were without potable city water for a week and without power for two. My dad had to replace all the shingles on our roof. A few streets over and there were no shingles. A few streets past that and there was no roof. American Red Cross was there within 24 hours with their MARS radios and drinking water. I'll never forget that experience.
lacquerheadTX 1 year ago
@lacquerheadTX like the primus song right
SuperFreddyFingers 1 year ago
2:19 one of the scariest stills of a tornado I've ever seen in my life...
zerosoma33 1 year ago 5
wrong!!!! May 3 1999 did the most tornado damage EF5 with 318 MPH winds
billyjames7878 1 year ago
@billyjames7878 - What part is wrong?
coxric 1 year ago
@billyjames7878 302 mph winds. The number was adjusted to groud level. 318 was recorded 32 meters OFF the ground.
ILovestorms 1 year ago
@ILovestorms Not to be picky, but it was not 302 it was 301 and it wasn't quiet adjusted to Ground Level. It was 301 mph at a height of 32 m AGL.
BMPmama698 1 year ago
@BMPmama698 Good. That disproves all the hype about it being 318 mph. Note that the 5/3/99 F5 tornado that hit Bridge Creek and Moore, Oklahoma was the highest winds ever RECORDED on earth. That doesn't mean necessarily that they were the highest winds ever on earth period. There are other F5s that rival that one, such as Xenia, Ohio, 4/3/74, part of the "Super Outbreak".
ILovestorms 1 year ago
@ILovestorms -If you are sitting in the middle of a storm likes this and I was, f4 or f5 is pretty Irrelevant. They are fascinating and terrible at the same time.
Baileyshill 10 months ago
@ILovestorms Let's remember that the 1999 Bridge Creek tornado's winds of 318 mph were recorded using Doppler On Wheels...many question how accurate that measurement is, not only because of the angle of the radar beam, but also because of distance from the tornado, topography, and other factors.
wxtulsa 1 year ago
@billyjames7878 The Wichita Falls tornado of 1979 was the most damaging tornado in U.S. history UP TO THAT POINT. But you are correct. The May 3, 1999 tornado was worse.
michaeldj5 1 year ago
Yeah, I thought my language was clear. If he wanted to compare this with the Moore tornado he could have been a little more polite about it.
coxric 1 year ago
Comment removed
michaeldj5 1 year ago
@billyjames7878 Well you are busy being rude to other people you might get your facts correct. The May 3, 1999 Moore tornado only had recorded winds of 301 MPH (still the most powerful winds recorded on earth)
BMPmama698 1 year ago
I was 9 and living in Faith Village. Needless to say we lost everything. The only part of our house left standing was the hall closet we were in. Debris was piled all around the closet walls, we had to be pulled thru the the top!
neecie1670 1 year ago
omg.....I just moved to wichita falls right where this thing ran through....
david052856 1 year ago
I am now seeking stories of those willing to share them for a book I am working on about this tornado. If you have a story you would like to share please PM me.
CrazyIsMyName1000 1 year ago
@CrazyIsMyName1000 - contact me - watch the 48 sec video with James Bond reporting from KTRN Radio -
roz59 1 year ago
I didn't see this monster because I was in a cellar with my parents and neighbors as it destroyed my neighborhood near the National Guard armory.
w3tua 1 year ago
My mom was in this she was born in 74 so she was young but she still remembers it. Our neighborhood got hit hard. Our street is fleming which is right by the mall. And we still have my great grandpas desk that was dinged and scratched from debris and thats where my mom was taking cover, was under the desk.
