Tag Archives: Texas

Grimes County Wildfires at night

by

Smoke and flame from the Dyer fire lights up the the Grimes County, Texas horizon east of Whitehall on June 20, 2011. (Matthew Crawley)

Smoke and flame from the Dyer fire lights up the the Grimes County, Texas horizon east of Whitehall on June 20, 2011.

[S]ee the rest of the gallery.  More than 40 homes have been destroyed and hundreds families have been evacuated due to the Dyer fire that started from a barbecue pit on Sunday June 19, 2011.

I encourage you to consider how you can help the victims of this fire and pray that we get rain this afternoon.

May 27, 1997: Jarrell, Texas

by
An unidentified couple watches as volunteers and rescue workers dig through the debris of a recycling facility in Jarrell, Texas. The plant was destroyed by a tornado on May 27, 1997. © Temple Daily Telegram/Matthew Crawley

An unidentified couple watches as volunteers and rescue workers dig through the debris of a recycling facility in Jarrell, Texas. The plant was destroyed by a tornado on May 27, 1997. © Temple Daily Telegram/Matthew Crawley

[F]ourteen years ago today, at approximately 3:45pm, at F5 tornado hit the Double Creek Estates in Jarrell, Texas. At the time, I was about a mile or so to the northeast on the frontage road of I-35 watching the backside of the incredibly dark storm. About an hour and a half later, I took the photo above of an unidentified couple watching rescuers digging through the debris.  Beside being in the paper I worked for, the photo moved on the Associated Press wire service and was featured in a number of papers as well as the front page of MSNBC.com.

The storm killed 27 in that small community, including one entire family.  I remember the victims and often pray for their friends and family each time I hear of a tornado such as Joplin.

I had hoped to visit Jarrell today but events kept me from doing so.  I have never written publicly about my experiences of that day.  Look for a post detailing that day which will include photos that have never been published.

Matthew