One Dead, 90 Injured at Sweetwater : Texas Tornadoes Level 600 Homes

Two tornadoes shredded part of this West Texas city early Saturday before alarms could be sounded, killing at least one person, injuring more than 90 others and destroying hundreds of homes.

“There’s debris everywhere. The windows are out, buildings are torn down, houses have some of the roofs off them,” Nolan County Sheriff James Blackley said.

More than 100 National Guardsmen and sheriff’s officers on horseback patrolled the community to stem sporadic looting that began shortly after the tornadoes struck, officials said. No arrests had been made.

2,000 Residents Affected

About 600 homes were destroyed and 200 others damaged, said Mayor Rick Rhodes, who added that more than 2,000 of the city’s 12,000 residents had been affected.

Rhodes imposed a 7:30 p.m. curfew Saturday in the damaged area. Gov. Mark White was scheduled to tour the town today.

The damaged area included a mobile home park, a senior citizens’ housing project and a subdivision. Lumber companies opened to help residents board up shattered windows, officials said.

Authorities began a house-to-house search for anyone who might have been trapped when the tornadoes, spawned by a fast-moving thunderstorm, hit, said Wendell Rehm, spokesman for the state Public Safety Department.

Funnel Clouds Join

Two funnel clouds dipped down in succession about 7:30 a.m., then joined and cut a swath of destruction a half-mile wide and two miles long through the town, Rhodes said.

“It was a total surprise,” Sheriff Blackley said. “I believe as it was going down, we received a call from the national weather bureau in Abilene, telling us that there was a tornado over Sweetwater. But it was already in progress and tearing things up at that time.”

“We had no warnings; the sirens didn’t go off,” Frances Chapin, 59, said. Neither she nor her husband, Harlen, 64, were injured when the storm blew out the windows of their house.

“The first thing I heard was something that hit this window and knocked it out, and we ran into the closet,” she said. “Our house shook for so long.”

Water Service Cut

An undetermined number of homes were without power in a 12-block area of the city, and water service was cut, officials said.

“Our electricity is off and communications are locked down,” said Marvin Cole, Nolan County deputy sheriff. “All our phone lines are tied up.”

Blackley said people had been warned not to drink the water without boiling it because there was no electricity for the town filtration plant, and “we do not know whether it is drinkable.”

Adam Gutierrez, 12, said he watched the tornado as it cut across the city, picking up cars that “looked like they exploded” as they were lifted into the air.

“My father told us to come outside, and there was that tornado coming down,” Gutierrez said. “We didn’t know what to do; we were all nervous. . . . It just took off in the other direction.”

Man, 87, Dies

The dead man was identified as Henry Earl Tatum, 87, a resident of the senior citizens’ project.

The injured were taken to Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital in Sweetwater, and some were transferred to Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, 47 miles to the east, Rehm said.

At Rolling Plains, 67 people were treated and released and nine remained hospitalized in stable condition, spokesman Bud Neff said.

Thirteen of the injured were taken to Hendrick, where 12 remained hospitalized, spokeswoman Jo Thompson said. Four victims were listed in critical condition, and a 10-month-old infant was in serious condition, she said.