Lubbock Tornado

Infobox tornado single
name = 1970 Lubbock Tornado
image location =


date = May 11, 1970
time = 9:35 pm
fujitascale = F5
total damages (USD) = $1,411,900,000 (2008 USD)
total fatalities = 26 killed, Approximately 500 injured
area affected = Central Lubbock, Texas

The Lubbock Tornado was an F5 tornado that occurred in Lubbock, Texas on May 11, 1970. It was one of the worst tornadoes in Texas history, and occurred exactly 17 years to the day after the deadly Waco Tornado. It is also the most recent F5 tornado to have hit a central business district of a large or mid-sized city. [ [http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/downtown.html Downtown Tornadoes ] ]

Development

After what had been a stormy evening, a hook echo appeared on local radar screens at approximately 9:35 PM in the area of the intersection of the Brownfield Highway and 19th Street, just southwest of the Texas Tech University campus. The storm followed an east-northeasterly track roughly paralleling 19th Street which took it through a largely residential area where it inflicted heavy damage on several hundred homes. After passing over the Overton district, the tornado, which was at this time believed to be a mile wide, bore down on the heart of downtown Lubbock, dealing several of the city's tallest structures a direct blow before turning to the north. The storm then took aim on another largely residential area, where it destroyed several hundred more homes, before finally dissipating near Lubbock Municipal Airport

Damage assessment

The funnel cloud moved over Texas Tech University, Lubbock. It touched down at the 2400 block of 19th Street and caused the destruction of trees and small buildings in a light residential area. It went on to devastate a convert|25|sqmi|km2|sing=on area. This amounted to a quarter of Lubbock. All the familiar landmarks were destroyed according to the mayor. Three major areas were hit. They were the inner city commercial and residential areas, the light industrial area south of Loop 289, and the residential area north of Loop 289 and the Lubbock Municipal Airport. Major damage ranged from north of 28th Street and Indiana Avenue East. The area north of 34th Street and area east of University Avenue to downtown Lubbock were the hardest hit. The area surrounding the country club addition and airport were horrendously effected.

Most of the damage was residential. A total of 430 homes were destroyed, 519 sustained major damage, and 7851 sustained lesser damages. Another 600 apartments were destroyed and 549 damaged. One hundred mobile homes were severely damaged or destroyed. Twelve homes, priced in the $200,000 range, were destroyed near the Texas Tech Campus. Some neighborhoods, including the predominantly Hispanic Guadalupe Neighborhood, consisting of old-wood frame or stucco homes, and parts of the Mesa Rd area near the Lubbock Country Club, were leveled. The worst residential damage occurred in the neighborhoods north of 4th Street between Avenues Q and A as well as in the Country Club addition west of Amarillo Highway (Now, IH-27). Apartments lost roofs on the north side of 4th Street near Indiana Ave. This type of damage occurred through the Arnett-Benson area to near Clovis Highway. Extensive roof damage between 3rd Street and 10th Street east of University Ave. Houses were destroyed 5th - 10th streets east of Avenue Q. Several frame homes close to the grain elevators on North Avenue N were flattened. House trailers throughout northern Lubbock were easy victims thrown like a toddler's toy.

Over 250 businesses were severely damaged or destroyed. This included 20 City of Lubbock/Lubbock County operations. Of those, the following were destroyed or sustained major damaged: Fields and Company Living Center (flattened), Standard Milling Company, Roberson Steel Company, Bowman Lumber Company, Forrest Lumber Company, Heath Furniture Company, Cecil White Electric, Lubbock Cement and Supply, Doctor Pepper Bottling Company, Jerry’s Thriftway Supermarket, Hancock Division of Clark Equipment Company, Brooks Supermarket, and Grinnell Incorporation. The worst business damage was in a triangle beginning at 15th and Avenue Q, spreading northeastward. Every motel along 4th Street and Avenue Q north of 10th Street sustained major damage. The motels along Ave. Q North Drive (Amarillo Hwy./IH-27) were destroyed including the L-shaped Texas Motel. Several banks and warehouses were severely damaged. The worst affected one was Kimbell Foods Company on North Avenue H. The roof caved in on one portion of the large building, causing a wall to fall onto Yellow House Canyon. The Lubbock Club lost its entire top floor. The Lubbock National Bank lost roof signs. Citizens National Bank had only window damage. The First National-Pioneer Natural Gas. The north and south sides, mainly glass, were basically destroyed. Marble veneer was ripped from the east and west ends were torn away and a section of the east end collapsed. Ironically, a garage across the street was not affected by the tornado although flooded. Another ironic twist took place at Margaret’s, one of the city’s most exclusive dress shops, was destroyed. Across the street, The Broadway Church of Christ sustained minor damage but still with the red tile roof shattered.

