Tornado Razes Town in Texas; 25 Die, 110 Hurt

A tornado destroyed this tiny remote town Friday night, leveling every building, including a community hall where a pre-school graduation was being held. At least 25 people died and more than 110 were injured, officials said.

Most of the dead were children, said Mike Cox, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety in Austin, who confirmed the death toll and the number injured.

Many of those attending the ceremonies in Saragosa Hall were trapped when the tornado tore through the west Texas community, authorities said. Bad weather was hindering rescue efforts early today.

‘Still Bringing People Out’

“They’re still bringing people out of the building, live and dead,” said Reeves County jailer Janie Rodriguez in nearby Pecos. “They’re using dogs out there to sniff.”

Jose Rodriguez of Saragosa said he was attending the ceremony, but managed to escape before the tornado leveled the building.

“They were having a . . . graduation and about 100 people were inside the building,” he said. “This is the worst thing I ever saw in my life. Almost all the houses in town--the storm just picked them up.”

He said that he did not know how many people had been trapped in the building.

“There is no structure left in town,” David Wells, another public safety department spokesman, said early today. “The stone building was filled with 5-year-olds and their parents attending the ceremony.”

The ceremony was for pre-kindergarten youngsters in a government-funded Head Start program, authorities said.

There may be more fatalities in the fields surrounding the area, but rescue workers were having trouble finding them because of the darkness, Wells said.

“The town is gone,” an unidentified amateur radio operator said about the community of 185 residents about 190 miles east of El Paso.

“The town is without power, the roads are impassable and we have reports of people trapped inside Saragosa Hall,” Cox said.

Jan Knott, assistant administrator at Reeves County Hospital in Pecos, said at least 60 people were hurt and en route to the hospital. She said that more injuries were expected.

Cox said at least another 50 injured people remained at the scene.

Saw Twister From Car

Johnny Morgan, 43, of Midland, said that he and his family saw the tornado from their car.

“We . . . watched it grow. I got to (the) edge of Saragosa and came right by the thing, and it turned around the other way,” he said in a telephone interview from Reeves County Hospital, where he was aiding rescue efforts.

“Buildings were flattened. Cars were strewn about. Power lines were down,” said Morgan, who was not injured. “As we watched it, the (tornado’s) stem became wider and wider and darker. As we got to the edge of Saragosa, I really became frightened by it.”

Red Cross volunteers from Midland, Abilene and Odessa rushed to the town. Sue Jones of the Midland Red Cross said her crew was taking “cots, blankets . . . food and we’re headed out probably in the next 10 minutes.”

‘People Going Into Shock’

“There’s no shelter left, except for part of a gymnasium,” she said. “They’re begging for shelter. They’re begging for blankets. They’re begging for water. They have people going into shock, so they need the blankets. They’ve just been devastated.”

The tornado hit at about 8 p.m., striking ground west of nearby Balmorhea, then east of that town and then in the middle of Saragosa a few miles to the north, the National Weather Service said.

The storm was moving northeast toward Fort Stockton, and the weather service reported that funnel clouds had been sighted within 28 miles of the town.

The worst single tornado in Texas history hit Wichita Falls on April 10, 1979. The destruction left 42 dead, 1,740 injured, more than 3,000 homes destroyed and caused $400 million in damage. An estimated 20,000 people were left homeless by that storm.