1934 Hurricane

Hurricane’s Toll Mounts
Several Known Dead as 70 to 80 Mile Wind Hits Matagorda Bay Section

Battered for hours by hurricane winds and surging waves, the Texas coast, from Freeport to Corpus Christi, Thursday was counting its dead and injured and adding up a huge property damage.
 

The storm moved inland Wednesday, after lashing the coast for several hours, the worst of its fury being spent on the Matagorda Bay section.
 

At least eight persons were known to be dead and nine were missing. The dead included five at East Morales [Jackson County], in a tornado which ripped thru the section during the storm; one at Texas City and two at Freeport.

No accurate estimate of the damage could be made Thursday but it was known to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Surging tides and the wind wrecked many houses along the coast section and crops were leveled. At Matagorda it was estimated that at least 75 per cent of the houses in the two were either wrecked or damaged.
 

$300,000 Damage
 

“This town looks about like Angleton did after the storm two years ago,” said one resident of Matagorda, who placed the damage at $300,000 in that town alone.
 

Wednesday afternoon a twister tore through Morales, killing Mrs. W. B. George, 72; Neal Lewis, 45, of Wink; his two step-sons, Harvey, 13, and Rowland Brunette, 12, and Handy Cook, a negro.
 

Palacios Beacon, July 25, 1934
 

Entire Family Wiped Out by Cyclone at Morales in Jackson County

The only loss of life in this immediate section occurred at Morales, Jackson County, when a cyclone, an offshoot of the Gulf disturbance, smashed a farm house, killing five and critically injuring a sixth person. The dead are:

Neal Lewis, 45, farmer; two adopted sons, Harvey Lewis, 13, and Roland Lewis, 12, all of Wink, Texas; Mrs. Sue A. George, 72, former Victorian, and Handy Cook, 35, Negro. Mrs. Lewis, seriously injured, is in an Edna hospital.

The Lewis family was visiting Mrs. George when the twister struck. The house was demolished and several of the dead were badly mangled. Cook, who was working in a nearby field, was killed when hit by flying debris from the house.

Family Escapes Death

A Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman and several children, who reside near the George home, miraculously escaped with their lives due to the quick thinking of Mr. Hoffman. Seeing the approaching cyclone in the distance, he quickly gathered his family about him and had them lie first down on the middle of the floor. He spread-eagled over them. A gust of wind hurtled the roof of the house and the four walls from about the frightened family, but no one was even scratched.

Funeral services for the Lewis family were held this morning in Edna. Other funeral arrangements were not announced.

Victoria Advocate, Wednesday, July 25, 1934
 

In Memory of

Jackson County Casualties
 

Husband of Letha Norman Cook 1901 - 1983
 

Wife of William Bronson George 1849 - 1922
 

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