The world is a dangerous place. Earthquakes, floods, wildfires, volcanoes, droughts, hurricanes and tornadoes reshape the land, destroy lives and lay waste to entire communities. Some of these perils — hurricanes, for example — often hit with enough warning that people can prepare and, if need be, get out of way. Others, however, frequently arrive with no warning, at all, or with so little warning that the only thing anyone can do is try to find a safe place to ride it out. A doorway during an earthquake, for example. Or a basement when, out of a troubled sky, a tornado suddenly touches down, roaring (as so many survivors characterize the sound) like a freight train from hell.
Here, in the very midst of tornado season, LIFE.com recalls a catastrophic tornado that slammed into Waco, Texas, 60 years ago this week. On the afternoon of May 11, 1953, an F5 tornado made a direct hit on Waco. (On the scale for rating rotational intensity created by storm researcher Ted Fujita, an F5 twister is capable of “incredible damage.) In a matter of minutes, in the face of cyclonic winds that likely topped 300 mph, hundreds of homes and businesses were utterly destroyed; thousands of cars were damaged or totaled; almost 600 people were injured and 114 were killed.
Today, six decades later, the 1953 Waco tornado remains tied with the 1902 Goliad twister for the grim distinction of Texas’s deadliest, and is the 11th deadliest in U.S. history.
In the immediate aftermath of the tornado, LIFE’s John Dominis and correspondent Scot Leavitt, who had just recently moved to Texas, made their way to the devastated city. All of the photos in this gallery, many of which never ran in LIFE, are Dominis’s; in a note sent to LIFE’s editors in New York, Leavitt noted that “through virtually all [of Dominis’s] shooting, rain fell, the sky was dark and the mood was somber.”
For its part, LIFE wrote of the disaster in its May 25, 1953 issue:
By May 11 the warm, close weather was uncomfortably routine to the people of Waco, Texas. The day before had been muggy and the day before that, too. The big news in the Morning News-Tribune was of a tornado in far-off Minnesota. At mid-morning the New Orleans weather bureau warned there might be a few tornadoes close to home. But an Indian belief that tornadoes would never strike Waco had always held true and no one in the city worried about the report At 1:30 .m. the Waco weather forecaster announced, “No cause for alarm.”
Three hours later the skies suddenly darkened. people scurried for shelter from the hail and slashing rain, and at the edge of town a cemetery workman looked up to see a thick black wedge forming under a low cloud … At 4:37 p.m. the black wedge in the sky struck Fifth and Austin [streets], gouged the earth for a block and left the heart of Waco a broken coffin for scores of schoolboys, housewives, motorists….
Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
Not published in LIFE. Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesRescuers attempt to free a woman trapped in rubble, Waco, Texas, May 1965.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesWaco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Scene of destruction in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. "In the downpour which followed the twister, a group of volunteer workers stand aside as another body is found in the ruins of the Torrance pool hall where 25 players, mostly teenagers, were trapped and killed when the roof caved in."John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. "6:45 A.M., Lillie Matkin's ordeal ends, 14 hours and eight minutes after she was trapped and able only to wiggle her feet. Gently as they could, the men who had labored through night to disentomb her carry her from wreckage to surface.... Near the end of her entrapment a worker removed her shoes and before she was lifted out she cautioned, "Don't lose them. They're old but comfortable." They were brought to her later at the hospital.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesLillie Matkin, Waco tornado survivor, is freed from rubble, May 1965.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. "Human chain of rescue workers operated outside Dennis building throughout search for Lillie."John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. "Vigil without hope was kept by Mrs. Beth Parten, 25, whose husband, Cecil, was missing. She alternated between listening to reports coming in by portable radio in store and keeping watch in car parked outside the Red Cross headquarters. After two nights of waiting, workers found her husband's body."John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Men look out at destruction in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. "Respite from horror came for Seaman Howard Wilkerson, 18, after a dreadful moment. Just before this picture was taken he had helped to remove bodies of a dead man and woman from a car which had been crushed by a falling wall. Shaken by the sight he said, "I wonder if I will ever sleep again."John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Scene of destruction in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Scene on a Waco, Texas, street after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. "2:30 A.M., a power saw is used to cut away some timbers. Afraid she might be cut, Lillie [Matkin] said, "I've been here 10 hours -- a little longer won't hurt."John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Rescuers administer oxygen to a survivor in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Rescuers administer oxygen to a survivor in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Scene of destruction in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Clean-up and recovery efforts in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit the city, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. A crowd around an ambulance in the aftermath of the 1953 Waco tornado that killed 114 people.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Scene of destruction in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. A survivor surveys the destruction in Waco, Texas, after an F5 tornado hit, May 1953.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Destroyed homes, Waco, Texas, May 1965.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Funeral following the May 11, 1953, tornado that killed 114 people.John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
