1947 — Dec 31, LA-AR tornado, esp. Cotton Valley, LA/14, elsewhere LA/4 and AR/1–  19

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard 10-10-2023 for upload to: https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 

–19  UP. “19 Killed When Tornado Hits Cotton Valley.” Ruston Daily Leader, LA. 1-1-1948, p1.

–19  Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 242, 326.

–18  Louisiana

—  1  Arkansas

–18  Associated Press. “20 Die, 200 Hurt in Storm.” The Monroe News-Star, LA. 1-1-1948, p. 1.

–14  Cotton Valley

—  1  Dykesville

—  1  Haynesville

—  1  Leton

—  1  Village, Arkansas

 

Narrative Information

 

Grazulis: “LA-AR DEC 31, 1947 1600 18k 225inj 600y f60m F4 Bossier/Webster/ Claiborne, LA/Columbia/Union [counties], AR–Moved NE and ENE from about 10m N of Shreveport, devastating the town of Cotton Valley, causing 14 deaths and $1,000,000 damage. One person died near Leton, another near “Dykesville,” another 7m SW of Haynesville, and another in the northern part of Haynesville. Sixty people were injured there and losses totaled $450,000. The last damage was SW of El Dorado, Arkansas. $1,500,000.” (Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 933.)

 

Grazulis: “AR Dec 31, 1947  1935  1k  0inj 400y 15m [wide]  F2  Columbia/Union [counties] – Skipped NE from Village to Mt. Holly and to Smackover. Homes were unroofed and oil derricks were destroyed at Village, 11m E of Magnolia. Part of the school gymnasium was also destroyed, killed the school superintendent, who was coaching the basketball team. None of the 16 players were injured.” (Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 933.)

 

 

 

Newspaper

 

 

Jan 1, UP: “Cotton Valley (UP) – Four more bodies have been recovered from the wreckage left at Cotton Valley by the tornado which hit northwestern Louisiana Wednesday afternoon, thus bringing the known dead total to 19. Scores of persons were injured when the twister cut a path of destruction across the Webster parish city and destroyed approximately 80 per cent of the town. The injured figure in the storm’s path has swelled to almost 200. Most of the injured were rushed to Minden, Shreveport and Springhill. Police Chief H. J. Wilson of Cotton Valley, says he expects the toll to go higher.

 

“The search for bodies was interrupted by darkness last night. But it was renewed this morning. Four more bodies were found in the ruins of Cotton Valley, once a thriving community of 2,500.

 

“The known dead are: Hugh Clayton, 50; Clifton Yeates, 43; Charles Cox, 19; Howard Formy, 7; and Doris Perkins, 4.

 

“Police chief estimates 80 per cent of the population is homeless. He says 100 homes were wrecked and 50 business places blown down.

 

“On top of the ruin, the weather is adding new misery. Temperatures have dropped to near freezing. And appeals have gone out for more food, clothing and donations for the homeless. The Red Cross and Salvation Army workers are in the field. Mobile Red Cross units were flown to the area.” (UP. “19 Killed When Tornado Hits Cotton Valley.” Ruston Daily Leader, LA. 1-1-1948, p.1.)

 

Jan 1, AP: “Cotton Valley’s Toll Is Heaviest. List of Homeless in that Town Placed at 500 after area is Struck Twice; School Superintendent is Killed in Village, Ark.; Funnel-Shaped Twister lifts Houses.

 

“Shreveport, La., Jan. 1 – (AP) – Louisiana counted nearly a score dead today after tornadoes tore through Northwestern Louisiana and Southwestern Arkansas yesterday, striking five towns and injuring some 200 persons. At least 14 bodies have been recovered at Cotton Valley, La., a small oil and railroad town northeast of Shreveport. An unidentified Negro was killed at Leton, La. A woman was fatally injured at Dykesville, La., and an unidentified Negro was killed at Haynesville. At Village, Ark., a school superintendent was killed when a high school gymnasium was demolished.

 

“A twister also struck Gillman, Ark., destroying one house, but there were no deaths or injuries reported there.

 

“The funnel-shaped twister was first sighted south of Vanceville, LA. ….the tornado was cutting a swath about 50 feet wide. Romping across wooded and swampy sections of Bossier parish, the twister struck Cotton Valley from the southwest, damaging much of the business district. Then it came back to strike the little town again, this time from the northeast, and demolished many homes. Mayor Sam Coyle estimates 500 persons are homeless and that the list of injured in Cotton Valley alone will reach 200. A check of hospitals in the stricken area showed at least 170 persons have been treated for storm injuries.

 

“The storm roared on through Leton and Dykesville, La., before invading Haynesville where it struck the western and northern edges of the town, doing major damage to the business section. More than 30 buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged, including a number of garages, a warehouse, a news stand, a wholesale establishment and a lumber yard. Sixty persons in Haynesville were injured and treated at hospitals there. One-third of Cotton Valley was flattened, witnesses said….

 

“National guardsmen at Cotton Valley reported they had recovered ten bodies but that rescue work was badly hampered by a wind-driven rain and darkness. The town’s electric power system was wrecked and an emergency power unit was sent from Minden, La. As Red Cross workers moved into the hard-hit area, Minden authorities sent a trainload of food to Cotton Valley and Barksdale Field authorities at Shreveport were rushing food, plasma and anti-toxin into the area.

 

“Identified dead at Cotton Valley were [we break paragraph into lines and add numbering]:

 

  1. Charles Bruce Collins, six months;
  2. Gerald Collins, his mother, found pinned against a chicken coop…
  3. H. B. Robinson,
  4. Alvin Shaw,
  5. W. D. Perkins,
  6. Howard Formby, 10;
  7. Clifton Yeates, 45;
  8. Charles Cox, 19;
  9. Hugh Clayton, 50;
  10. Doris Perkins, 4;
  11. Linda Gail Vowell, 3 months; and
  12. Vince Vowell, 34.
  13. [Unidentified Cotton Valley fatality taken to Spring Hill, LA.]
  14. [Unidentified Cotton Valley fatality taken to Spring Hill, LA.]
  15. [Unidentified Cotton Valley fatality taken to Spring Hill, LA.]

 

“At Dykesville, La., Mrs. Lula McCuen, 84, was fatally injured. She died at a Haynesville hospital.

 

“Toby Haynes, about 35, superintendent of the Village, Ark., school, was killed when the tornado demolished the school gymnasium as he put 15 students through a basketball.

 

(Associated Press. “20 Die, 200 Hurt in Storm.” The Monroe News-Star, LA. 1-1-1948, pp. 1-2.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “20 Die, 200 Hurt in Storm.” The Monroe News-Star, LA. 1-1-1948, p. 1. Accessed 10-10-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/monroe-news-star-jan-01-1948-p-1/

 

Associated Press. “Storm Casualties.” Monroe News-Star, LA. 1-1-1948, p. 1. Accessed 10-10-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/monroe-news-star-jan-01-1948-p-1/

 

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

 

United Press. “19 Killed When Tornado Hits Cotton Valley.” Ruston Daily Leader, LA. 1-1-1948, p.1. Accessed 10-10-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ruston-daily-leader-jan-01-1948-p-1/