The Tornado of '73

Strange thing about this tornado that hit 35 years ago...it is one my oldest memories. We went out Saturday night to a dog 'n suds type place for a root beer float. I remember being very scared of the weather and saying there was going to be a tornado.

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Twisters ripped city 35 years ago

By Curt Hodges

JONESBORO — It’s hard to forget something that has as much impact on individuals and on a community as did the two major tornadoes that struck Jonesboro more than 35 years ago.

The second of the two occurred 35 years ago today, May 27,1973.

It struck in the early-morning hours of that Sunday after an evening of watching and uncertainty.

I remember well the uncertainty of what to do. The wind picked up a lot as the Saturday evening went on, and after midnight my wife Mary Ann and I were torn between grabbing up our 2-year-old and going down to Central Baptist Church (when it was at Main and Cherry streets) and getting into the basement.

At that time we lived at 1405 Overhill, a few blocks north of major damage in the Brookhaven Addition. We received no damage.

As the wind picked up, lightning flashed, and it rained. The whistling of the wind and constant lightning made us wonder if we had made the right decision.

After a while everything calmed down. We could hear voices, and soon a knock came on our front door. It was Leo George, a friend who lived on Westwood, a couple of blocks away.

He said there had been a tornado, and houses were damaged.

Grabbed camera, notebook

I grabbed my camera, extra film and notebook, and we took off on foot. After a while I got my car, and Leo and I drove around most of the rest of the night taking photographs and talking to people.

Debris was everywhere. Power lines were down from Wood Springs Road to past Caraway Road and in-between. Businesses in the 1800 block of South Main had been destroyed, including two automobile dealerships, and the historic Jonesboro High School was in shambles with its roof blown off, but the majestic white columns of the red brick building still stood.

Trees were down everywhere, roofs gone, entire houses leveled all over southwest Jonesboro.

It was an almost unthinkable mess.

Mirable of miracles

But miracle of miracles, no one was killed by the storm in Jonesboro, although many were injured, some seriously. One man, Guy Cobb Sr., apparently died of a heart attack. He lived on College Street, across from Jonesboro High School, where scientists who visited the city said the storm’s power was the greatest.

Many millions of dollars in damage was done, and many people were homeless in the storm’s aftermath.

As the sun came up that Sunday morning, the extent of the damage was revealed.

It really was a mess. One that would take months to overcome.

The Wal-Mart Discount City on Caraway at Wilkins was unroofed, walls knocked down and merchandise scattered everywhere. Across Caraway Road, Donald Furniture was on the ground, along with many other businesses in the area.

After driving throughout the night, I determined that something with two wheels would be better. So I ventured down Wilkins to the home of John Troutt Jr., editor and publisher of the newspaper.

Looking for a motorcycle

His son Bob had a motorcycle, and I planned to borrow it. But when Mrs. Troutt came to the door, she informed me that Bob had driven his father to the newspaper office, which at that time was still on the northeast corner of East Washington Avenue and South Church Street.

So, I headed that way to turn in my film and start writing my stories for the Monday paper so we had plenty of time.

There was lots of work to do for the rest of Sunday and Monday morning as well.

Everyone worked, and no one looked at the clock.

For the next several weeks The Jonesboro Sun covered as much of the cleanup and rebuilding as was possible.

There were many stories, such as that of the infant who was literally blown with his crib into his back yard, landing beneath a partially overturned car and was sheltered there until he was found by a neighbor who heard his cries nearly an hour later. The baby, Bart Dickinson, son of Jerry and Jeanette Dickinson, 1714 Broadmoor, was unhurt except for a small cut on his hand.

Otwell hit hard

To the southwest, in Otwell, the small community was nearly wiped out. A man was killed, and his wife badly hurt. Another woman was killed, and her husband injured when their homes were destroyed by the same storm as it made its way to Jonesboro.

The storm left a path of destruction from near Tupelo in Jackson County, close to Weiner and Waldenburg in Poinsett County before overturning a freight train near Otwell as it made its way to Jonesboro. As the storm neared Jonesboro, its path widened and broke into what appeared to be two separate paths.

One of the two storms was what took out Jonesboro High School, causing students to be relocated to the Craighead County Fairgrounds until a new high school facility could be built.

Other schools including South and Hillcrest Elementary were heavily damaged by the storm.

As May was near the end of the term, the 1973 school year ended not only abruptly but early.

The May 15, 1968, tornado virtually wiped out the Nettleton schools campus as well as many residences in the area.

Readiness built up

The fact that so few died or were injured in the 1973 storm could be attributed to readiness that was built up and emphasized following the killer tornado that rolled though the city and county in 1968.

Several kinds of warning systems had been instituted, including a citywide warning broadcast over the cable television service in the city.

Later, a system of large warning sirens would be bought and installed.

The 1968 storm cut a path of destruction and death from Valley View to east of Jonesboro in the vicinity of the industrial park, crossing the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad where Industrial Drive crosses today.

The storm’s path came up and across U.S. 49 (Arkansas highway 39 then) in the former Valley View community, skipped across Quality Gladiolus Gardens, down a graveled country lane known as Parker Road, across the Fairview Subdivision, through the campus of Nettleton schools, raked across residential subdivisions and across the railroad and on toward the community of Needham.

That storm left much death and destruction in its path. A total of 34 died when the storm swept through the area. Around 300 were injured.

Today, when the storm clouds start rising, most people tune their radios to one of several stations that carry warnings and keep everyone informed. Some turn to KAIT or another television station to watch the radar. Still others log onto the NOAA or National Weather Service Web sites for up-to-the-minute conditions from across the nation.

When watches are issued, a group of storm watchers fan out around the area. They are volunteers who are trained to know what certain cloud formations mean. They help keep the Craighead County Emergency Center informed.

When a tornado is spotted, the warning sirens are sounded.

It’s a startling sound if you happen to live near one of the sirens. The sirens let you know that if you haven’t taken precautions, you need to be doing so quickly.

The potential for severe storms exists in this part of the country. Arkansas has already experienced a few such storms in which people were injured or killed, and lots of property damage occurred.

The strong storms can strike at almost any time of year, if conditions are right.

The thing to do is be aware, have a plan and if a storm warning is issued and you hear the sirens, take precautions, go to a safe place and wait until it is over.

A basement is a good place. If no basement is available, take cover inside a closet or bathroom in the center of the house or building. Inside the bathtub is a good place, and if possible a mattress or other heavy cover should be placed over you.