KILLED BY TORNADOES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 155, 26 July 1909, Page 1

KILLED BY TORNADOES

TEXAS TOWN WIPED OUTFORTY DEAD. 22 KILLED IX OKLAHAMA AND 7 IN SOUTH DAKOTA. Brownwood (Texas), June 3. _ A tornado of great fury struck the ; little village of Zephyr, in the eastern portion of Brown County, at 1 o'clock' m the morning.'ami left u. .path of death and destruction seldom paralleled. The death list will total forty, and the number seriously and fatally injured will reach fifty. The storm at Zephyr followed that at Key West and Depew, Okla., the day •before. The storm formed half a mile south-west of Zephyr, and swept down upon the village, cutting a wide swath directly through the residence and business districts. Nearly fifty houses were entirely demolished. Lightning struck a lumber yard, and started a co;iflagration which destroyed an entire business block. No effort was made to fight the fire, as the' eare of the dead and wounded victims demanded all attention. A section hand rode a handcar to Brownwood, and spread the alarm. In two hours the Santa Fe railroad was speeding a special train to the scene of the storm with nine surgeons and a score of Brownwood citizens. The storm was 300 yards wide, and awept the earth for only a short distance, probably .less than a mile. Its fury is considered the most terrific of any tornado ever experienced in this section. Hundreds of persons directly in. the cyclone's path saved themselves by taking refuge in storm cellars. More than a dozen bodies were 'horribly mutilated. County Clerk Thad Cabler and wife and two children were killed. Th'e big stone school building and two churches were swept from the face of the earth. J. L. Clingman, E. E. Kirkpatrick, and nine surgeons, who formed the first party out of Brownwood, found a desolate scene awaiting them. The hillsides at Zephyr were covered with debris of all kinds, and bodies of dead animals and human beings. The ruins were dimly lighted by the burning buildings, and 'the cries of the wounded rose above the sound of the elements, which threatened a seconu storm. A hog roaming through the debrissi rewn streets was killed while attempting to devour the ibody of an infant. Bodies were found twisted about trees and in every conceivable shape. People walked the streets almost naked, cry-in? for their loved ones. Residences which escaped the awful storm were turned into hospitals, where were scattered the dead and wounded. One storm-house collapsed on a family of nine without injury to any. Oklahaina City, June 2. Twen'ty-two persons were killed and forty are known to have been injured in Oklahama tornadoes. The towns of Key West and Depew have been wiped out. A messenger who reached Stroud, Okla., for medical assistance, said that not a building was left standing in Key West. The storm came upon the striken cities without warning. Nearly every one had retired for the night, and there was no sign that weather conditions were threatening. Most of the inhabitants were trapped in their homes. Following the wind came a deluge of rain. Floods then ndilwl their terrors to the situation. The wreckage of Key West was soon overwhelmed by the rising waters. Practically nothing was left of the town of 200 inhabitants. Rescuers hastened to the place, but could not cross Salt Creek, which had become a raging torrent. A few inhabitants of Key West crossed the stream 'before the rise made it . impassable. They confirm reports that at least ten were killed and t*ico that number wounded. The residence of J. L. Hart was demolished, after having been rolled over half a dozen times with the occupants inside. Mrs. Hart's back was broken, a little girl's limb was wrenched from her thigh, and Hart and two other children were seriously injured. Depew was destroyed by a double "twister." formed from- the tornado which struck Key West and travelled in ,i north-easterly direction and another coming from tin; cast. The "twister" wiiicd out .Depew. then pushed northwest, spending its force presumably n few miles further on.