1947 — June 1, Tornado, Jefferson County, especially Pine Bluff area, AR                  —     35

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard 10-13-2023 for upload to: https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 

–35  Assoc. Press. “Another Death Brings Tornado Toll to 35.” Hope Star, AR. 3-6-1947, p. 1.

–35  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 242 & 929.

 

Narrative Information

 

Grazulis: “AR  JUN 1, 1947 1520 35k 300inj 600y 19m F4. JEFFERSON–Moved E from Sulphur Springs across the south edge of Pine Bluff. Damage totaled $750,000 as tenant homes and suburban homes were swept away. Eleven of the dead were teenagers at a recreational meeting hall on Hwy-15. Eight of the deaths were in rural tenant homes. Sixteen deaths were in Pine Bluff. Up to five people were killed in one home. $750,000.” (Grazulis 1993, p. 929.)

 

Newspapers

 

June 2, AP: “Pine Bluff, June 2 – (AP) – With 33 bodies in mortuaries, Jefferson county officials pushed their search today for an additional 15 persons believed missing after a tornado ripped a 20-mile path south of here, injuring hundreds and leaving hundreds more homeless. Coroner E. D. DuPree, who announced early today 37 bodies had been recovered, said he still believed that was correct, but that some confusion may have resulted from the shifting of corpses among the various establishments. A check of the four mortuaries here showed 18 white persons and 15 negroes.

 

“The majority of the victims were children, including members of a teen-age group attending a meeting in a house where 11 persons were killed. At least 10 white children died.

 

“Searchers began at dawn a careful check of the rain-soaked plantation fields and bayou swamps for additional victims of the twister. Sheriff Garland Brewster said 15 persons were believed missing. One crew blasted a hole in a dike along Barthlomew Bayou into which several house were believed to have been blown, then waded waist-deep in the muddy water hunting for bodies.

 

“The condition of many of the 71 injured at Davis hospital – the community’s only hospital – was critical. Emergency treatment was administered last night to some 200 who were released after treatment. Countless others received on the spot aid for minor hurts.

 

“Estimating that 500 to 1,000 homes were destroyed, Mayor George Steed of Pine Bluff said it probably would be tomorrow before a recapitulation of the storm’s toll would be complete….

 

“The twister bounded along the 20-mile course – 10 miles wide in places – from a point approximately 10 miles southwest of here to a spot in the Arkansas river bottoms about 10 miles southeast of Pine Bluff. Its fringes struck the extreme southern outskirts of this community of 40,000 at the northernmost point of its course, damaging the Pine Bluff County Club house. It bounded over Grider Field, wartime army aviation primary training center, leaving the airport untouched….The storm jumped some small sections along its path but generally devastated the area, twisting huge cypress trees into kindling and entirely eliminating whole pine thickets. Only the foundations – no wreckage – marked the sites of many farm dwellings. Huge strips of metal roofing were wrapped around fallen utility poles. Several small timber bridges across bayous leading from Pine Bluff to the devastated area were blown away and ambulance drivers had to wait removal of trees and logs from the highways to remove some of the injured….

 

“Driving rain and a hail storm followed the tornado to handicap rescuers and add to the misery of the victims. Many injured brought to the hospital were covered with mud which had to be washed off before they could be examined….” (Associated Press. “Tornado Takes Toll. Over 30 Meet Death in Pine Bluff Sector.” The Camden News, AR. 6-2-1947, p. 1.)

 

June 2, AP: “Pine Bluff, June 2 – (AP) – The list of identified dead, revised by Jefferson county (Pine Bluff) officials, in Sunday’s tornado: [We put into alphabetical order and add numbering.]

 

  1. Barbo, Mike.
  2. Browning, Charlotte.
  3. Chambers, Mr. Joe.
  4. Chambers, Mrs. Joe.
  5. Coleman, Sally.
  6. Henderson, Josephine.
  7. Hobson, Mr. H. B.
  8. Hobson, Mrs. H. B.
  9. Horton, Billy Jo, 9.
  10. Horton, Barbara Dean, 3.
  11. Jacobs, Edna, 15.
  12. Jarrett, John L., 14.
  13. Kendall, Fred Jr., 12.
  14. May, Calvin, 15
  15. Miles, Willie Jr., 9.
  16. Nelson, Richard, 16.
  17. Shackelford, Gelona, 50.
  18. Shackelford, Joe, about 50.
  19. Smith, Mrs. Anna May.
  20. Stubblefield, C. W., 16.
  21. Stuart, James, 16.
  22. Tidwell, Mr. E. U. [Union community.]
  23. Tidwell, Mrs. E. U. [Union community.]
  24. [Tidwell child 1 of 5 children of Mr. and Mrs. E. U. Tidwell.[1]]
  25. [Tidwell child 2 of 5 children of Mr. and Mrs. E. U. Tidwell,]
  26. [Tidwell child 3 of 5 children of Mr. and Mrs. E. U. Tidwell,]
  27. [Tidwell child 4 of 5 children of Mr. and Mrs. E. U. Tidwell,]
  28. [Tidwell child 5 of 5 children of Mr. and Mrs. E. U. Tidwell,]
  29. West, Mr. James E.
  30. West, Mrs. James. [Noted in AP of June 3, “Another Death Brings Tornado Toll to 35.”]
  31. West, James F. Jr., 4.
  32. West, Judy, 6.
  33. Witherspoon, Milton, 14.
  34. Young, C. W.”
  35. Unidentified man “whose automobile was plucked from the highway and flung into a cotton field…”[2]

(Assoc. Press. “Death List for Pine Bluff Storm Area.” The Camden News, AR. 6-2-1947, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Another Death Brings Tornado Toll to 35.” Hope Star, AR. 3-6-1947, p. 1. Accessed 10-13-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/hope-star-jun-03-1947-p-1/

 

Associated Press. “Death List for Pine Bluff Storm Area.” The Camden News, AR. 6-2-1947, p. 1. Accessed 10-13-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/camden-news-jun-02-1947-p-1/

 

Associated Press. “Family Of Seven Lose Lives In Quirk Of Fate.” The Camden News, AR. 6-2-1947, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2023 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/camden-news-jun-02-1947-p-1/

 

Associated Press. “Tornado Takes Toll. Over 30 Meet Death in Pine Bluff Sector.” The Camden News, AR. 6-2-1947, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2023 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/camden-news-jun-02-1947-p-1/

 

Danville Library Obituary Collection [Yell County, AR]. “Tidwell, E.U. (Mr. and Mrs.).” Accessed 1-13-2023 at: http://www.yellcountyobits.org/obittext/obit338.html

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] The notation of the deaths of five Tidwell children in addition to the parents comes from another article same page: “Family of Seven Lose Lives in Quirk of Fate.” Additionally the Danville Library Obituary Collection contains an obituary article noting the Mr. and Mrs. R. U. Tidwell and five children “lost their lives in a tornado stat struck Union and Star City communities near Pine Bluff Last Sunday.”

[2] Died of injuries on June 3rd. (AP. “Death List for Pine Bluff Storm Area.” The Camden News, AR. 6-2-1947, p. 1.)