1909 tornado outbreak 1909 tornado outbreak

If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. Elam Tucker, who lives at the old Suttle place, near Aspen Hill, lost his barn, also Will Coon, Billy Widene, and D. Biles, and the tenant houses on the Phillips place, south of Tucker's, were wrecked. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 1 1909, PAGE 4, "DEKALB COUNTY": ALEXANDRIA, Tenn., April 30 - A destructive wind of high velocity accompanied with much lightning and the largest hail ever known here struck the section of the country from Statesville to Smith Fork, traveling east. The Bee Spring community after the tornado was never quite the same and never really recovered. Several negro families lost their homes. Homes were reportedly damaged or destroyed. The tornado outbreak this week featured more than 400 tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings that spanned nearly two-dozen states. Shade trees and orchards suffered greatly. Houses and barns with their contents, orchards, fences and timber make up a large list of valuable property much of which was literally blown out of existence in a few seconds. It is impossible at this time to estimate the damage. 63 people lost their lives, and more than 200 were injured from a total of 12 tornadoes. The listing is U.S.-centric, with greater and more consistent information available for U.S. tornadoes. It cut a huge path over a mile wide through the area. The worst damage to houses is the home of Prof. J. M. Goulson, a good two-story house, completely ruined, but no loss of life, though to look at the ruins seems marvelous that the family escaped. No fatalities have been reported as yet, but several are very painfully hurt. Miss Daisy Marshall received a few slight wounds. The houses damaged were all unoccupied, except the one destroyed. Greatest damage and the most horrible loss of life occurred in the community between Bunker Hill and Bryson, but the destruction was by no means confined to one place. The total damage cannot be accurately stated, but it will go into the thousands of dollars in this section. The storm seems to have entered the county from the southern side, passing between this place and Tennessee City. As soon as neighbors could be informed of the disaster, they hastened to the relief of the suffering. But nowhere was the loss of life greater or the destruction of property more complete than in Giles County. It is reported that three white people are killed about two miles further down the trail of the cyclone, but this statement has not been authenticated. The storm seems to have entered the county from the southern side, passing between this place and Tennessee City. Six people were killed in Hickman County, along a track through Shipps Bend, Centerville, and Little Tot. SHAMBURGER (2017): Based on the Fentress County Gazette article, this damage appears to be yet another tornado produced by the same long track supercell that spawned numerous tornadoes from southeast of Memphis to Cookeville. At the same time and place, Mrs. Thad Reese, who was a sister of Mrs. Guffey, with her two children, lost their lives, making seven deaths at this one house. One of the saddest stories was of two brothers who in the Hillsboro/Leipers Fork area who were blown over a 20-foot bluff and into a nearby creek, according to the Nashville American newspaper. Most of the land will have to be returned and planted. (Bud) Hardy, Mrs. Louie Gordon, who was living with her mother, Mrs. Eliza Wilkinson, was cut and bruised about the face and arm. A heavy storm raged here throughout the night. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 1 1909, PAGE 2, section "NUMBER OF HOUSES WRECKED - Cookeville and Surrounding Territory in the Path of the Storm": COOKEVILLE, Tenn., April 30 - A storm of cyclonic effects struck this city last night about 1 o'clock. Great injury was done forests. National Weather Service At Bee Springs, five members of a family were killed in one home, and seven in another family died in a nearby home. of those most seriously hurt: Esq. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 1 1909, PAGE 12, "ON THE MOUNTAIN": MONTEAGLE, Tenn., April 30 - Much damage was done in this section by the storm of last night. This page was last edited on 12 March 2022, at 09:35. April 29, 1909 Tornado Outbreak. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Others are not expected to recover. The Elk Cotton Mill was damaged about $5,000. But the daily mail from Charlotte brings a letter from Circuit Court Clerk J. J. Taylor to the effect that about twenty-five residences were destroyed there. In town here a number of window panes were broken. Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. At Cross Roads, Scott County, it demolished the home of Henry Reed, debris falling upon him and crushing his skull. SHAMBURGER (2016): Although Grazulis states that a downburst caused the immense damage in Statesville, the severity of the damage across southeast Wilson County into DeKalb County - with three churches demolished, numerous homes and barns unroofed, and several injuries - strongly suggests this damage was from a strong tornado. Four people are known to be dead and two are missing, supposed to have been blown away as their home was demolished. A school was reportedly carried intact for two miles, touching the ground every 200-300 yards, leaving holes in the earth. Please Contact Us. Besides the loss of property, which is now estimated at $100,000, seven known dead are reported, and injured. Mrs. Welch and son, Byron, sustained slight injuries, the former being hit on the head and the latter had a gash cut in his cheek. WATERTOWN, Tenn., April 30. This is the first storm of the kind that ever visited this section, although in 1878 much timber was blown down. It touched down during the dead of night between 10 and 11PM. At Florence, a village about six miles from here, the large mill known as "Ward Mill", on the Stones River, was blown completely into the river. GRAZULIS: Moved NE from 9 miles W of Dickson to Charlotte and on to Bellsburg. [3] However, the 1909 outbreak did not produce any F5 tornadoes on the Fujita scale; only one such event occurred in Tennessee on April 16, 1998. This tornado was reported to occur over 2 hours after the Dickson County tornado, so it does not appear they are part of the same tornado or were produced by the same supercell, although that is certainly possible if the reported time is incorrect. Henry Frate, colored, who lived on Finis Brown's farm, was so badly hurt that he may not recover. GRAZULIS: Twenty-three homes were destroyed, and a hotel and depot were unroofed at Decherd. All NOAA, (The following newspaper article was transcribed from The Pulaski Citizen of May 6, 1909.). At least 695 . In Charlotte ten houses were completely wrecked, and thirty in addition were damaged more or less. Will Ross Lackey, Jr., and Esq. The emergency is one which as charitable, sympathetic people, we should take prompt steps to alleviate. The path of the storm was through a section about one mile southeast of Smyrna, where several homes were converted into wreckage and much farm property was destroyed. The time of this tornado appears to be incorrect as the Cookeville tornado was well documented as occurring around 1 AM, so a later time was used. Jack Pope's home was wrecked and he and his wife were killed. The missing are Mr. and Mrs. Bob Stevens, whose home was torn to pieces. So one family that lived here in Bee Spring near the cemetery lost seven members of the family including the mother and six children. [2], The April 1909 outbreak was part of an active and deadly year nationally for tornadoes. Dickson, Tenn., Apr. The house was completely torn to pieces. Mr. Brinkley's house was carried from its foundations, as was a newly completed house of J. In Tennessee, the town of Locke was mostly destroyed by the first F3 tornado. Ten homes were destroyed. Ten years ago today, the most prolific tornado outbreak on record swept across the southeastern United States. Dive into the history of the Volunteer State. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Marlin was completely demolished. Twenty-two others lost their lives that fateful night across Middle Tennessee in tornadoes that struck Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Wilson, Grundy, and Fentress Counties. A colored child on W. R. Anderson's farm was killed, making the fourth death so far reported. Houses and barns with their contents, orchards, fences and timber make up a large list of valuable property much of which was literally blown out of existence in a few seconds. Based on all of this information, the path start and end points were adjusted, path length increased to 30 miles, and path width increased to one mile. As the storm moved eastward, it cut a path into the Southall community, causing major damage and dealing additional death blows. Gibbons, of this place, was killed while eating. It was an F-4 with winds 207 miles per hour or higher. Four houses are blown down in Franklin. Two of the couple's sons were blown over a 20-foot bluff and into a nearby creek. Numbers of barns completely wrecked, and several houses ruined. Trees were twisted in two and hurled great distances. A thorough reading of newspaper articles came up with a total of 17 deaths and 43 injuries, with 9 deaths and 32 injuries in Hickman County and 8 deaths and 11 injuries in Williamson County. The tornado touched down just outside of Aspen Hills, just a few miles west of here. Bob White's house was blown from its foundation. Both the Methodist and Christian churches are blown down; the homes of Will Tullass and James Marshall, both of which were beautiful country residences, are complete wrecks; the home of James Nolen is considerably damage, but not so bad as the others. Eight-year-old boy of Paulina Farris, colored, Centreville. