A day in Oklahoma history: 82 years ago, a devastating tornado killed 50 in Pryor

Linda Lynn, The Oklahoman
J.E. Taylor and his brother, Clifford, sat on a culvert and weeped, realizing they would have to inform their mother that their 17-year-old brother, Lester, was dead. In truth, he was being treated in a Muskogee hospital. But it was moments of confusion like this that were being played out across the town amid chaos, not knowing the fate of family members and neighbors.

Communication lines were down for 15 miles. Wood, glass and brick from storefronts piled along the main street. Mangled, twisted vehicles were strewn or carried away. And frantic rescuers tried to save the badly injured, while also searching and digging to recover the dead, a count they expected to reach near 100.

"We have just come through the wrath of God," said Charles Barde, city editor of the Daily Democrat at Pryor.

The afternoon of April 27, 1942, was anything but ordinary in Pryor, hit hard and fast with tornadic winds that smashed automobiles, splintered homes and businesses, and removed roofs, leaving the northeastern Oklahoma town looking like a war zone.

April 28, 1942 - Oklahoma City Times - Page 1 - Pryor tornado coverage
April 28, 1942 - Oklahoma City Times - Page 1 - Pryor tornado coverage

Not the worst storm in the history of this Middle America state, but the worst the people of Pryor could have imagined that day.

There were survival stories. One man clung to a tree, while another laid down in the floorboard of his car, as reported in The Daily Oklahoman and its evening paper, the Oklahoma City Times. Others huddled in the very stores whose sturdy storefronts were crumpled and roofs were removed.

A bulldozer pushes debris along Pryor's main street, clearing the sidewalks after a violent tornado had destroyed parts of the town the afternoon of April 27, 1942.
A bulldozer pushes debris along Pryor's main street, clearing the sidewalks after a violent tornado had destroyed parts of the town the afternoon of April 27, 1942.

Rescue workers, including carloads of doctors and nurses, and hundreds of workers from an area ammunition powder plant converged on Pryor, searching for the dead, treating and transporting the injured and assisting with clearing debris.

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In its path, the storm of driving rain and relentless, indiscriminate, rotating F4 funnel winds left what would actually be 49 dead in Pryor, three dead outside of town and 350 injured, according to the National Weather Service, which ranks the tornado as the fifth-deadliest in state history.

The deadliest tornado documented in Oklahoma is the April 9, 1947, Woodward tornado that killed 116 people, the weather service reports.

No building was left undamaged down the main street of Pryor by the tornado that struck April 27, 1942. "When the storm passed, dead were in the street, injured were screaming for help," as described in the Oklahoma City Times.
No building was left undamaged down the main street of Pryor by the tornado that struck April 27, 1942. "When the storm passed, dead were in the street, injured were screaming for help," as described in the Oklahoma City Times.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Pryor tornado in 1942 was the fifth deadliest in Oklahoma history

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