6 counties, MS– 57

lornajarrettblanchard March 3, 1966

— 60 AP. “Killer tornado leaves 60 known dead in state.” Hattiesburg American, MS. 3-4-1966, p.1.
— 57 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 224.
— 57 Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology… 1993, p. 1079.
–12 Hinds County, Jackson, Candlestick Shopping Center.
— 7 Hinds County, “mostly in Jackson” other than the shopping center.
— 6 Rankin County rural areas.
–26 Scott County rural areas.
— 6 Leake County.
— 57 NWS Jackson, MS WFO. “Twenty-four Deadliest Tornadoes in Mississippi 1950-2005.”
— 56 NWS Dodge City, KS WFO. Today’s Weather Trivia. Nov 1, 2005.
— 54 Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. 1982, p. 54.

Narrative Information

Grazulis: “MS Mar 3, 1966 16:00 57k [killed] 504inj [injured] 900y [yards wide]…F5. Hinds/Rankin/Scott/Leake [counties]

“This extremely violent tornado first touched down south of Learned and moved ENE into the city of Jackson. Dozens of homes were leveled and well over 1000 were damaged across Jackson and rural areas of four counties. The Candlestick Shopping Center in Jackson was destroyed. Twelve people were killed at that shopping center, and about 100 were injured as several entire stores were actually leveled to the ground. Wide swaths of concrete blocks stretched across the parking lot and into neighboring lots.

NWS Jackson, MS WFO: 504 injuries also reported.

Newspaper

March 4: “By James Saggus. Jackson, Miss. (AP) – Rescue workers moved through sparsely populated areas east of here today, picking up the dead and giving aid to the living victims of Thursday’s savage tornadoes.

“Early this afternoon, the Mississippi Highway Patrol reported 60 known dead and 497 injured from the twisters which struck a shopping center here and several rural towns at dusk.

“Property losses ran high. Hundreds of cattle were killed.

“Larry Parks of broadcast station WQFT-FM at Forest, in Scott County, said many homes ‘are just gone…and the people in them are missing, too.’

“I Jackson, the state’s largest city and capital, a tornado dealt death and devastation in a suburban shopping center. At least 12 persons were killed.

“Nearby, the modern brick Woodville Heights Baptist church looked like it had exploded. Homes across the street were untouched.

“A patrol spokesman said 411 were injured in Jackson and rural counties to the east of the capital city.

“One of the tornado victims was Joe Bullock, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Mississippi’s 4th District. Bullock, recently ousted as director of the state’s Agriculture and Industrial Board, was killed instantly, the Highway Patrol said, when the twister blew his car off the road near the Forkville community in Scott County.

“Damage was expected to run into the millions from the state’s worst natural disaster since a 1942 tornado left 75 dead in central and northwest Mississippi….

“The line of tornadoes moved eastward into west-central Alabama during the night. There was one known dead in Alabama and 11 injured.

“An Air Force Reserve C119 transport flew into Jackson shortly after midnight, bringing two mobile Red Cross disaster trucks and 20 pints of rare blood from Mobile, Ala.

“Much of the destruction in Jackson, the state’s largest city with a quarter of a million people, was centered around the Candlestick Park shopping center at the southwest edge of the city. The Highway Patrol said 12 persons were killed in the shopping center….” (Associated Press. “Killer tornado leaves 60 known dead in state.” Hattiesburg American, MS. 3-4-1966, p.1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Killer tornado leaves 60 known dead in state.” Hattiesburg American, MS. 3-4-1966, p.1. Accessed 5-6-2020: https://newspaperarchive.com/hattiesburg-american-mar-04-1966-p-1/

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

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

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

National Weather Service Forecast Office, Dodge City, KS. Today’s Weather Trivia (March). NWS, Nov 1, 2005. Accessed at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/wxtrivia/wxtrvMar.php

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Jackson, MS. Twenty-four Deadliest Tornadoes in Mississippi 1950-2005. Jackson, MS: NWS WFO, NOAA, January 18, 2006 update. Accessed at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/TorStats/24DeadliestTors.php