DISASTERS: The Big Sweep

A warm, moist air mass from the Gulf of Mexico lay still and sultry across the South last week, and a sharp, cold front was advancing ominously from the north. It was just after lunchtime in the little (pop. 1,200) town of Dierks, Ark., when people began to glance nervously at a sash of black cloud across the sky. Suddenly, between glances, the twister was there: a long, snarling black snout that reached from cloud to earth and spun its way toward town with a roar of a low-flying air armada.

Carl Young Jr. heard the roar, grabbed up his wife and two youngsters, and hustled them into the family car parked at the curb in front of the house. He rolled up the windows and set the brakes. The car bucked and bounced, both headlights fell off and a tire exploded, but, while their house fell apart, the Youngs survived. In three houses near the Youngs lived four generations of the Allen family, side by side. Six Allens, ranging from the great grandparents to an eight-month-old baby, were killed. Only a concrete porch was left to show where they lived.

The twister slashed a blockwide path through Dierks, exploded houses, scattered wrecked furniture for half a mile. It twisted the tops off pines and stripped the feathers off chickens. The storm pushed on northeastward across Arkansas, spawned three more tornadoes to hit at Carlisle, Hazen, Cotton Plant, Bald Knob, Marked Tree and other towns. In Judsonia (pop. 1,100), one twister crumpled the water tower like a used Dixie Cup, left nothing of the bank building except the concrete vault. It picked up Johnny Jordan's car, spun it around and catapulted Johnny to a safe landing, then set the car down relatively undamaged atop an oil tank.

Before the storm was spent, it had scoured through southern Missouri, hopped the Mississippi River to swipe at Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee (where, in the little town of Henderson, one single puff demolished 18 houses). Behind it came cold rain, freezing weather and misery. At week's end, National Guard units and Red Cross crews moved in to the rescue. Estimated damage: 250 dead, 2,500 injured, 1,000 homes destroyed, another 1,500 damaged.