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Telephone lines are a mass of wires and poles. Affecting particularly the Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys, it killed over 150 people, 60 of them in the U.S. state of Tennessee alone. The most terrible cyclone in the history of Giles County struck with great fury between 11 and 12 o'clock Thursday night. M. Gilbert, 1909 Natural Disasters: 1909 Atlantic Hurricane Season, 1909 Earthquakes, Tornadoes Of 1909, Late-April 1909 Tornado Outbreak|LLC Books . The storm seems to have entered the county from the southern side, passing between this place and Tennessee City. One of the strange things of it all is that both the Christian and Methodist churches at Trinity were blown down about ten years ago, and both rebuilt on the same foundation to be blown away again last night. The Tri-State Tornado occurred on March 18, 1925. Spawned by the same thunderstorm that produced the Charleston tornado family. At least fifty other persons sustained more or less serious injuries, and the recovery of three is doubtful. In the end, this first tornado, an F3, cut a path 45-miles long through Hickman, Maury, and Williamson counties. 1909: A tornado moves the Algood Methodist Church off its foundation. Following is a partia (?) His entire family was wiped out of existence. Web. US Dept of Commerce It will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The courthouse roof was blown off. From almost every section of Tennessee are reports of fatalities and property loss, while Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and even Indiana and Illinois report touches of the cyclone. One brick home was completely demolished. C. H. Underhill had a considerable loss, but it is covered by insurance. Late-April 1909 Tornado Outbreak - Confirmed Tornadoes - April 29 Event April 29 Event Read more about this topic: Late-April 1909 Tornado Outbreak, Confirmed Tornadoes Famous quotes containing the word event: " When we awoke, we found a heavy dew on our blankets. The Bee Springs tornado touched down in northernmost Limestone County, Alabama, before crossing the into Lincoln and Giles Counties in Tennessee. Following are some of the more serious losses: Lee Smith, house and barn; J. S. Bryan, house and barn; Werner Stevenson, house and barn; W. H. Watson, house and barn; Otha Young, house and barn; W. S. McLaurine, house and barn; Irby Scruggs, residence, outhouses and tenant houses; - barn escaped, Mrs. Eliza Wilkinson, residence; Hood Wilkinson, orchard, shop and barn, resident damaged, but not wrecked; T. J. Hardy, residence and barn; Ike Shapard, gin, The Scruggs' school house, near Conway, and the school house and church at Bee Spring were utterly swept away. 6 Feb. 2021. Tornado destroyed six homes at Moreland. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, 5 reported dead after severe weather in Kentucky,, Rollover crash on I-65N in Davidson County leads, Man hit, killed on Old Hickory Blvd. Among the towns affected were Horn Lake, Mississippi, where about half of the fatalities were recorded, and Whitehaven, Tennessee, where the tornado damaged 30 homes. 22 people were killed here in Giles County from this tornado. A large warehouse and storehouse were wrecked. Mrs. Reed was also found unconscious, but has recovered. A gulch just west of the town evidently broke the force so that no serious damage has resulted. Grazulis and some newspapers reported 4 deaths in Franklin County from Owl Hollow to Decherd, but newspaper articles indicate at least 2 more people died from their injuries several weeks later after the tornado, with other people still in critical condition. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, May 1 1909, PAGE 4, "NOLENSVILLE SECTION": NOLENSVILLE, April 30. The creeks are out of banks and all the farm work of the spring is practically lost. Coming as it did near midnight, when the people generally were asleep, many barely escaped in their night clothes. The property loss will mount into the thousands. Windows were blown from the residence of William H. Gregory, and the barn on his farm was blown down and numerous losses of a similar kind were the result. BEE SPRING, Tenn. (WKRN) On April 29th and 30th in 1909, Middle Tennessee suffered its deadliest tornado outbreak in history. No other fatalities are reported from this town although barns and outbuildings were swept away by the fierce assault of the storm. At Rudolphtown, which lies between Port Royal and Clarksville, one man was killed whose name has not been ascertained here. