The tornado sirens went off in downtown Brownwood. We were picking up my teenager from the Cinco de Mayo festival, and had just pulled up to call him to meet up with us when it started. It was sort of surreal, actually, the blaring noise, some people running to leave, clouds rolling overhead, traffic getting busy. Driving out of town after we finally got Charlie, we actually saw the tornado in the sky. It did not touch down, thankfully, but it was something I’ll never forget.
Brown County is no stranger to tornadoes, and some of them have carved indelible memories, including the horrific Zephyr tornado of 1909 that left 33 people dead and nearly wiped the town off the map. A tornado near Brownwood in 1976 is one many people still remember. It was recorded as an F5 (although that is disputed, with others saying it was an F4). It touched down between Bangs and Brownwood, moving northeast. Many people were able to see this one, as it happened during the afternoon, not at night as the Zephyr storm did. I found an interesting recollection of the 1976 storm written by a Billy Nelson in the Facebook group Brownwood, Texas Through the Years.
Nelson wrote, “I remember that day clearly. Some time after lunch while I was at work, I had a foreboding spirit of dread coming over me. I had never experienced that before or since. I just wanted to get out of town. I knew something bad was coming our way. As the afternoon went on, the foreboding spirit got heavier and heavier. I began to pray to God that no one be killed by what’s coming. I didn’t know what was coming, but whatever it was, it was deadly. I prayed and prayed for no one to die that day. About 10 till five, I told my boss I have to get out of here. I clocked out and drove north. I worked downtown Brownwood at the time. I lived at the lake, so I drove out Hwy 279 and as I topped Day’s Hill I ran into a rainstorm and strong winds that were pulling the Ford Pinto station wagon backwards as lightning struck all around. I eventually cleared the storm and arrived home safely, only to hear later that a tornado had crossed over Hwy 279 past Day’s Hill. I was in it and lived, and so did everyone else. God is good to us.”
I think Mr. Nelson was right. Sometimes God causes people to pray for something when they don’t really know what it is or why. I’ve experienced this sort of thing, waking up in the middle of the night to pray for someone I haven’t thought of in years, only to find out later the person was having a problem. Maybe Mr. Nelson was warned for this purpose because that giant tornado amazingly enough did not kill anyone, just like he prayed, although several people were injured. The storm went along the edge of Brownwood, out by Fabis Park, and while it damaged the airport and several homes, it could have been truly devastating, but it was not.
Last Saturday’s storm did almost the same thing, following the edge of Brownwood, but did not touch down at all. While we had a good scare downtown, looking for my son while those horns were blaring, and feeling like we were caught in a bad movie, no harm came to anyone at the festival or anywhere else. I don’t claim to know all about prayer, how it works, why sometimes it seems God answers and other times not. I do know that things could have been terrible that day, but God was good to us once again!
***
Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com
