Remembering killer tornadoes across Texas, NM

An estimated 65 people in the U.S. have died as a result of tornadoes this year, the National Centers for Environmental Information estimates. That includes three killed in the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on Thursday night.

Tornadoes are rated from EF0 (lowest) to EF5 (highest) on a scale that measures their wind speed and storm damage.

Only four lives have been lost to tornadoes in New Mexico since 1950, according to the National Weather Service. Two people died in Clovis in 2007, one in Maxwell in 1964 and one in Canoncito (now Tohajillee) in 1974.

The F2 New Mexico tornado was on the ground for 36 minutes across Roosevelt and Curry counties. In addition to the deaths, 35 people received injuries requiring treatment at local hospitals.

Here are the top ten deadliest tornadoes in Texas since 1900, as per the National Weather Service.

1. The Waco tornado (1953)

This EF5 tornado – the deadliest in Texas history – killed 114 people as it moved northward from Lorena toward Waco on May 11, 1953, the day after Mother’s Day. The one-third mile wide storm also injured 597 people, destroyed 600 homes and damaged over 1,000 buildings and 2,000 vehicles. Some survivors waited 14 hours to be rescued.

2. The Goliad tornado (1902)

This storm, which touched down near Berclair on May 18, 1902, and moved northeast toward Goliad, also killed 114 people, the same number as the Waco tornado. However, it injured 250 people, a smaller total than the Waco tornado, and was rated EF4. This one-eighth mile wide tornado destroyed hundreds of buildings in the western part of Goliad.

3. The Rocksprings tornado (1927)

Another EF5 tornado, the Rocksprings tornado on April 12, 1927, was one mile wide. It killed 74 people and injured 205 people, impacting almost one-third of the Rocksprings population. It continued southeast for at least 35 miles.

4. The Glazier-Higgins-Woodward tornado (1947)

The fourth deadliest Tornado touched down northwest of Pampa and traveled through Canadian before crossing into Oklahoma and Kansas on April 9, 1947. This tornado destroyed Glazier and most of Higgins, two Texas towns northeast of Canadian. Seventeen were killed and 40 injured in Glazier, and 51 killed and 232 injured in Higgins. Across the three states it traveled through, a total of 181 people were killed and 970 injured.

5. The Wichita Falls tornado (1979)

This infamous EF4 Texas tornado damaged homes and businesses in Holliday before crossing northeast into Wichita Falls. The 1.5 mile wide tornado on April 10, 1979, damaged Memorial Stadium, McNeil Junior High, a shopping center and a large number of vehicles. It killed 42 people, caused over 1,700 injuries, destroyed over 3,000 homes and left 20,000 people without homes.

6. The Frost tornado (1930)

An EF4 tornado on May 6, 1930, this tornado traveled through Texas towns Bynum, Frost, Rankin and Ennis. It killed 41 people and injured 200. Twenty-five of these deaths happened in Frost.

7. The Karnes-Dewitt tornado (1930)

The second EF4 tornado to land in Texas on May 6, 1930, landed northwest of Kenedy in Karnes County and traveled eastward before dissipating three miles south of Nordheim. It killed 36 people and injured 60 people, mostly because it passed through weakly constructed homes and shelters.

8. The Zephyr tornado (1909)

Fifty homes, six businesses, two churches and one high school were damaged by this EF4 tornado on May 30, 1909. The storm formed around midnight, killing 34 people and injuring 70.

9. The Sarasoga tornado (1987)

About 80% of Sarasoga was destroyed by this tornado on May 22, 1987, that killed 30 residents and injured 121. The one-half mile wide storm crossed through a children’s graduation ceremony at Guadalupe Hall, where 22 of the 30 deaths occurred.

10. The Jarrell tornado (1997)

The last-known EF5 tornado to appear in Texas, the Jarrell tornado killed 27 people and injured 12 people. It also killed hundreds of cattle and destroyed homes, blowing many off their foundations.

If there is a tornado warning in your area, the NWS recommends moving to an interior room on on the lowest floor of a sturdy building and avoiding windows.