1950 — Feb 11-13, Tornadoes, Feb 11-12: TX (8), LA (25); Feb 13: TN (9)                  —     42

–42  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 326, 505, 953-954.

–42  Blanchard tally from State and locality breakouts below.

–41  Ruston Daily Leader, LA. “Tornadoes Strike Texas And Northwest Louisiana.” 2-13-1950, p.1.

February 11:

Texas              (  2)

–2  Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 953.

            –1  13:40 tornado. Harris County. Woman, 100-years-old killed.

            –1  23:45 tornado. Cass/Bowie counties. One person NE side of Corley, Bowie County.

February 12:

Texas              (  6)                            

–6  Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 953.

            –3  10:42 tornado. Polk and Angelina counties. (Father and 3 children at Salem.

            –2  11:50 tornado. Shelby County, Haslam (south edge of) “Fellowship” community.

Louisiana       (25) 

–25  Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 953.

            –1  11:50 tornado. Desoto County, north of Logansport, house destroyed, woman killed.

            –8  13:00 tornado. Caddo and Bossier parishes.

–2  South side of Shreveport.

                        –6  Slack Air Force Base. (Also reported by Ruston Dailey Leader, LA, 2-13-1950, 1.)

            –7  13:24  tornado. DeSoto and Bossier parishes

                        –3  Grand Cane area, Desoto Parish (two homes destroyed, children killed.)

                        –3  Sligo, Bossier Parish. Family members of plantation tenant house.[1]

                        –1  Bossier Parish. Pedestrian in ditch when car rolled over him.

            –9  14:30 tornado. Bienville Parish.

                        –8  Castor area (2 miles south-southeast of). Six in one home.[2]

                        –1  Castor area (3 miles northeast of.)

February 13:

 Tennessee       (  9)

–9  Hurricane Hill. Ruston Daily Leader, LA. “Nine Killed in Tennessee Today.” 2-13-1950, p.1.

            –8  Family in farm home.

            –1  Tenant farmer.

Narrative Information

Grazulis: “TX Feb 11, 1950 13:40 1k 20inj 500y 15m F3 Harris – Moved NNE across the west side of La Porte. Twenty-five homes were hit. Most homes were unroofed, but some were completely ripped apart. About 200 buildings were damaged to some extent. A 100-year-old woman was killed. $200,000.” (p. 953)

Grazulis: “TX Feb 11, 1950 23:45 1k 30 inj 150y 30m F3 Cass/Bowie [counties] – Moved NNE from south of Hughes Springs in Marietta and Corley, east of New Boston. About half the losses were in the eastern residential area of Hughes Springs, where 15 homes were destroyed or torn apart and two dozen others were damaged. There were 15 injuries. One person was killed on the north side of Corley, where 15 more homes were damaged or destroyed. $200,000.” (p. 953.)

Grazulis: “TX Feb 12, 1950 10:42 3k 3inj 100y 15m F2. POLK/ANGELINA—Moved NE from extreme north Polk County, 17m S of Lufkin through the “Salem” community, and passing 2m S of Huntington. It hit a school near “Beulah” and a house near Huntington. At Salem, a home was blown apart and scattered across many acres. The father and two children were killed. The mother and two others were injured….

“TX-LA Feb 12, 1950 1150 4k 37inj 150y 30m F3. SHELBY,TX /DESOTO, LA–Moved NE from 5m S of Center to SW of Haslam, 2m N of Logansport, to east of Keatchie. There was one death SW of Haslam. Two people were killed as a house blew apart while they were having lunch in the “Fellowship” community, at the south edge of Haslam. At least 32 other people were injured at Fellowship and across Shelby County. Crossing into Louisiana, the tornado killed a woman and destroyed her home north of Logansport. A dozen homes were destroyed in Louisiana. $250,000.

“LA  Feb 12, 1950 1300 8k 70inj 200y 20m F4. CADDO/BOSSIER – Moved NNE from north of Stonewall, through Slack AFB. Homes were destroyed NW of Forbing. Two people were killed in homes in the “Hood Quarter” at the south edge of Shreveport. At Slack Air Force Base, five airmen and a civilian employee were killed as the reconsignment depot was leveled. Airmen were injured in the mess hall and barracks. $350,000.