cbc6093 1 year ago
I go to Mcniel
XoCaitlinIsBeastXo1 1 year ago
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TheRealScottSmith 1 year ago
I was there when this happened, I was station at Sheppard AFB, my family (wife & 2 daughters) and I lived in an apartment complex which was located on the far southeast side of town on Hwy 287, we were just sitting down for dinner when we heard the sirens, I rushed outside on our front balcony and saw this massive 1 mi. wide dark cloud coming towards us about 3 miles away, I got my family in our car and we took off down the road on Hwy 287 towards
stevenkates 1 year ago
Ft. Worth went down the road a couple of miles and watched as the tornado passed over our apartments then continued on across the hwy NE, drove back to our apartments and saw they were almost completely destroyed, there were probably 20 to 30 cars in our parking lot when we escaped and when we returned you probably couldn't have drove any of them away, some were thrown probably several hundred yards out into the field nearby and crushed like aluminum cans
stevenkates 1 year ago
we were fortunate enough to have our lives, my car & the clothes on our backs saved that day, many we're far less fortunate, thank you Lord
stevenkates 1 year ago
I'm actually doing a project on this tornado, but I really didn't understand what the big deal was.
Wake-up call. I found out.
Arcatdia 1 year ago
Great video! Solid editing and use of music. The series of photographs are 2:11 are chilling. In the first photo the tornado just looks like a gloomy cloud behind the houses, then in the next photo the houses are being completely ripped apart. I can only imagine the photographer realizing too little too late what he's looking at.
hawrnball 1 year ago 5
Thanks for the kind words. I'm not sure how that photographer couldn't hear the tornado coming, though. The sound must have been horrifying.
coxric 1 year ago
10 city blocks wide. Awesome.
xander7ful 1 year ago
i really like this. at first i thought Wichita falls was in Kansas but its really in Teaxas. this is a really good video. ok who is the fag that thumbed down?
boi9031 1 year ago
This is so scary!!!!!!
lilgirlbabe7 1 year ago
I was born in '75, so I have some memories of this day. We lived on 3rd street over by Lucy Park. I can remember the sound of this thing even though we were in a storm cellar. Several neighbors were also in the cellar with us. I also remember my mother driving around faith village the day after trying to find my uncle's house.
I live in Iowa Park now, but I will never forget that day.
Thank you.
Maverick82102 1 year ago
I survived...
jaxdelivers 1 year ago
IM GOING TO MCNIEL JR HIGH !!! (x oh yus, my soc stu. teacher from cunningham elementaryy said her church guyfriend's wife got killed in this because they were in the car and the car floated and the car windows broke and she was being pulled and when he let go of her hand. WOOOSHHH! she's gone and when the tornado left they found her dead bodyy!!
JackieRocksyourSocks 1 year ago
My house was three houses away from the edge of the Tornado. I was out of town at the time and drove back that night. I could of filmed it because the windows facing the Tornado were not broken. The windows on the other side of the house not facing the Tornado were broken. Three houses down everything was flattened.
easygoingguy72 1 year ago
great video. i didn't realize there was so many pictures of this tornado taken. nor did I realize that this twister was almost a mile wide. none the less, great video.
thedarkpoets 1 year ago
this town is perfect to grow up in, well it was. now theres just so much gangs
danguhz0n3 1 year ago
WF is a black hole. Born here, raised here, moved away and came back. I lived in Ausitn for some years and yeah, it was a more enjoyable city and I plan on going back. WF isn't all bad though. Good, quiet community. Just too boring and conservative for me.
JoeyGStrings 1 year ago
It's not a BAD town, but boring as ****.
kf8295 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
i wish the tornado destroyed the city it is the worst place to live
babyymatt 2 years ago
my grandmother lost her home in this storm at the time my mother was 1 but we still live here today.
kcman011 2 years ago
i live like right behind the stadium
coconuts4all 2 years ago
My mom tells me about this every time she gets a chance. I wasn't born till 80.
danniterrwh09 2 years ago
Is it really that bad in Witchita Falls? Because my father lives out there. & Since I want to get the hell out of California I'm going to be moving out there.
