Dateline: May 1, 2003

Residents shaken by tornado

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

A tornado struck Clarendon without warning last Wednesday, startling several residents of the southeast side of town but causing no injuries and relatively minor damage.

“We got lucky, very lucky,” Sheriff Butch Blackburn said of the tornado, which was later classified as an F1.

Most local residents, including many living near the tornado’s path, had no idea anything had happened. The majority of the city received a good spring shower about noon, but the storm briefly became dangerous moments later.

The damage began near the intersection of Gorst and Barcus where the roof of an abandoned rest home was nearly peeled off and the roof of a nearby horse barn was partially removed, Blackburn said.

A vacant house owned by Carl Draper in the 300 block of E. Montgomery seemed to have sustained the most damage. There two second story rooms and the front porch were ripped off. The roof of the garage was also torn apart, and the garage door was left resting on Mrs. Draper’s car.

Draper said the house, which he had been remodeling, was twisted slightly. He plans to demolish it.

Draper, whose doublewide trailer house next door also suffered damage to the roof and windows, said he had just made lunch when he looked out the front door and saw a small funnel drop down near Carhart Street.

“It sounded just like a freight train,” Draper said.

He told his wife to hit the floor just as the storm passed through his block. He said the storm then picked up and dropped down again before picking up and heading north.

Some residents also said they saw a funnel; others said they saw only swirling trash and debris.

Blackburn said the path of the tornado extended some eight blocks to the 600 block of E. Second Street. Most of the damage was limited to tree limbs, fences, and loose items tossed about people’s yards. The electric meter boxes on two houses were pulled loose.

Other damage reports included accounts of a small out building on Montgomery Street that was blown away or destroyed, roofs damaged, and fences knocked over. Noble Watson reported a mangled swing set at his home on Fifth Street. He also was left with a warped trampoline, which he had seen hovering briefly at roof-height before it was slammed onto a neighbor’s property.

The sheriff and Chief Deputy Randy Bond were watching the storm at the time although officials at the weather bureau had assured Blackburn just moments before that there was nothing to worry about.

Following reports of a tornado on the ground, emergency personnel from the sheriff’s department, the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department, and the Associated Ambulance Authority responded quickly to check for injuries, block off traffic, and survey the damage.

Workmen from the City of Clarendon along with Donley County road hands worked diligently to help clean up the mess.

“The city workers and county workers really deserve a lot of credit,” Blackburn said. “They went right to work and had things pretty well cleaned up by that evening.”

This was the first time a tornado has struck inside the City of Clarendon since June 9, 1941, when an early morning twister ripped through the west side of town, killing one woman – Mrs. R.E. Drennan, wrecking several homes, severely damaging buildings on the high school campus, and flattening the east rock wall of Broncho Stadium.