Thirty one years ago yesterday, April 2, 1982, Paris was hit by a devastating tornado that left a swath of damage in it’s path, destroying much of the small town. This tornado left thousands homeless, destroyed many businesses, and took the lives of eleven people.
As destructive and disheartening as it was, the tornado did not destroy the spirit of Paris — which followed the tornado with the resilience like that shown after the Great 1916 Fire — needed to rebuild the city.
This column is a memorial to those that were effected by the ’82 Tornado and to all of Paris for the heart it took to reconstruct the damage in that time.
I’ve grown up here for a lot of my life, and despite the destructive force of nature most memorable to Paris coming before my birth, I remember hearing stories about it growing up, especially frequent as the season of the twister drew near every year.
With what started as complete fear of storms and then grew into obsession, I’ve begun to compile images of storms that I’ve ‘chased’ in and around Paris and the surrounding Northeast Texas region. Some are taken with professional cameras and gear, others are shot with my iPhone, depending on when and where the storm ‘caught’ me.
None of the images I’ve yet to get around Paris are of actual tornados, just severe thunderstorms and the ‘sky-scapes’ left in their wake.
The beauty of nature, shown through these thunderstorms, is — to me — a work of art. The images are lucky catches.
This photo column will continue for the rest of the spring and on into summer, or as long as the storms keep coming, as I plan to make it ongoing and will use images of storms that I intend to see in the coming future. April is here and the official ‘storm season’ for Texas is well underway.
Keep an eye on the Extra! for all your severe weather updates, as we will be monitoring that for you also. If you have not already, please sign up to our eParis Extra! Text Alert System, which will alert you instantly via text message if any severe weather warning is cast for our area. Sign up is as easy as emailing your cell phone number to josh@eparistexas.com.
This article and the following photos are by Josh Allen, Managing Editor – eParis Extra! Click the thumbnail to enlarge the image. More photos coming soon.