RastafariPoet 2 years ago
i live in wichata falls its a quiet nice town. and bb king is coming here tomorow lol id say move here its great here.
metal4life160 2 years ago
i used to live on Lakefront just a few blocks away from the stadium
bmase2007 2 years ago
ya i was bor a few years after i left and now im back to wichita falls it sucks here i swear
fluffyzombiegod 2 years ago
That is why my family got out and moved to Fort Worth. It is way better here than in Wichita Falls - The Black Hole.
KidVlogger317 2 years ago
that was years before i was born but i live in burkburnett right now
futurephotographer15 2 years ago
omg if i was born 1979 i giong to scraed
Vi3tGirl11 2 years ago
Mcniel sucks
360ForLife1 2 years ago
I was in the 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls, TX. I meet some of the bravest people I have ever known there. The thing I remember most was the sound as that thing approached. It was so quite at first, then the dogs started howling and then that awful sound. Does anyone have a recording of the sound that monster made?
cherlynnguy 2 years ago
wher r u from?
jamesrichardson63 2 years ago
i go to mcniel ha
67MUSTANGPRODUCTIONS 2 years ago
It hit near raider highschool!
ClubPenguinRises 2 years ago 2
My Teacher said that she had a friend from church who was a man that man lost his wife on terrible tuesday , he was in the car with his wife till the tornado picked the car up its the tornado pulled her out of the car and when it end they found her dead
ClubPenguinRises 2 years ago
I live there now :) I lived here for 5 years
ClubPenguinRises 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Too bad Wichita Falls is a shithole city now. The only attraction amidst the decaying, abandoned buildings is "The Falls" lol.
t239 2 years ago
Your gay! You're probably some faggot who lives in the crap part of town like all cities have. You just don't know what to do there and you're probably just a loser who has no friends.
Burgomak1 2 years ago
No, I only lived there for 3 years. Just enough time to get sick of that shithole. The whole town is the crap part of town. Now I live in Highland Park in Dallas and have plenty of non-white trash friends. And, if I may use the proper grammar, you're gay.
t239 2 years ago
ha! i think ur the loser??
jamesrichardson63 2 years ago
well no its great here and bb king coming so i llove it here.
metal4life160 2 years ago
me to i love it here i would never leave i dont think lol
srt1616 2 years ago
i live there ='[
tyler414625 2 years ago
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psxwarrior 2 years ago
Coxric--Awesome job.hard to watch if you were in it,really hard and made me cringe and cry but remembering is important. thanks!
kiastar67 2 years ago
I will NEVER forget the looks of the wandering ppl right after.we lived on Hursh street and has a house on Hanover. I remember the sound,the quite and the animalist wailing of the ppl in shock looking for loved ones.i could not move.we still have a small branch sticking in the house painted but left where the tornado drove it in,.
kiastar67 2 years ago
:O I live there too! its SCARY Its the biggest one in the history wichita falls is famous :)
ClubPenguinRises 2 years ago 2
our town is famous for this why?
burnout920 2 years ago
Did a supercell spawn the Wichita Falls tornado?
ILovestorms 2 years ago
Any tornado of this size and power would definitely have been associated with the updraft of a rotating thunderstorm (supercell).
Tornadoes that are not associated with supercells are always relatively small and weak.
spammag 2 years ago
Still remember to this day coming out of Sikes Center Mall later on that day and seeing the very long very wide path of destruction :-( The impacts of that day lasted for many years, gives me the chills seeing it.
polshrk 2 years ago
That was 30 years ago, but it's an experience you'll never forget.
ILovestorms 2 years ago
Born in '78, so I don't have personal memories. Mom hid us in an Albertson's meat locker after giving up outrunning it. Guess I was lucky when I was born because the storm had more good impacts on me than bad. All the schools I went to and homes I lived in were nice because they had been rebuilt. And, in hindsight, WF was about a perfect city to grow up in. Great people. BTW, is that slab at the end on Trinidad? If so, I played on that so many times. Memories...thanks for the video.
ZeroRed78 2 years ago
Thank you.
