Texas Equine Veterinary Association

Page 12 | The Remuda | SPRING 2024 EDITION After a tornado ripped through the town of Matador, two horses survived, but badly injured. They recovered with the help of their community, veterinarians, and two non-profits. By Abigail Boatwright Peak wind gusts were estimated to be between 145 and 165 miles per hour, giving this tornado an EF-3 rating. It also produced large hail up to 4.5-inches in diameter on the east side of Matador. A strip of homes, businesses, and buildings across the city showed the path of the storm, including two just west of the center of Matador: the homes of Ben Grundy and Tim Washington. Buried Alive Tim Washington is the livestock manager at the Matador Ranch, a historic ranching operation located in the town by the same name. His home was on the west side of Matador. Tim Washington and his wife Deana were at home that Wednesday. Deana called out to Tim about the tornado on the way and along with their 11-year-old and 14-year-old grandchildren, attempted to make their way to their two-story home's basement. "You had to go outside to get to the basement, and we started that way, but I saw that we did not have time, so we went straight to a bathroom," Tim said. "She put the two grandkids in the bathtub. She got into a closet, and I slammed the door, and the house blew up." An inside wall on the top floor fell on Tim and trapped him. Where a two-story home once stood, now only the concrete foundation remained. Houses, barns, pools, fences—all gone in the blink of an eye. Left behind was rubble and twisted metal, the frames of stock trailers and crumpled pickup trucks. After a tornado hit the Texas Panhandle town of Matador this past June, flattening the homes of neighbors Ben Grundy and Tim Washington, two horses survived the storm between them. But even they were not left unscathed. Careful veterinary care and months of recovery brought the two horses back to health, while members of the community rallied around the Grundy and Washington families to help them get back on their feet. Tornado On the afternoon of June 21, 2023, a supercell thunderstorm developed in the far southern Texas Panhandle. Moving south- southeastward during the evening, the storm quickly intensified in Motley County, just north of Matador, according to a National Weather Service report. At 7:50 p.m., the first of five reported tornadoes was spotted. The storm produced a tornado 1/3 of a mile wide that crossed the west side of Matador around 8 p.m. This storm killed four people and injured 15 others in a town with a population of 569. Even stock trailers were no match for the storm. Photo courtesy Abigail Boatwright Survivors A story about the work of the Texas Equine Foundation.

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