The 1970 Lubbock Tornado

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. May 11, 1970. A Monday evening in Lubbock, Texas.

The kind of night that starts ordinary and ends in the history books. The sky had been building all evening — thunderstorms rolling in, strong winds, hail hammering the rooftops. People were keeping an eye on things, the way West Texans do.

And then, at eight-fifteen in the evening, the first tornado touched down east of Mackenzie Park. It tracked northeast through a sparsely populated part of the city. Almost like a warning shot.

Almost like the storm was clearing its throat. Because what came next was something else entirely. At nine thirty-five p.m., a second tornado formed near Texas Tech University.

And this one — this one meant business. It tracked northeast with a path of destruction nearly two miles wide. Two miles wide.

Let that settle in while you picture yourself standing in its way. The central business district took a direct hit. Industrial areas, torn apart.

Downtown residential neighborhoods, including the Guadalupe neighborhood, bore some of the worst of it. The funnel kept moving — north-northeast now — reaching the Lubbock Country Club and the airport before it finally lifted back into the storm at approximately ten-ten p.m. Thirty-five minutes of destruction from that second twister alone.

When it was over, Lubbock sat in the dark trying to understand what had just happened to it. The numbers, when they came in, were staggering. More than two hundred fifty million dollars in damage — more than one point six billion in today's dollars.

Twenty-five percent of the entire city, affected. Eleven hundred homes destroyed outright. Eight thousand others damaged.

Hundreds of businesses, destroyed or severely damaged. And the toll that matters most: twenty-six people lost their lives, and one thousand seven hundred fifty-five were injured. Lubbock did not sit still.

Cleanup and relief efforts commenced immediately. A state of emergency was declared. Bottled water was shipped in.

The Lubbock Municipal Coliseum became a makeshift shelter. A city in pain doing what it had to do. Then came the longer work of rebuilding — and something unexpected came with it.

The city received fifty-nine million dollars in federal relief. A thirteen-point-six million dollar bond package helped fund the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, the George and Helen Mahon Library, city parks, and the beginnings of the Canyon Lakes system. Out of rubble, a city reshaped.

And the storm left behind something else — knowledge. Dr. T.T.

Fujita compiled data from the Lubbock tornado, data that he used to develop the Fujita Scale, the very system we still use to measure tornadic intensity by wind speed and resulting damage. The destruction of May 11, 1970 helped give science a language for storms like itself. Shortly after, Texas Tech University founded the Institute for Disaster Research — known today as the National Wind Institute.

Born right here, out of this city's worst night. The 1970 Lubbock tornado was one of the most destructive in American history. The marker doesn't shy away from that.

But it ends where Lubbock ended up — not flattened, not finished. Resilient. A city that took the worst the sky could throw at it, and then got to work.

What the marker says

The major tornado that struck Lubbock on May 11, 1970 was one of the most destructive in American history. That evening there was an outbreak of thunderstorms with strong winds and hail. An initial tornado touched down East of Mackenzie Park at 8:15 p.m., traveling northeast through a sparsely populated part of the city. A second tornado formed at 9:35 p.m., near Texas Tech University, tracking northeast with a path of destruction nearly two miles wide. The central business district, industrial areas and downtown residential areas, including the Guadalupe neighborhood, were the most heavily damaged. The funnel continued north-northeast to the Lubbock County Club and airport where it also caused damage before lifting back into the storm at approximately 10:10 p.m. The twisters caused more than $250 million in damage (more than $1.6 billion in today’s dollars), affecting 25% of the city. It destroyed 1,100 homes and damaged 8,000 others. Hundreds of businesses were destroyed or severely damaged. Twenty-six people died and 1,755 people were injured. Cleanup and relief efforts commenced immediately. A state of emergency was declared, bottled water was shipped in, and the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum became a makeshift shelter. Many important advancements resulted from the tragic event. The city was given $59 million in federal relief, and a $13.6 million bond package helped fund the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, George and Helen Mahon Library, city parks and the beginnings of the Canyon Lakes system. Dr. T.T. Fujita compiled data used to develop the Fujita Scale, which measures tornadic intensity by wind speed and resulting damage. Shortly after, Texas Tech University founded the institute for disaster research (now the National Wind Institute). While the 1970 Lubbock tornado was devastating, the response demonstrated the resilience of the city and its people. (2020)