1987 Saragosa, Texas tornado
| F4 tornado | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 22, 1987 |
| Time | 8:16 pm |
| Casualties | 30 |
| Damages | $2.5 million (1987 USD) |
| Areas affected | Saragosa, Texas |
The 1987 Saragosa, Texas tornado was a deadly tornado that hit the community of Saragosa in Reeves County, Texas on May 22, 1987. The tornado destroyed much of the town, killing at least 30 and injuring over 100 people.
Storm event
| F0 | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | F5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
The storm that was responsible for the Saragosa tornado developed during the late afternoon north of Balmorhea and had very little motion for several hours, moving only slightly across southwestern Texas. By the early evening, it acquired supercellular characteristics, and cloud tops reached 60,000 feet high. A Tornado warning was issued for Reeves County before 8:00 PM after a wall cloud was spotted, and a brief tornado touched down near Balmorhea at 8:10 PM.
However, at 8:16 PM, another tornado touched down just east of the town about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Saragosa, north of Interstate 10. Initially, it destroyed farms and outbuildings before evolving into a large multiple vortex tornado before entering Saragosa while intensifying sharply into a violent F4 tornado. Twenty-two people were killed inside Catholic Hall of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, where a graduation ceremony for pre-schoolers was taking place. Eight others were killed elsewhere across the town, including one inside a car.
The worst of the damage occurred inside most of the business and residential area. Trees were debarked and homes were reduced to their foundations. Eighty percent of the town was destroyed. In addition to Catholic Hall, 118 homes, the post office, a grocery store, two churches and a school were also heavily damaged or destroyed.[1][2] Damage was estimated at about $1.4 million. The path length of the tornado was nearly 3 miles (4.8 km) long and about 800 meters wide.[3]
Aftermath
Several weather warnings were issued by radio and television in Midland and Odessa, but many residents in the affected region (over 100 miles to the southwest) did not receive them. The town was not equipped with a siren, and most of the warnings well ahead of the storm were in English, while most of Saragosa's population speaks Spanish. Warnings in Spanish came too late.[4]
Unfortunately, most of the people who became casualties were not near a radio or television when the storm hit. They were attending a pre-school graduation ceremony at the community center, and only became aware of the imminent danger when someone from the outside entered the building and alerted them. The crowd of children and their respective families, estimated to be about 100 people—or about 25% of Saragosa's total population at the time—immediately took cover. While the building would likely have been considered a safe haven under such circumstances, it was unable to withstand the direct hit from the deadly tornado. The building collapsed, and 22 were killed.[2][3]
Historical perspective
With 30 fatalities, the Saragosa tornado was the deadliest storm in the United States during the 1980s and was the deadliest storm in Texas and in the US since the Wichita Falls tornado in 1979. During the following years, it was surpassed by the Birmingham, Alabama Tornado in 1998 and the Oklahoma City Metro Area tornado in 1999 that killed 32 and 36 respectively. The Jarrell Tornado in 1997 killed nearly as many as in the Saragosa event.[5]
As of 2008, it still remains as the ninth deadliest tornado ever in the state between the Zephyr tornado in 1909 and the Lubbock Tornado in 1970.[6] The community was also destroyed in 1938 by a tornado and was later rebuilt slightly to the southwest.[7]