25 years ago today. jarrell tx

[waterdog]

On May 27, 1997, one of the most violent tornadoes in modern U.S. history produced close-to-unfathomable damage on the outskirts of Jarrell, TX, located about 40 miles north-northeast of Austin. There are only a few photos and videos of this monster, but it is a disaster well worth remembering

[KGreene]

We drove through the next day. It was a grave display of Mother Nature.

[bbbuck]

Every time we drive through Jerrell we recall that horrible day.

[RifleBowPistol]

I drove through there a few days, after that thing hit Jarrell. I drove through one small subdivision it hit. It looked like a atomic bomb went off there. The houses were gone, everything was gone, all the grass was gone from the yards, it was all mud. Some of the slabs were gone, along with large sections of pavement. After seeing that one subdivision, I did not bother to go look at anything else around the area. I don't think anyone who was home in that subdivision lived through that. It was hard to believe a wind storm, did that damage. To rip up slabs and pavement, I would think it would have to be done by strong water currents, not wind.

To think there were people that were in it's path, houses people lived in, pretty much everything in it's path was just gone. Had to be very hard on surviving family members, even people who the whole family lived, but came home to a bare muddy piece of property, with everything removed from the from that piece of property, including the grass.

[dosrobles]

My wife was working at Sun City in Georgetown at that time. It looked like it was going to hit there but kicked off further east. Little did we know how devastating it was going to be at that time. Every now and than I thank G-d for protecting her and think of the folks that were not as lucky.

[DUKFVR]

Wow, it doesn't seem like that long ago.

[CentralTXHunter]

I was just finishing up 8th grade in Belton ISD that year. We were in football that afternoon doing off-season drills. The junior high I attended (which is now the administration building) was right off I-35 in Belton. The cell that spawned that horror went right over the top of us and was already rotating. Being a west Texas kid transplanted to central Texas, I had seen my share of tornadoes. We alerted the coaches who basically ignored us and had us keep doing bear crawls. Then a sheriff pulled up to the fence and order them to get us inside. Not 2 minutes after the field house door shut, baseball to softball size hail started raining down. It was deafening on that metal roof. It wasn’t until we got out of school and got home that we were aware of what had happened in Jarrell. I didn’t get to see the aftermath first hand, but saw plenty of coverage on it. Absolutely devastating.


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[Tx.Fisher]

Can’t believe it’s been that long.

That tornado was really an anomaly in that it traveled almost directly southwest, and moved at a snails pace. Unless you were under ground, there was zero percent chance of survival if you were in its path.

If I recall, those same storm cells spawned a dozen or so different tornados across central Texas.

[tvc184]

I drove through there a few days, after that thing hit Jarrell. I drove through one small subdivision it hit. It looked like a atomic bomb went off there. The houses were gone, everything was gone, all the grass was gone from the yards, it was all mud. Some of the slabs were gone, along with large sections of pavement. After seeing that one subdivision, I did not bother to go look at anything else around the area. I don't think anyone who was home in that subdivision lived through that. It was hard to believe a wind storm, did that damage. To rip up slabs and pavement, I would think it would have to be done by strong water currents, not wind.

To think there were people that were in it's path, houses people lived in, pretty much everything in it's path was just gone. Had to be very hard on surviving family members, even people who the whole family lived, but came home to a bare muddy piece of property, with everything removed from the from that piece of property, including the grass.

I saw a documentary on the tornado and if my fading memory is correct, it stripped about 4” of soil.

It’s one thing to be so powerful that it rips up buildings but to strip soil like a giant vacuum cleaner?

[Drew51]

I drove through Jarrell earlier that day as a kid on the way to Corpus for the long weekend. I remember there black skies and pouring rain. Then, when we got to our hotel we turned on the news and saw the tornado had gone through.

[mooney_ag]

I was buying a car in temple that afternoon. Only got rain there. Skies were dark green as I remember. Then heard later of the tornado and destruction

[bowhuntertex]

I remember that day like it was yesterday. Can't believe it has been that long.

[HogHunter34]

If I recall wasn’t it the first ever recorder to actually come to a stand still & reverse path for a short stint? No other tornado has slowed to a stand still like that. Hopefully my memory serves me correct. Anyone else recall this?

[flywise]

Sure was a terrible day. Mother Nature has a way of putting things in perspective

[bobc]

I worked at Frank’s Marina at the time. That day, luckily, I had gone to the Marine Outlet in Temple for supplies. It worked over the boats and marinas pretty good. I watched the storm standing out the back bay door of Marine Outlet. The afternoon of that day felt incredibly hot and humid.


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