It’s that time of the year again. And we have been remarkably lucky to have had no bad weather this spring. Yes, we’ve had some rain, a little wind, but nothing like we had last year.
As I sit at my desk, I catch glimpses of the big oaks swirling in the wind, an occasional bolt of lightning, and drizzle. Maybe we are going to miss all the damage we frequently encounter every spring.
In June of 1870 Greenville was visited by a true twister. A two-story frame building belonging to a Mr. McDonald, situated on the public square, was blown down. Since it housed the office of the Greenville Herald, the wind scattered all the type around the square. Dr. Young’s new frame residence was blown over, slightly injuring his wife. Henry Wall’s new cotton gin was unroofed, flying some 150 yards. Several other homes were unroofed. Growing crops were literally ruined. Col. Bayne, proprietor of the Herald, was the heaviest loser, but hoped to soon have his paper under headway again.
No lives were lost, which was wonderful considering the severity of the storm.
Shortly after the Civil War, the courthouse was in dire need of help. During commissioners court one day, Andrew Marshall, the county clerk, slipped out of the meeting, went upstairs where he had a mass of logs stored and rolled them down the stairs. The commissioners just knew it was a tornado. When they learned the truth, they agreed that the building needed to be replaced.
After World War II, farmers were so proud of their first great crop. In late August a tornado came through and destroyed every cotton plant around.
At another time, a tornado whipped through fields outside Josephine into Hunt County. It was so strong that it damaged several buildings and homes in Peniel, north of Greenville.
In the early 1980s a storm crossed downtown Greenville, doing little damage during daylight. But later that evening electric wires caused a fire on Lee Street that destroyed two businesses.
Of course, there was the storm last spring that did much more damage downtown, than other storms that have crossed the area. That one may have been both a tornado and straight-line wind.
Tornadoes and windstorms are not the only weather disasters Greenville and Hunt County experience.
Three rivers start here in Hunt County. In the northwest corner of the county, north of Celeste, a creek begins that flows into Collin County and on into the Trinity River. The headwaters of the Sulphur Rivers flow out of creek around Commerce. Finally, here in Greenville, we often see the overflow of the Sabine River at its headwaters.
Both wind and rain can be disastrous. Thank goodness, we have the equipment to target the storms and prepare for them. The storms may hit, but our people are safer than ever.