The slab is actually in Faith Village somewhere. I forget which street. It's such a powerful image of how people have moved on, though--a basketball goal erected on a house foundation.
coxric 2 years ago
Great video. Chilling.
FiftyFathoms 2 years ago
Thank you.
coxric 2 years ago
Original poster, thank you so very much. This was wonderfully executed and explained.
Neurofighter1 2 years ago
Thank you. It was a tragic event that happened before video cameras became so common, so there is very little footage of the event. The storm spotter audio came from a shortwave radio operator who placed a audio cassette recorder next to his radio unit. The full recording is around an hour long and you can hear his family getting ready for dinner in the background.
coxric 2 years ago
i live there and my mom was 13 when this tornado hit.
chelbaby07 2 years ago
i was 9 months old under the overpass by the falls
trapp313 2 years ago
ive lived here all my life but wasnt born til 85, glad too
2WW34 2 years ago
we lived around Sikes center back in 81. What is it like there today around the parkway and safeway? And is that bank vault still there?
mellaman2006 2 years ago
I wasn't around when it happened but I live there and if you look at the south side of the mall you can see were the bricks zig zag and slightly change color from the ground to the roof, that was from the terrible tuesday
OsamaBinBalling 2 years ago
It choked me up when I saw that you dedicated this to the victims and survivors. Thank you.
jaxdelivers 2 years ago
I remember hearing about this when I was in school. I think one of my science teachers had us studying tornadoes and told us about this day. I don't wish that kind of weather on anybody, but find tornadoes fascinating and love learning about them and what causes them.
koodsue 2 years ago
my science teacher was involved in this but hes okay to this day
godscommaro2 2 years ago
You did a great job on this...esp catching the multiple vortices that gathered into that huge tornado. I was there...and had family go through it...was only five blocks from me. We didn't lose anyone in it thank goodness. Thank you.
roz59 2 years ago
I lived right near the National Guard armory in Wichita. Thank God for storm cellars. I was 7 years old.
w3tua 2 years ago
I lived in Wichita Falls in the 90's and people were still recovering economically and psycologically from terrible tuesday
heymissdeejay 2 years ago
People are still recovering economically and psychologically from it now. 30 years and I can still taste the air. I remember that green sky too roz. I remember crying Aw man! cuz Rich Seagal was interrupting Bonanza just as it started. But most of all, I remember sticking my head up and asking if it was over...just before the back side of the eye hit the tiny walk-in closet. You may never forget it, but when I identify that particular brain cell I'm gonna burn that sucker alive.
jaxdelivers 2 years ago
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TheBrassHole 2 years ago
30 years later and this still breaks my heart to view. Wichita Falls has recovered, but, how I wish this never happened. Prayers to all of those who lost everything, including loved ones. We miss those that were lost!
briantxs 2 years ago
Great video!
I really don't like tornadoes, though.
bhrobbins 2 years ago
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tyRONasaur 2 years ago
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emdeengee 2 years ago
It would have been a nice touch to see the names of the victims in the dedication.
emdeengee 2 years ago
I started to add them, but I feared the lists I found online might not be totally accurate, and I decided it was better not to have them than to get it wrong.
coxric 2 years ago
Wow 30 year,s ago I hope we never see a like this.
Spacecowboys99 2 years ago
I remember this tornado like it was yesterday too. My dad owned Underwoods. My parents had to go to there to make sure the employees & customers were safe.
All 60 were ok. It seemed like the tornado blew everything out of the building & flattened the Rifkin Drug Store on the corner. I went to McGaha. I remember hearing the sirens. That was the scarriest sound, almost like a warning of death is coming your way. I seen baseball size hail & then everything was still and quiet. & then it came.
nickettao 2 years ago
Remember how the sky was that weird green color?
I was there...age 19...we ate at Underwoods BBQ regularly. My dad was the news guy at KTRN radio...the only station that remained on that night. You never ever forget something like this.
roz59 2 years ago
30 years..wow!