Wichita Falls Tornado Special - Encounter '79

[dancinmike2004]

R.I.P. Harold Taft. I grew up watching him in the DFW area.

[MissLori]

Wow, I was just a newborn when this happened...

[BigBadGafilo]

I am curious about the "tornado warning" slide demonstrated on the cartoon TV above the cowering guy at 3:06 - was that a common one for stations to use during the '70s? During my online research of tornadoes, I have seen at least one other reference to a slide scheme like that, with a red screen for tornadoes and a similar bold font ("TORNADO" in black, and the word "WARNING" below it in white lettering), and also the NOAA logo, although that was in the Fort Smith, AR area.

[pdorn777]

The "spammer" in this case appears to be an actual eyewitness to the Wichita tornado who is telling his personal story about that day.

[vfIskullangel]

I love the 70's.

[parab121]

Who is the dork that marked stevenkates commit as spam? Just wondering!

[americanpecker]

wow!

[JamminJenn420]

wow very old and it does look like a video from nowadays.... crazy....

[swmdal]

Harold Taft dates back to the days when TV meteorologists were hired for their knowledge, not for their blond hair and large bustlines.

[lothartheterrible]

Oh wow; Harold Taft and Chip Moody; I miss these guys, they had integrity. Not too many news people can say that anymore.

[PopppaBlue59]

@lothartheterrible I met Mr. Moody at a Rangers game years ago. Very nice gentleman.

[americanpecker]

I agree!

[Gravekeepereaper0]

Damn this is old the footage though looks like a camera from now adays. Hope I spelled that right. I live three or four counties from wichita in grayson county.

[13svincent]

u live in sherman??? i used to live there and i also lived in vernon, talk about a shit hole, but i really liked the sherman denison area. do u know if that big abandoned building "woodmans cirlce home" is still standing?

[TheBrassHole]

Herald Taft, the last weather man to ever live. RIP

[Wizzardgirl]

Very interesting information at the NOAA site on the 30th Anniversary of the storm. If you google "noaa wxevents 19790410 burgess.php" .. it'll get you there. Seems the damage was damn near F5 in some places. So in the immediate time after the tornado, it might well have been referred to as an F5 and then adjusted downwards to F4. But, per NOAA, the only F5 to hit Wichita Falls was April 3, 1964.

[gaylanbryant]

no....the one in wichita falls was rated an f-5

[w3tua]

It was rated F-4. Look it up.

[robysasi]

I was 8

[creton4]

God bless Harold Taft.

[w3tua]

I lived near the National Guard armory in Wichita Falls. We got to the cellar about 10 minutes before it hit and when we came out there was literally nothing left of our neighborhood.

[Haybrea]

my mom was in that!

[junie1010]

I was there when this tornado hit. It was one of the scariest times of my life. There were a couple of smaller ones as well. One went over Sheppard AFB. Lots of friends barely escaped with their lives and the stories were amazing. There was actually debris in one man's leg and no visible entry. Same thing with some can good salvaged from the area.

Everyone needs a cellar there. A hallway or bathroom just doesn't cut it with a monster like this.

[RowanAthikson]

The music at the beginning was so funny so I watching again and again.

Table is the safest place if you don't have underground room or building made from stone.

[mellowinpa2]

Thank you for posting this. I hadn't seen Chip Moody and Harold Taft in more than 25 years, since I left the North Texas area. My uncle was a reporter for the The Dallas Morning News at the time, and he was sent to cover this story. His tales from this story were harrowing.

[shannonm75]

I remember both these guys-particularly Herald Taft. He was our local meteorologist. He passed away in 1991.

[jertzie]

Unfortunately, Chip isn't with us anymore, either. He died in December of 2001. Not just a great tornado special, but some DFW history here. Thanks!

[shannonm75]

Yeah, I had forgotten about that. I remember how sad it was when he was sick.

[Momoftwinsplus1]

Awesome what a day that was, Vernon then Wichita Falls and then Lawton. My friends' grandmother died in Lawton. I was 3, its one of my first memories, my Aunt lived in Wicita Falls and we spent the week helping her out, cooking in her fireplace and using candles. I got home and all I wanted to do was play with fire! LOL

[ILovestorms]

Almost half the fatalities were people who were trying run away and escape the tornado, yet, Gary England encouraged people to do that very thing during the May 9, 1999 okc twister.

[burtonfan2]

there are so many things wrong with that statement. gary england didnt say that cause there never was a tornado in okc on may 9, 1999. it was on may 3rd 1999, and may 9, 2003, neither of which did england encourage people to run

[ILovestorms]

That's what I meant. I missed typed it. May 3rd, 1999. That is what he said, according to a TLC documentary. He said that either doing that or getting underground were the only things you could do to survive that Bridge Creek-Moore F5.

[Momoftwinsplus1]

May 3, 1999 Gary England did NOT tell people to outrun the tornado. He told people in Moore and OKC they had some time to get to a safer place underground and if it meant going to a neighboors or down the street to do so then. Gary England, and Mike Morgan from channel 4 saved countless lives that day telling folks that a closet or bathroom might not be safe enough and to get underground!

[ILovestorms]

I meant May 3rd 1999.

[ILovestorms]

That tornado was rated an F4.