Waco, TX Tornado, May 1953 - 106 Dead

Waco Deaths

Waco (AP)-The identified dead in yesterday‘s tornado at Waco include:

JERRY UTLEY
MINNIE OLA GRAVES.
STEVE HEATH.
THOMAS BUSBY, Temple, a Negro.
VICTOR SERMAS.
WALTER VAN HOOK, a Negro.
FOY C. BROWN.
GEORGE PAPPAS.
CLARENCE L. POTTER.
GARFIELD NEMMER 12.
FRANCIS NEMMER.
CECIL BERRY.
ARCHIE HENDERSON.
EDWARD M. BRITT, a Negro.
M. HECTOR, a Negro.
DENNIS PEOPLES, a Negro.
EDWARD T. HOARE.
EDWARD T. SIMMONS or ED LEWIS, Negro.
BILLY BETROS.
STAN SKYLES.
BILLY VERNON TAYLOR.
MRS. SUSIE RUTH HOARE.
LONNIE JAMES MOTTEN, a Negro.
SAM HORNE, a Negro.
CYNTHIA BRITT, a Negro.
DANICE SANCHEZ.
WILLIAM DOBERVOLNEY.
JOHNNY B. KING.
KAY SHARBUTT, 18, Las Vegas.
MRS. W. A. KUNZ, Lott.
BETTY LOU STEWART, Lott.
JEAN BAILEY, Lott.
EDWARD HOMER RILEY.
WILLIAM HENRY LYTLE.
HARRY MAHONEY, Dallas.
DAVID FARQHUAR, Gatesville.
MRS. S. B. TURNER, Waco.
GUY SIMS.
FELIX VILLAREAL.
BARBARA JOHNSON, 16.

Big Spring Daily Herald, Big Spring, TX 12 May 1953

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106 Bodies Now Recovered From Waco Tornado Ruins

Waco, Tex. (AP)-The known death tally continued to mount today as searchers dug deep into the tornado ruins in downtown Waco. Early today the 106th body was free from the debris.

Meanwhile, city officials studied these grim figures: damages estimated at 50 million dollars 198 business and manufacturing buildings destroyed; 1, 836 other buildings and homes damaged or destroyed.

The report was made last night at a disaster relief committee meeting. The figures were compiles by an Army Engineers survey team sent here from Dallas.

In San Angelo, Tex., where another tornado struck shortly before the Waco storm, the toll stood at 10 dead-making a total of 116 tornado dead in Texas.

The weather remained wet and cold. Two hours of sunlight yesterday were all Waco had seen since the tornado in the heart of the business district Monday.

As the search became better organized state highway patrolmen took over the responsibility for policing the ruined section. They issued special passes and if you didn’t have one you couldn’t get into the area.

Workers reported at least 5 bodies had been dug from the ruins of the R. T. Dennis Furniture Store. Survivors had estimated 30 or more persons were buried in the crumbled wreckage of what had been a five-story building.

The 100th body was that of JOHN WILLIAM COATES, who was talking to his pretty red-haired wife, about 24, when the twister pounced. He began to describe the terrifying change in the weather. The he cried: “Honey, the building’s falling in!”

The phone went dead.

Much of the wreckage in the residential area has been cleared away. The search was moving into buildings on the town square. This section was hit lighter than the main district.

The new cordon established by the state police was effective. The Department of Public Safety mustered 111 Highway Patrolmen from over the state. City police worked with them.

They mingled with armed troops who have guarded the area since the first volunteers reached the disaster scene and began digging in.

The troops had let fast-talking curiosity seekers slip into the area.

The control system was working. The tired searchers were working too, working steadily into the fourth day of hunting the dead. The great mass of searchers were volunteers who began the labor as soon as the roar of the tornado disappeared. Some professional crews did the specialized work, operating cranes, wreckers, draglines and such, but most of their labor and equipment was donated.

Big Spring Daily Herald, Big Spring, TX 14 May 1953