It Was May 19, 1951

In May,1951, Neil Larimore was in the military and was stationed in Japan. Unlike today, communications were very slow. There were no instant iPhone messages or calls. Recent news was an occasional letter from home. So, Neil was surprised one day when a guy said, “Hey! Larimore, aren’t you from the little town of Olney in north Texas?”

Neil said yes he was. The guy said, “It just blew away in a tornado!” He had seen the news in the “Stars & Stripes” military newspaper.

So yes, there was a devastating tornado that hit Olney on a Friday afternoon, May 19, 1951. We had not even heard much about tornados at that time. My 8th grade class was in the high school auditorium practicing for our 8th grade graduation.

One of the teachers was standing at one of the windows, and saw the twister as it was moving from the northwest part of town toward the hospital and school complex on Hamilton St. We had no time to do more than stay where we were. The teacher just said, “If a strong wind hits, hit the floor!”

That was all the warning we had! When the storm hit, we dropped down between the sturdy wooden and metal seats that helped to protect us from the falling ceiling and debris.

It was only a few minutes until school would let out, with parents waiting in cars. Soon there would be students scattered all over the area on their way home.

Mrs. Larimore and many other parents were waiting out front. When they saw the twister headed toward the area, they took cover inside the school buildings. The Larimore family had a new car—it was ”totaled” that day when a tree fell on it!

Neil’s sister, Marilyn, told the story of being upstairs in the high school. Before they moved to another part of the building, they watched out the north windows as the storm approached. She told about a student, Colleen McClatchy, who actually watched her home blow way—just a block north of the school on Main Street!

The miracle of the day was the fact that although the elementary school, high school, and hospital on Hamilton Street had damage, they were spared. Everything across the street was leveled! And, because of the damage to the school buildings, our 8th grade graduation was held later in the First Baptist Church— the same was true for the senior graduation.

Even though we had no warning, and the tornado traveled from NW to SE making a wide path across Olney, there were only two deaths plus a number of injuries. Olney was spared the worst.

For years after the tornado, Olney residents went into panic every time there was a small storm cloud. People would run to the nearest neighbor’s cellar until the storm passed. Just a few years later we heard there was a devastating tornado on the ground in Dallas. I became so upset I had to leave my job for the rest of the day, thinking it would surely end up at Olney!

There were no public weather warnings in those days. In today’s world, we can watch weather patterns as they happen in our “backyard” or across the world—with minute-by-minute reports—amazing technology!