I’ve lived in Texas my whole life, the majority of the time in Dallas. I’ve come to appreciate and marvel at the weather we Texans have – from the mild winters, great fall seasons, and VERY hot summers. Then there’s springtime …

I was six years old on April 2, 1957. My mother was cooking dinner while I was listening to American Bandstand on TV.  Suddenly, the lights went off and my mother and I scrambled out to the front porch. I remember how still everything was. It was as if all the air had been sucked away. Then huge drops of rain started falling. That’s when we heard the roar like a freight train a few blocks away.

We watched the tornado with debris whirling around. We were waiting for my brother to get home from school. My mother, understandably, was anxious. Soon we would learn the devastation of that afternoon. 

The April 2, 1957 tornado carved a sixteen mile path through Oak Cliff (where we lived) and West Dallas over a time span of about forty minutes, it took the lives of ten people, including three children from a single family (the highest death toll from a tornado to date in the DFW area), injured approximately 200 and left 500 homeless. Five-hundred seventy-four structures were damaged, including between 131 and 154 homes and between 9 and 28 apartment buildings that were completely destroyed. Property losses totaled $4 million (in 1957 dollars). It was one of about twenty-five tornadoes spotted around north central Texas and southern Oklahoma that day. My father’s service station was destroyed and one of his employees killed after refusing to seek shelter.

The tornado did not strike in a sparsely populated rural location, but rather in the middle of a relatively large metropolitan area. It did not strike at night, but late on a Tuesday afternoon when many people were out and about to witness it. It did not come and go quickly, but was deliberate in its passage.

My father was not at his service station that afternoon, but was returning from our farm. As he drove over the Trinity River viaduct, he saw the funnel approaching and he high-tailed it across and ran under the bridge for safety (which nowadays is not advised). He and a lot of other people were praying fervently for safety that day.

There are certain events in life that leave an indelible mark on us. After 69 years, I still remember the smell, the sound, the last song I heard before the lights went off. I still remember the panic I felt, especially each time I hear of a tornado warning. What’s different today versus in 1957 is I know WHO (that’s my Lord and Savior) is in control.

Isaiah 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.

Tagged: Texas weather