Survivors remember 44th Anniversary of Terrible Tuesday

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The tornado of 1979 was titled Terrible Tuesday for a reason. Those that survived the deadly F4 category tornado have unpleasant memories 44 years later. The tornado left over 40 people dead and nearly 2,000 people injured.

“I can always remember April 10, 1979,” said Ginger Martin, a Terrible Tuesday survivor.

Martin and her family were on their way to a car wash on Jacksboro Highway that afternoon. As she was headed out of the house she heard a tornado watch on the news. Once the tornado touched down, the sound was loud.

“It sounded like a freight train coming. We could hear the noise from the house. The birds stopped singing, the dogs weren’t barking. Everything was just quiet,” said Martin.

The tornado in 1979 was the third for Clara Pruitt. “We watched the tornado go across the mall out there on Southwest Parkway and we saw it going Southeast of us, so we didn’t hear no noise. [Where we] were living it was quiet but it was the dark clouds we were watching,” Pruitt said.

Chief Meteorologist Ken Johnson said the tornado started out in Vernon and made its way to Wichita Falls.

“It developed around Seymour initially and kinda moved up towards Holliday and around 6:00 p.m. it moved through Wichita Falls and finally ended up towards Waurika, [Oklahoma.] That was the most significant one, that’s the one that did the most damage,” said Johnson.

“Everything was garbage, the East side all the way out to Midwestern Parkway, Jacksboro Highway. Faith Village was gone, and houses were destroyed totally. [...] There was more than one tornado,” said Martin.

Although many people believe there was more than one tornado, Johnson said it was a multi-vortices tornado.

“Within this large tornado, there were several of what we call mini vortices, spun around. So, we call it multiple vortices and each one of those vortices were responsible for the damage,” added Johnson.

Johnson said back then, people only had 24 hours to be notified of a tornado warning due to the technology at the time.

“It leaves a really scary feeling with you,” said Martin.

Martin remembers going three days without electricity but thankfully she and her family survived.