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On
November 5, 1885, a small, short-lived tornado cut a five-mile long,
thirty-yard wide path of destruction from the extreme northwestern
corner of Marion County
to near Avinger
in Cass County. In
its wake the storm left seven injured and six dead. All of the fatalities
occurred in the Brady Pittman home where Pittman, his wife, and four
boys perished.
On April 15, 1921, a more destructive tornado tore through the town.
The weather that spring morning was beautiful, but by the end of the
afternoon sixty-six people would perish when four separate deadly
tornadoes swept through far northeast Texas and southwestern Arkansas.
The first indication that the weather would turn ugly was when a narrow
tornado destroyed two homes near Mineola
(Wood County) about
12:45; there were no fatalities.
In Avinger, a bright
sun reappeared after a mid-morning thunderstorm left the ground covered
with four to six inches of hail. About 2:30 a “funny black cloud”
that appeared on the horizon headed toward Avinger.
This tornado had already killed two and injured ten at Mims Chapel
in northwest Marion
County. As the roaring storm approached Avinger,
many sought shelter in large railroad culverts and storm cellars.
The tornado killed six and injured thirty-five as it swept away thirteen
homes. One house in Avinger
that was not destroyed was picked up and turned around 180 degrees
on its site. The Ernest Felker family did not rebuild their house
but kept their back porch and kitchen as the front of the house and
their living room in the rear. For a more extensive account of this
tornado, see Fred McKenzie, Avinger, Texas USA, 1988, M&M Press.
© Marlene
Bradford June 1, 2014
[Texas Tornadoes: The Lone Star State’s
Deadliest Twisters › ]
See Avinger, Texas
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