The Great Waco Tornado of 1953 is familiar to most Texans and to many people throughout the nation. This was indeed a tragic storm, claiming 114 lives and leaving well over five hundred other people injured. There was such great destruction in downtown Waco from that storm that damage can still be found to this day. When I lived and worked in Waco, there were still many signs of the tornado's damage.
While the Waco tornado was tragic, it is also much easier remembered than the Goliad tornado, both because there are still survivors and immediate descendants of survivors alive to this day, and because we are much closer in time and technology to the 1953 Tornado. The Goliad tornado killed just as many people as did the later Waco tornado, but, largely because Goliad was much smaller than Waco, the number of injured was much smaller, at approximately 250. Well over two hundred structures were destroyed in Goliad, a much higher percentage of buildings and structures than were destroyed in Waco, but again, due to the smaller size of the city, the total monetary damage at Goliad was much smaller.
In 1902, however, communication was much slower than in 1953, and much less reliable. Most of the telephone system at Goliad was destroyed that afternoon, but the telephone supervisor managed to assemble a working phone and was able to get word out within an hour or so after the storm. Within the next four hours, trains arrived from Victoria and Cuero bearing doctors, nurses, medical supplies, and some news reporters. Within another hour, word had been received as far away as Dallas and Houston, and more aid began pouring in.
Goliad, the location of the infamous massacre of General Fannin and his soldiers in 1836, was described in 1902 as a very beautiful city with its plaza and the Presidio, and well as La Mission Bahia. The mission itself was not hit, but the Presido was in the tornado's path. Yet the Presidio, while heavily damaged, was said to have been the only building that survived in the tornado's path. According to the leader of a local military unit that responded to aid the city, the path of the tornado was over a mile long, and cut a swath an eighth of a mile wide through western Goliad. In this great swath of destruction, the Presidio was said to be the only structure standing even a foot or two high. All that remained of the other structures were scattered piles of broken wood and downed masonry.
When the tornado struck Goliad, three churches in the direct line of the tornado were literally blasted out of existence. Most of those killed were African-Americans meeting in an AME Methodist Church. A nearby Baptist church and another small church were also destroyed, all those inside killed by the storm's fury. Others in homes and buildings throughout the storm's path were killed or injured. Survivors likened the terrible noise of the storm that afternoon to the sound of many heavily laden freight trains. The next day, the weather being hot, a large trench was dug and all the bodies of those killed were buried in one single service. Most of those killed were either Black or Hispanic due to the tornado striking in the western portion of the city.
It may be that the Great Goliad Tornado of 1902 became an obscure part of Texas History because fewer photographs of damage and destruction were available to historians and authors of that era. In contrast, by the time Waco was struck by the great tornado on May 11, 1953, the television and radio stations there had been in operation for nearly a quarter of a century. A few pictures of the Goliad tornado aftermath remain today and can be found on various sites on the Internet. Little sign of the tornado of 1902 remains, but a historical marker is set there to mark the tornado's path. The citizens of Goliad participate in memorials each year to remember the tragedy and those that lost their lives that day.
May in Texas is a very dangerous time. Of the ten most powerful and deadly tornadoes that have struck Texas since weather data has been maintained (Goliad is #2 right after the Waco tornado), eight occurred in May, with the other two occurring in April. Of course Texsa has suffered many hundreds of tornadoes since 1836, and those tornadoes have occurred in almost every month of the year, but it is springtime in Texas that seems to bring the worst of the monster storms.
Today is a day we remember those who died in that terrible storm in Goliad in 1902.
May God Bless America
While the Waco tornado was tragic, it is also much easier remembered than the Goliad tornado, both because there are still survivors and immediate descendants of survivors alive to this day, and because we are much closer in time and technology to the 1953 Tornado. The Goliad tornado killed just as many people as did the later Waco tornado, but, largely because Goliad was much smaller than Waco, the number of injured was much smaller, at approximately 250. Well over two hundred structures were destroyed in Goliad, a much higher percentage of buildings and structures than were destroyed in Waco, but again, due to the smaller size of the city, the total monetary damage at Goliad was much smaller.
In 1902, however, communication was much slower than in 1953, and much less reliable. Most of the telephone system at Goliad was destroyed that afternoon, but the telephone supervisor managed to assemble a working phone and was able to get word out within an hour or so after the storm. Within the next four hours, trains arrived from Victoria and Cuero bearing doctors, nurses, medical supplies, and some news reporters. Within another hour, word had been received as far away as Dallas and Houston, and more aid began pouring in.
Goliad, the location of the infamous massacre of General Fannin and his soldiers in 1836, was described in 1902 as a very beautiful city with its plaza and the Presidio, and well as La Mission Bahia. The mission itself was not hit, but the Presido was in the tornado's path. Yet the Presidio, while heavily damaged, was said to have been the only building that survived in the tornado's path. According to the leader of a local military unit that responded to aid the city, the path of the tornado was over a mile long, and cut a swath an eighth of a mile wide through western Goliad. In this great swath of destruction, the Presidio was said to be the only structure standing even a foot or two high. All that remained of the other structures were scattered piles of broken wood and downed masonry.
When the tornado struck Goliad, three churches in the direct line of the tornado were literally blasted out of existence. Most of those killed were African-Americans meeting in an AME Methodist Church. A nearby Baptist church and another small church were also destroyed, all those inside killed by the storm's fury. Others in homes and buildings throughout the storm's path were killed or injured. Survivors likened the terrible noise of the storm that afternoon to the sound of many heavily laden freight trains. The next day, the weather being hot, a large trench was dug and all the bodies of those killed were buried in one single service. Most of those killed were either Black or Hispanic due to the tornado striking in the western portion of the city.
It may be that the Great Goliad Tornado of 1902 became an obscure part of Texas History because fewer photographs of damage and destruction were available to historians and authors of that era. In contrast, by the time Waco was struck by the great tornado on May 11, 1953, the television and radio stations there had been in operation for nearly a quarter of a century. A few pictures of the Goliad tornado aftermath remain today and can be found on various sites on the Internet. Little sign of the tornado of 1902 remains, but a historical marker is set there to mark the tornado's path. The citizens of Goliad participate in memorials each year to remember the tragedy and those that lost their lives that day.
May in Texas is a very dangerous time. Of the ten most powerful and deadly tornadoes that have struck Texas since weather data has been maintained (Goliad is #2 right after the Waco tornado), eight occurred in May, with the other two occurring in April. Of course Texsa has suffered many hundreds of tornadoes since 1836, and those tornadoes have occurred in almost every month of the year, but it is springtime in Texas that seems to bring the worst of the monster storms.
Today is a day we remember those who died in that terrible storm in Goliad in 1902.
May God Bless America
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