Other church and school damage occurred as well. The nearby First United Methodist Church also was slightly damaged. Still, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was destroyed. Eight elementary schools were damaged. There were Parkway, Hunt, Arnett, Kay Carter, Jackson, McWorther, North Avenue U, and Sanders. The Thompson Junior High School was damaged. Lubbock High School had minor damage to the roof tile. Estacado High School was damaged with part of the gym roof torn away.

The tornado passed right over the downtown area. A quarter of the downtown area was heavily damaged with 80% of the plate glass windows smashed. Several skyscrapers were damaged. A 15-story building had extensive glass damage. The 20-story, convert|271|ft|m|sing=on tall Great Plains Life Building was physically twisted. It was damaged so badly that many thought it would collapse even though it was 6 blocks from the tornado’s center. On the roof of the building, the clocks were severely damaged (stopped at 9:45 PM) and radio towers were twisted. Much plaster had cracked of the stairwell walls between the 4th and 16th floors and 60% of the windows smashed. A foot of permanent deformation damage occurred at the steel frame on the south sided. Three of four elevators were damaged with the support rails bent. Door frames were racked, a 45-degree crack was put in the block wall on the 7th floor, and encasements around support columns were cracked. Damage was very severe at the fourth level on the south portion of the building, and interior partitions were cracked, especially the east and west running ones where. All of the east and west running partitions were moved eastward convert|1|in|mm|sing=on between the 5th and 9th floors. This building is also believed to be the tallest building to survive a direct hit from an F5 tornado. Several city buildings across the city were affected. The lights on the eastern portion of Jones Stadium were downed. The Lubbock County Courthouse had some window and tree damage. Lubbock City Hall had large 2-story plate glass windows on the east side smashed causing some interior walls in the in the second-story Planning Department to collapse. The AIDS Ambulance Services on West Broadway was heavily damaged. The City-County Health Department, located at the Amarillo Highway area, was destroyed.

Besides damage to buildings, there was damage to other property as well. Across the city, 10,000 vehicles were damaged or destroyed. The worst damage overall was to Lubbock Municipal Airport. One hundred private aircraft as well as 19 of 23 small Air Force Trainer Aircraft were destroyed. Many utilities were damaged or destroyed and 220 light polls were toppled. The Southwestern Bell Company reported that 25,000 telephones were knocked out of service and 600 long distance lines were ruined. Many trees were damaged or destroyed including the city’s aged Chinese elm trees. Mackenzie State Park, Pioneer Park, Guadalupe Park and the Texas Tech campus lost nearly all of their trees.

Damage totaled $250 million, inflated to $1,411,900,000 in 2008 dollars. It is the second costliest U.S. tornado. It was only succeeded by the Omaha tornado five years later. That storm caused $375 million damage, inflated to $1,577,600,000 damage in 2008 dollars.

Aftermath

The storm's final death toll was twenty-eight people, ranging in age from nine months to eighty-eight years of age. Many of the victims were found in their homes, where they had been killed by flying debris. Only a few were actually sucked into the tornado. Another five hundred people were injured.

Approximately twenty-five square miles (40 km²) of the city were either damaged or destroyed. The final damage toll of $250 million made it, up to that point, the costliest tornado in U.S. history. It is also believed that this is the only F5 tornado ever to directly strike a skyscraper. The former Great Plains Life Building was physically twisted, although it was repaired and still stands today as the NTS Tower.

After the storm, Mayor Jim Granberry, who served from 1970-1972, imposed a curfew. The city council was directed to lead the rebuilding process, which continued under Granberry's successor, Morris W. Turner. The Lubbock Tornado also served as a model for the development of the Fujita scale, developed a year later in 1971. Bud Andrews, a Lubbock radio broadcaster, was given a Presidential Citation from then U.S. President Richard M. Nixon for his coverage of the disaster.

ee also

*List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
*List of tornadoes striking downtown areas

References

External links

* [http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/map.php?i=19700511.48.34 Lubbock Tornado at the Tornado History Project]
* http://www.lubbockonline.com/tornado/stories/20Years/022.shtml
* http://www.lubbockonline.com/lubbock_tornado/stories/0512_morn.shtml
* http://www.lubbockonline.com/lubbock_tornado/stories/May13/003.shtml
* http://www.lubbockonline.com/lubbock_tornado/stories/20Years/001.shtml
* http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lub/events/1970/19700511/
* http://www3.gendisasters.com/texas/5698/lubbock-tx-devestating-tornado-rips-city-may-1970