1947 Woodward Tornado: A Great Story

The most deadly tornado to ever strike within the borders of the state of Oklahoma occurred on Wednesday, April 9, 1947 in the city of Woodward. The Woodward storm began in the Texas Panhandle during the afternoon of April 9, 1947, and produced at least six tornadoes along a 220 mile path that stretched from White Deer, Texas to St. Leo, Kansas. The tornado that struck Woodward began near Canadian, Texas. Moving northeast, it continued on the ground continuously for about 100 miles, ending in Woods County, Oklahoma, west of Alva. The tornado was massive, up to 1.8 miles wide, and traveled at forward speeds of about 50 miles per hour. The violent tornado (F5 on the Fujita Scale) unleashed horrible destruction on Woodward, striking the city without warning at 8:42 pm. Over 100 city blocks on the west and north sides of the city were destroyed. 107 people were killed in Woodward.

My grandparents, Emery and Beryl LeCrone had just finished building a new house in Woodward. My mother was just 9 days shy of her third birthday. Because the house was new, the appliances were new as well. Like most Oklahomans, my grandparents had a storm cellar. But for some reason my grandfather felt very uneasy about taking the family to the cellar when he realized that the tornado was about to hit. Instead of taking them to the cellar, Pa put his family in a box crate that the new refrigerator had come in. He grabbed the two sides and held the crate together as the tornado stormed through. My mother remembers bricks bouncing off his chest as he stood against the wind with his family huddled behind him.

When the tornado had passed, the new house was gone. The house was completely destroyed, but an appliance box had protected the LeCrone family. When the family went outside, they were shocked to see Pa's truck overturned on the door of the cellar, with the truck's gasoline leaking down into the cellar. Had they gone to the cellar, they would have been trapped.

We call this the providence of God: the home destroyed, the cellar a death-trap, and the only safe place was in a refrigerator crate behind Pa LeCrone.