|
| On
April 9, 1947, the event that was to become forever linked to Higgins
occurred. A tornado or tornadoes approached Higgins
from the south, after first hitting Glazier,
Texas. Forty-five people lost their lives as the storm continued up
into Oklahoma and even into Kansas. |
| Broader view
of destruction on Main Street |
| Men and car
in Main Street after the tornado |
| Surveying the
destruction of Main Street |
| A car sits destroyed
in front of Weis Dry Goods. That Building still stands today |
| People walking
around dazed and confused looking for anything. |
| Higgins Hotel
after tornado |
| First Baptist
Church after tornado |
Higgins,
Texas Forum
Glazier and
Higgins Tornado of April, 1947
Dear TE, The recent
pictures of the Greenburg, Kansas tornado brought back memories of
the tornado that hit Hemphill County back in 1947. I was 12 years
old on April 9, 1947 when I witnessed the tornado that hit Higgins
and Glazier.
It was just southwest of the airport at Canadian,
Texas, where my father Thomas L. McCurdy was the airport manager.
The tornado was so large that there were five or six smaller twisters
circling the main column. The tornado was so close that the air seemed
to be all sucked up. It was such weird feeling. The main tornado lifted
as it crossed the South Canadian River but went back on the ground
after reaching the north side. We were so frightened by it, that we
talked about it for hours after it had passed. The next morning someone
was banging on the door at the airport. The man who ran the paper
at Canadian
was saying that Glazier
was wiped out. My dad flew the photographer over the area and took
the original pictures of the devastation. After returning to the airport,
my dad flew back to Glazier and landed on the highway to pick up two
of the injured and bring them back to the Canadian hospital. He remained
in that plane for the next two days flying people from Higgins
and Glazier because the highway from Canadian to Higgins
was impassable. All the barbed wire and telephone/ telegraph lines
were twisted together and wove back and forth on the highway for many
miles. Cars couldn't drive over it because of the barbed wire, so
Dad's airplane was the main lifeline between Canadian
and the other two towns. On the second day the Army flew in with stretcher
planes and helped. Dad’s plane was a Stinson Voyager with a stretcher
in it. He could carry one in the stretcher and one in the back seat.
I don’t know how many trips he made but I know he was in the airplane
for two solid days. The local gasoline dealer brought kerosene smuge
pots to the airport and lined both sides of the runaway. They did
the same in Glazier
and Higgins and he flew all night
long to bring the injured to Canadian.
The basements of the Baptist and Methodist churches were filled with
injured people after the hospital had run out of room. The high school
gym was also used. Even though I was only twelve at the time, my memories
of that event remain vivid. - Otto W. (Bill) McCurdy, Houston Texas,
May 14, 2007 |
 |
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