Television: Closeup of a Twister

"It's coming our way . . . boiling along, churning rather slowly. It ought to be here in just one minute. Now, we're going to have to step out of the way here to let this tornado go past. There it goes!" Seconds later, as the black twister screamed past him, Newsman Bob Whitten of Dallas' KRLD told radio listeners how the tornado flipped a huge trailer truck 50 ft. into air, then smashed it down atop an empty car. Listeners could hear the thud of debris on and around Whitten's own car.

Like Whitten, newsmen from other Dallas radio and TV stations helped make last week's devastating storm what one scientist called "the best-documented tornado in history." As the whirling funnel gouged a path through the city from southeast to northwest, killing ten, injuring 200 and causing a $4,000,000 loss in smashed homes and businesses, radiomen tracked it closely in swift mobile units. Since the twister rarely moved faster than 20 m.p.h., they often sped in front of it, frequently beat police and disaster units to scenes of havoc. They gave thousands of homeward-bound motorists accurate reports on where the tornado was heading, warned of streets already clogged with mangled power lines and telephone poles.

When the tornado struck across town from his home, NBC Cameraman Maurice ("Moe") Levy, 34, grabbed his 16-mm. hand camera, hopped into his car and headed straight for the distant black column. He met it within the city's Negro district, stopped his car every few feet (leaving the motor running) to get pictures, never let it get more than 200 yds. away. Once he returned to his car to find it jammed with terrified survivors. Their terror grew when they realized, after refusing to get out, that Levy was trying to stay with the twister, not get away from it. "We're coming, Jesus!" some of them chanted. "We're coming!" Levy, who estimates that he has covered four tornadoes a year for 15 years, got some unforgettable footage, enabling NBC, in three successive news shows, to give millions of viewers a chilling sensation that the swirling mass was heading right at them out of the screen.