Waco, TX Tornado, May 1953 - 78 Dead

78 NOW DEAD IN WACO.

BASEMENT BARE, PROBERS FIND.

Waco, May 12 (AP) -- A squad of weary men tonight broke through to the basement of what had been a five-story brick building in tornado-torn Waco and reported "no bodies here."
The basement had been believed a tomb for 20 and possibly 30 missing employes of the R. T. DENNIS Furniture Co.
Meanwhile, however, the death toll rose to 78 from yesterday's monster twisting winds.
Capt. J. E. ROBERTS of Connally AFB who directed the search party by radio that entered the basement said the men reported they had searched every area not completely blocked off by debris and found nothing where they could see.
WILFRED WIGLEY, president of the Dennis Store, said he was able to account for eight of his 38 employes. Among the missing were the treasurer and the general manager.
The death count rose to 78 at 11:30 p.m. when new additions were made to an Associated Press list from a check of highway patrol and funeral home figures.

Waco, May 12 (AP) -- Grim faced soldiers guarded storm-mauled Waco tonight in the face of a warning there may be more of the tornadoes which have killed 73 in Texas.
The Brazos River here added its weight to a desperate situatioin as the usually placid stream surged toward overflowing after two days of drenching rains.
Late today, the Waco rescue crews recovered two more bodies of the estimated 20 youths feared trapped in the ruins of what once had been a dime-a-game pool hall.
"There are some people in that furniture store basement," Fireman W. C. HOOKER of Connally AFB's fire department said. He said gas in the basement made rescue operations extremely difficult.
Late today the Weather Bureau in Houston predicted the Brazos River in Waco would overflow reaching 28 feet -- one foot above flood stage -- by tomorrow morning.
State disaster headquarters in Austin reported 163 homes destroyed in Waco with 474 damaged. A total of 23 business buildings were destroyed and 318 damaged.
Hard rain that had been falling here for hours slackened but water ran ankle-deep in streets patrolled by men armed with carbines and .45 revolvers. Over the whole city hung the dread, symbolized by the dense, churning of another tornado cloud.
In Waco, a small army of workers tore into what had been a five-story building, a half dozen stores, and a movie theater, sending the death toll high as a bulldozer lunged into the wreckage.
Nearly 300 were injured in this city which Indian legend had always held to be the only Texas place safe from tornadoes. San Angelo's injured numbered more than 100.

Damage High.
Damage in Waco was estimated at from 10 to 25 million dollars. The damage estimate at San Angelo was $3,209,000.
Twisted masses of wood, concrete, steel and tin yielded dead in Waco. Nobody will know just how many died until the last brick has been cleared away from two massive mounds of debris, until yesterday part of Waco's downtown business section.
Martial law was in effect over the whole stricken area. Volunteer troops from Connally Air Force Base -- where the rainfall total had reached four inches at 6:30 a.m. (CST) -- joined with men from Ft. Hood, National Guard units and volunteers to stand watch.
An unidentified youth was dragged alive today from ruins of a public pool hall where some 15 to 20 more bodies were believed entombed. He collapsed immediately on being rescued.
The tornado smashed Waco just before 5 p.m., and lunged on to give a final light mocking lick to a southeast residential section.
The heart of Waco, Fifth and Franklin Streets, was hit. The twister whipped down the lower parts of Washington, Franklin and Austin Streets, Waco's main business streets, and damaged from Ninth to River (or First) Streets around the city square and beyond.
Baylor Prof Found.
Tons of brick and stone cascaded onto parked cars. From one smashed car the bodies of Baylor University Prof. KEITH W. JAMES and MRS. JAMES were recovered today. From another were extracted bodies of three high school age girls. They were not identified.

The Abilene Reporter-News Texas 1953-05-13
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!