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On
May 18, 1951, the sounding of the city fire siren and bell gave residents
of Olney, an oil and agricultural
community, a five-minute warning that a tornado was coming. At the
two school buildings teachers hustled students to the basement or
ordered them to lie on the floor under desks. A few students suffered
cuts from flying glass, but none was seriously injured. Two elderly
people died when the tornado, sounding like "fifty freight trains
coming in off the prairie" wiped out a two hundred-yard wide section
of town. Only vacant lots, many without even a scrap of debris, remained
where fifty substantial homes had stood only minutes before. Another
fifty homes were damaged beyond repair. The National Weather Service
retroactively rated this tornado an F4, with winds exceeding 200 miles
per hour.
© Marlene
Bradford
March
14, 2015 guest column |
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| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact
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