“LA  Feb 12, 1950 1324 7k 30inj 200y 35m F3.  DESOTO/BOSSIER—Moved NNE from near Grand Cane to NE of Sligo. Three, and possibly four, people were killed in two separate homes in the Grand Cane area, NW of Mansfield. All three were children. Near Sligo, three members of one family died as a plantation tenant home was obliterated. Another person, a pedestrian, was killed when a car rolled over into the ditch in which he had sought safety. $90,000.

“LA  Feb 12, 1950 1430 9k 40inj  10m F3.  BIENVILLE – Small homes were swept away SSE and NE of Castor.  Scattered F1 tornado and downburst damage was reported as far to the SW as Zwolle.  The only well documented tornado track was through the sawmill town of Roy, 2m SSE of castor.  Twenty-five homes were damaged or destroyed there, and eight people were killed, six in one home.  Another person was killed in a home 3m NE of Castor.  Bodies were carried as far as a quarter of a mile.  $50,000.”  (Grazulis 1993, pp. 326 & 953.)

Grazulis: “TN Feb 13, 1950 02:00 9k 1 inj 20y 2m F2 Lauderdale [county] – Nine people were killed as two small homes were destroyed on ‘Hurricane Hill,’ 8 m SE of Ripley. A couple and their six children died in one home which ‘sailed 85 yards into a grove of trees at the foot of the hill.’ Perhaps anything built of a ‘Hurricane Hill’ should be of a higher construction standard. $5,000.

Newspapers

Feb 13, Ruston Daily Leader: “Tornadoes that ripped into northwest Louisiana and East Texas during the week-end struck Tennessee today at the rural village of Hurricane Hill, about 40 miles north of Memphis. Eight members of one family died in the wreckage of their farm home early this morning and another tenant farmer was also killed. Rescue workers reaching the scene said that other farm families were in the path of the storm.

“The series of tornadoes which started in Texas Saturday (Feb 11) and spread through Louisiana yesterday killed at least 41 persons. Twelve towns were hit in East Texas as the twister raked through into Louisiana. Late Saturday night the twisters struck in the Houston area, hit near Texarkana and moved into Haslam, on the Louisiana line near Logansport. Three were killed and an estimated 13 injured in Logansport as the roaring tornado cut a 200 yard wide path of destruction in that area. It skirted Logansport and moved northeastward, hitting Grand Cane and Longstreet shortly after noon yesterday.

“The twister struck southwest Bienville parish about 2 p.m. after leaving a path of destruction at Slack Air Base, a former ordnance depot, near Shreveport. Six persons were killed at the air base, while seven deaths were reported near Caster, and three persons were killed at Sligo.

“Seven persons were known to be dead late yesterday afternoon in the Bienville parish area. After striking in the area southwest of Castor, in the southwest corner of Bienville parish, the twister moved into Claiborne parish. One persons was reported injured in Haynesville when the tornado struck there about 3:15 p.m. Half of the Claiborne parish fair buildings were blown off and several glass windows were broken in the downtown area of Haynesville….

“Estimates ranging from 41-50 dead were received today, with the injured list expected to total more than 100. Some 75 or 80 injured have been listed in Louisiana area, and the texas toll has been estimated as ‘scores.’ Some 200 towns and communities in the two states were damaged by the storms.

“Shelby County in Texas has been listed as the heaviest hit area in that state, while the Caddo and Bienville parish areas seem to be the hardest hit in Louisiana.” (Ruston Daily Leader, LA. “Tornadoes Strike Texas And Northwest Louisiana. Nine Killed in Tennessee Today As Storm Leaves 41 Dead in Path Over Three States.” 2-13-1950, p. 1.)

Sources

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

Ruston Daily Leader, LA. “Tornadoes Strike Texas And Northwest Louisiana. Nine Killed in Tennessee Today As Storm Leaves 41 Dead in Path Over Three States.” 2-13-1950, p. 1. Accessed 8-31-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ruston-daily-leader-feb-13-1950-p-1/

Tornado History Project. Accessed at: http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/index.php

[1] Also reported by the Ruston Daily Leader, LA. “Tornadoes Strike Texas and Northeast Louisiana.” 2-13-1950, p. 1.

[2] 7 deaths reported by the Ruston Daily Leader, LA. “Tornadoes Strike Texas and Northeast Louisiana.” 2-13-1950.

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