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 2 1909, PAGE 5, "PERRY COUNTY": LINDEN, Tenn., May 1. Today the people of Cookeville and Algood are applying themselves vigorously to removing the debris and repairing the damages and the fact that no one was killed dispels much of the gloom caused by the destruction of property. - At Statesville, seven miles from here, the storm of Thursday night destroyed the three churches and the school building. April 20, 1909: A windstorm "of great cyclonic power" caused $15,000 of damage in Putnam County. There is no information about the tornado path from Lascassas into Wilson County, so the tornado is estimated to have lifted somewhere southwest of Statesville. FROM THE WILLIAMSON HERALD NEWSPAPER: The second tornado that night struck at 11:15 p.m. about four miles southwest of Nolensville. The night of the 29th was one of severe wind and rain, with heavy thunder and lightning the cyclone coming at 2 a.m. Friday morning with a low terrible rumbling heard by those awake at Rugby. Some North American outbreaks affecting the U.S. may only include tornado information from the U.S. 20th Century 1909 Oct 14, Tornado Outbreak, AL (11-21), AR (2), GA (1-2), TN (42-50) -56-75 lornajarrettblanchard October 14, 1909 95 Daily Telegraph, Atlantic, IA. You can see his full report here. And the tornado also injured 70 people as it traveled through the county, Lancaster said. The two main outbreaks alone were responsible for at least 145 of these tornadoes. However, the party living in this was away. From Conway eastward to the county line, and even beyond through Lincoln County a wide path of destruction and desolation was swept through a prosperous and happy farming community. And then coming through Bee Spring destroying homes and families and a local church here by the cemetery.. Another (not counted) indirect death occurred in Lincoln County due to a Miss Jennie Kelso interacting with a live electrical wire. The damage in town is slight compared with the country. Mrs. Speight, one mile from Charlotte, suffered a severe loss. Four-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Thompson, Totty's Bend. Mrs. Hughes' house was torn into kindling wood, but she was not at home at the time. The next place in Tennessee was the farm of Mrs. Kate Wall, where all the fences and outbuildings were blown away and considerable other damage wrought. Nashville, TN500 Weather Station RoadOld Hickory, TN 37138615-754-8500Comments? FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, May 1 1909, PAGE 4, "RUTHERFORD COUNTY. Fayetteville was not in the pathway of the cyclone, but was near it. This tornado appears to be from the same long-track supercell which tracked from the Memphis area and later produced the tornadoes in Hickman, Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, DeKalb, Putnam, Fentress, and Scott Counties. Only one member of this large family escaped unhurt. SHAMBURGER (2017): The path of this tornado, which touched down just south of where the Franklin tornado occluded near Clovercroft, was estimated to begin southwest of the Trinity Methodist Church southeast of Franklin. Damage: Tornado Outbreak of April 29, 1909 (The following newspaper article was transcribed from The Pulaski Citizen of May 6, 1909.) The cyclone struck Rudolphtown about 8 o'clock and traveled in a northeasterly course. Mrs. Will Adcock and her daughter are reported killed, but not verified. Besides the loss of property, which is now estimated at $100,000, seven known dead are reported, and injured. The Alex Mitchell family of five in Hillsboro was also reportedly all killed, but this could not be confirmed. Weather.gov > Nashville, TN > April 29, 1909 Tornado Outbreak . The time of the tornado was adjusted to 8 PM and the path width added as 300 yards based on the newspaper articles in the Nashville American. Mr. Parkes had a cow killed, fruit trees destroyed and barn blown down. A number of small barns was blown down. This would be typical of damage reports all along the storm route that night. The missing are Mr. and Mrs. Bob Stevens, whose home was torn to pieces. The loss in timber alone in this section was placed at $100,000. The Bee Spring Church was destroyed and many graves in the cemetery are the resting places of those killed that fateful day. after celebrating, Driver dead after Maryland tanker explosion, Ja Morant investigated by NBA after Instagram post, How NIL will affect local high school athletes, The right thing to do: College softball players, Forsberg, Giannis join Nashville SC ownership group, Ja Morant accused of making threatening statement, Arrest warrants issued for projected NFL draft pick. The cyclone followed the course of Dog Creek, a small stream close to the springs, and followed it until it came to the mouth of the hollow, when it entered the hollow and laid waste everything in its path. It was around 10:15 p.m. when the first of these tornadoes came rolling out of Hickman County into the White Oak area, just across the county line. Please try another search. It began just before midnight and had destroyed three large sections of Zephyr by the early hours of the morning. This particular cyclone began its work of destruction in the neighborhood of Conway, though several barns and tenant houses were blown down west of that place. That tornado alone caused an estimated $100 million in damage and the loss of 33 lives, which was only a fraction of the total damage caused by the Super Outbreak. A tornado destroyed a church and three homes. [4], List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks, "Tornadoes, with Special Reference to Those That Have Occurred in Tennessee", "A tornado climatology of middle Tennessee (1830-2003)", "The Forgotten F5: The Lawrence County Supercell During the Middle Tennessee Tornado Outbreak