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After an F-5 tornado hit Jarrell in 1997, then-Gov. George W. Bush visited to survey the damage
JARRELL, Texas — Friday, May 27, marks the 25th anniversary of the F-5 tornado that destroyed a small community in Jarrell, Texas.
Twenty-seven people in the town’s Double Creek Estates were killed by the sheer strength of the storm. Men, women and children lost their lives and the entire town mourned the loss.
The future president spoke to, prayed with and comforted Jarrell residents. He also surveyed the damage and destruction that the tornado caused in the community.
“The devastation was mind-boggling. It’s hard to believe that you’re looking at a patch of earth where literally the life was sucked out of it,” Bush said at the time.
As Bush flew over Jarrell, he saw muddy fields, dead livestock and nothing but foundations where homes once stood.
On Friday, May 27, as we air our “Remember Jarrell: 25 Years Later” special report, we will look back at the events of that deadly day and what happened in the days that followed. The program begins at 11:30 a.m. Friday.