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Reported TIME Correspondent Robert C. Wurmstedt from the devastated city: "Close to the center of the storm's path, which was eight miles long and up to two miles wide, the damage was staggering. Block after block of houses were flattened. Wrecked cars and small pleasure boats lay upside down in front yards and what had been living rooms and bedrooms. All 90 trailers at the Candlewood mobile home park were destroyed, their remains scattered for acres. Scrub trees were festooned with torn clothing, strips of insulation and scraps of metal. Huge 16-wheel trailer trucks were casually tossed into the middle of fields. Texas Governor William Clements, on a helicopter tour of the area, could barely comprehend the sight. 'These homes are not damaged,' he said. 'They are demolished, gone.' "
In the wake of the storm, volunteers pulled bodies from collapsed buildings and mangled autos. "The vacuum was so great that some people were sucked right out of their cars," said Police Sergeant Mike Hickman. The emergency rooms of local hospitals were jammed with bloodied victims. There was no electricity and no water; 400 National Guardsmen patrolled the city to prevent looting. The next morning, the survivors began to make neat piles of salvaged belongings in front of their wrecked houses: a few plates, a sewing machine, a bureau. "We can't find our pool table and our living room furniture," said Mark Harlass, 17. "They just blew away. And our freezer is in our next-door neighbor's house."
A few tried at first to profit from other people's plight, selling water at $1 a gal. and gasoline at $1.50 a gal., until city authorities imposed a 15-day price freeze. But most residents gamely pitched in to bring Wichita Falls back to life. Volunteers operating hundreds of bulldozers and trucks began to haul away the debris. The Red Cross set up six shelters to provide food and medicine. Free storage space and lodging were offered; so were pickup trucks to help with the moving. A local locksmith advertised his services for free, and a motel offered water from its swimming pool. Sanitation crews were out inspecting canned and bottled food at more than 100 damaged grocery stores. There was even a shelter for dazed and injured pets, which included over 200 dogs and cats. "One lady called and asked if we had her parrot, but we haven't seen it," said one of the aides at the center.
When electricity was restored to some of the city after 24 hours, restaurants and shops began reopening. But for most of the victims, it would be a long time before life returned to normal. Cindy Trott's family, for one, had only a few possessions left: among them a cabinet of crystal glasses that the twister perversely left untouched while pulling down the house around it.