of 16 April 1998", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tornado_outbreak_of_late-April_1909&oldid=1076670277, Tornado destroyed two homes about 7mi (11km) south of, Tornado transported a tank weighing 1,300. Mrs. Berry (sic) Prosser, near Fayetteville; fatally injured. Damage: The most frightful wreckage and loss of life occurred in the little valley through which passes the road from Bunker Hill to Bryson, and in which were located the homes of Bud Guffey, Will McGrew, Lee Smith, J. S. Bryson and others. One massive grave contains the remains of an entire family. J. M. Colston and wife, near Fayetteville. Although not specifically stated in the article, Mr. Henry Reed of Cross Roads died from his injuries per death certificate records. The F-scale rating, location and path width are estimated from the reported damage. The tornado continued into Giles County where nine more people lost their lives. FROM THE PULASKI CITIZEN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ON MAY 6, 1909: Centreville, Tenn., April 30. Please try another search. Rutherford County was visited last night by one of the most destructive storms of many years. The 77 killer tornadoes recorded in the year 1909 marked an all-time yearly record for the number of killer tornadoes, a total that was only equaled in the year 1917. These pictures show the damage in Centerville in Hickman County where there were nine deaths and 32 injuries. Thousands of trees were downed and cattle were killed. Show. His daughter, who had her leg broken, crawled to hear father's aid by the light of a flash of lightning and found him dying. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 1 1909, PAGE 10, "AT WATERTOWN, TENN.". 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": Dickson, Tenn., Apr. The plate glass show windows stood the shock, but a number of other smaller lights in the windows were broken. Thirty-six serious injuries were reported in the newspapers across both counties, with numerous other more minor injuries, so the total of 70 injuries shown by Grazulis was kept. This large tornado then passed 2 to 3 miles south of Nolensville, moved 1 mile northwest of Florence Station, passed over Wards Mill (also called Evans Mill or Nice Mill) around 4 miles southeast of Smyrna, then damaged homes and barns just south of Walter Hill. - M. C. NORTHINGTON, Mayor.". This large outbreak of tornadoes included an EF3 tornado that caused significant damage to homes, business, schools and infrastructure in Jacksboro, Texas. But nowhere was the loss of life greater or the destruction of property more complete than in Giles County. On Lick Creek the house of Frank Hunter was badly wrecked and one member of his family blown for a short distance without serious injury. SHAMBURGER (2016): Despite the death of the child and significant damage to the two homes in Perry County, this tornado was not included in Grazulis' book Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. References National Weather Service. Bud Guffey, his wife, and two chidlren. The horror of the storm was greatly increased especially were people were (sic) severely hurt by the darkness and torrents of rain, which followed. While it was estimated to be an F4, some reports indicate that there was more than one tornado. There were also numerous reports of livestock killed by flying debris. This list does not include F0 events. Will McGrew's family consisted of ten. As it moved into Williamson County it eventually passed just south of Franklin causing 8 deaths and 11 injuries. Just a few rods east of the McGrew place stood the home of Bud Guffey. These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred in North America. But for the fact that the country is hilly and in places thinly settled the destruction would have been even greater. A relief committee was organized with John W. Young, Elkton R. 1, as chairman, and in a little while enough funds were in hand to provide food and clothing to supply the immediate necessities of those who had lost everything. In addition, Grazulis did not include the part of this tornado's path in northwest Robertson County near Sadlersville, which was included here along with the reported one injury. The home of Wilson Estes was also destroyed, together with the livery barn of Russell Estes, owner of Primm Springs Hotel. It is reported that one man is dead, but his name cannot be ascertained. In its track, which was about half a mile in width, practically all timber was uprooted or twisted to the earth. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. No information is available farther to the east across the extremely rural area between Decherd and Monteagle, but based on newspaper reports and damage in Franklin and Grundy Counties all lining up in a straight line, the damage in both counties was almost certainly produced by the same tornado. Coming into Robertson County the storm struck the barn of Mrs. Laban Warfield on the place occupied by Mr. Duff. CYCLONE BRINGS DEATH AND DESTRUCTION Many Lives and Much Property Lost in Giles County.