The Day the Sky Turned: Remembering the Jarrell Tornado

Jarrell, Texas - Almost 28 years ago a devastating F5 tornado hit the city of Jarrell on May 27th, 1997.

I moved to Jarrell last year, and for the most part I have been completely satisfied with the move. It's a rural area that is perfectly situated between the cities of Austin and Temple. However, there was one thing about the charming little town that I didn't know about when I bought my house there.

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A Hidden History of Destruction

One the deadliest tornadoes in the history of the United States of America, the Jarell Tornado, killed 27 residents of Jarrell making it the 4th deadliest tornado of that decade in the country.

The Calm Before the Storm

Prior to the F5 tornado there were several other smaller tornados that had caused damage throughout Williamson and Travis counties. Unfortunately, no one was ready for the devastation that would happen at 3:40pm that day.

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Thirteen Minutes of Terror

For 13 minutes the residents of Jarrell experienced one of the most horrific experiences that anyone can imagine, and for the people that lived in Double Creek Estates it would seem that the tornado wanted to target them specifically.

Targeting Double Creek Estates?

The tornado had been moving south by southwest when it passed the Double Creek Estates. At that point it turned around and went straight into the neighborhood. It would reach its maximum size at this point, and it slowed down to a speed that made it seem as if it had stalled there to inflict as much damage as possible.

Unimaginable Devastation

The Jarrell Tornado sat over the Double Creek Estates for three minutes. During that time, it completely obliterated houses to the point that only the foundations remained. Up to 18 inches of soil was lifted from the area in some locations, and cars were thrown and mangled to the point that they couldn't even be recognized.

A Community Forever Changed

At the time there were 131 people that resided in the Double Creek Estates, and the tornado killed twenty-seven of those people. The remains of the people were scattered across 30 different locations, and some of the bodies were so badly damaged that they had to be identified through their dental records.