Tornado Outbreak of May 26–27, 1973

A series of tornadoes on the night of May 26 and 27, 1973, caused major damage in five Arkansas counties and devastated Jonesboro (Craighead County). Three people died in the storms.

The first tornado struck around 10:00 p.m. on May 26, hitting an area between Van Buren (Crawford County) and Alma (Crawford County). Around twenty buildings were wrecked at the Cabana Estates Mobile Home Park, and a nursing home also suffered extensive damage. Twenty-four people were injured by the Crawford County twister.

Another tornado hit Jackson County shortly after midnight on May 27, injuring fourteen people in the Blackwell community before raging through Algoa (Jackson County), Balch (Jackson County), and Midway (Jackson County). A total of twenty-eight people were injured in the county.

The most damaging tornadoes rampaged through Craighead County, first hitting Otwell (Craighead County) eight miles south of Jonesboro and heading northeast, then hitting the county seat around 1:00 a.m. on May 27. The winds caused heavy damage in four shopping centers and smashed the Jonesboro High School campus, destroying the ornate high school and the band, physical education, and cafeteria buildings; the shop building was damaged and the gymnasium roof was sagging. In addition, the junior high school sustained damage, and three elementary schools were destroyed—two in Jonesboro and one in Nettleton (Craighead County). The storm continued into Poinsett County, where it caused extensive damage but no reported injuries.

Dr. Theodore Fujita, creator of the Enhanced Fujita Scale that measures the strength of tornadoes, later visited Jonesboro and “concluded three tornadoes, not just two as the National Weather Service initially thought, had hit the area almost simultaneously.” He estimated the Jonesboro storm as being an E4, with winds ranging from 166 to 200 miles per hour.

Around 3:00 a.m. on May 27 a tornado struck Earle (Crittenden County), causing extensive damage at the Morgan Homes, Inc., factory where “mobile home units weighing up to eight tons were blown 50 feet.” A home six miles west of West Memphis (Crittenden County) also was destroyed.

Three people were killed in the tornado outbreak, two in Otwell and one in Jonesboro. One journalist attributed the relatively low number of people killed to the fact that residents sought shelter quickly when tornado warnings went off after seeing thirty-four people killed in the county in a May 15, 1968, twister. Twenty-one people were hospitalized in Jonesboro, and some 250 people were injured across the state.

In the aftermath of the tornado outbreak, acting Governor Bob Riley dispatched 200 members of the Arkansas National Guard to patrol Jonesboro, and thirty-five inmates from Cummins Prison Farm were dispatched under guard to assist in clearing storm debris. Arkansas State University made dormitory rooms available to people displaced by the tornadoes.

Five counties received federal disaster area designations: Craighead, which had up to $41.5 million in damages; Jackson and Crawford, each with estimates of $1 million in damages; Poinsett, where damage was estimated between $250,000 and $500,000; and Benton, where heavy rains had caused $500,000 in damages to roads.

For additional information:
“3 Killed in Tornado.” Arkansas Democrat, May 28, 1973, pp. 1A, 3A.

“Arkansas Tornadoes Kill Three, Injure 200.” Arkansas Gazette, May 28, 1973, pp. 1A, 6A.

“Disaster Areas Are Declared for Arkansas.” Daily World, May 29, 1973, pp. 1, 4.

“J’boro Twister Rated Very Intense.” Courier News, June 1, 1973, p. 3.

“Jonesboro Hit by Tornado Sunday Morning.” Daily World, May 28, 1973, pp. 1, 4.

Moore, Tom. “1973 Tornado Wreaked Extensive Damage, Very Few Deaths.” Craighead County Historical Quarterly 61 (October 2023): 14–17.

“Sightseers Banned at Jonesboro.” Daily World, May 30, 1973, pp. 1, 4.

Mark K. Christ
Central Arkansas Library System