Clyde, TX Tornado, Apr 1950

At Clyde, Texas, sixteen miles east of Abilene, three members of one family died trapped in their home by a tornado, and at least five were injured. Two or three families were said to be missing.

Eight miles east of Clyde, a twister-apparently the same one-killed an elderly man and his wife ay their home near Baird. The bodies of STEVE ROGERS, 63, and his wife, 67, were found late Friday night in their mangled orchard. Their nearby house was destroyed.

Killed at Clyde were MR. and MRS. BERT TABOR, about 31. Their bodies were taken to Abilene.

It wasn’t the first time Clyde had known the tornado’s fury. In June of 1938, a twister killed thirteen persons and damaged most of the small town.

Four injured persons from Clyde were taken to a hospital at Baird, Texas. They are Jeff Griffin, his wife, and two sons, K. D. and Kenneth.

Griffin said their home was blown down around the family. “I managed to get up and run to the home of W. V. Collett, not far away,” he said. “It was gone.”

He didn’t know the names of any other injured.

Mrs. G. M. King of Clyde suffered a fractured knee in an automobile wreck while fleeing from the twister.

Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX 29 Apr 1950

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Clyde Tornado Damage

A refrigerator and hot water heater are among the debris of the J. C. Griffin home in the West Texas town of Clyde. A tornado demolished the house, but the Griffin family escaped injury. They were in a storm cellar.

The tornado left the remains of another home in Clyde. The occupants, W. B. Collett and his family, took refuge in a storm cellar and were all uninjured. Three persons were killed and several injured as the twister demolished at least six Clyde homes. Clyde is 16 miles east of Abilene.

Big Spring Daily Herald, Big Spring, TX 30 Apr 1950

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Three members of one family died in the wreckage of their crumbled home at Clyde, Texas, 16 miles east of Abilene Friday night. They were MR. and MRS. BERT TABOR and their unmarried daughter, ANNE, about 31. At Abilene, lightning hit the Pampa baseball catcher during a game when lights went out during a storm, but he was revived.

Eight miles to the east of Clyde another black funnel believed to be the same one, killed an elderly man and his wife at their home in Baird. The bodied of STEVE ROGERS, 63, and his wife, 67, were found late Friday night in a nearby orchard.

Jeff Griffin said his home was blown down around the family at Clyde. His wife and their two sons were hurt. Another man and his wife were injured in a car wreck while fleeing from the storm. Memories of the terrific beating Clyde took in 1938 added to the terror and confusion of the twister.

Big Spring Daily Herald, Big Spring, TX 30 Apr 1950
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Transcribed by June. Thanks June!