DISASTROUS TORNADO

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 260, 26 March 1913, Page 5

DISASTROUS TORNADO

STRIKES AMERICAN' TOWN'S. GREAT LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. By CaliSe —Press Association—Copyright. New York. M.irch 24. At Omaha 15!) persons were killed by A tornado. Fire brake out among the ruins, and a whole section of the town Was destroyed. The Diamond Picture Theatre collapsed, thirty persons being crashed in the ruins. Communication between Omaha ami the outside world is cut off.

The latest news from Omaha minimises the loss o? life, but the damage to property is enormous. Scores of bodies have not been recovered. The district is practically under martial law, and soldiers are camped in the streets. The injured are expected to number

hundreds. Twenty negroes wer.< caught in a pool-room when it collapsed. None of tliem escaped.

The storm first struck Ralston and moved eight miles north-east through j Omaha, leaving a line of destruction t four blocks wide. There was much looting followed by fire, but the presence of soldiers acted as an effective check. A second tornado followed, completing the ruin. Communication has been paralysed. Definite news of the disaster did not f Teach the outside world until 24 hours ' afterwards. The wildest stories were fast afloat. The town of Gntan, Nebraska, snf- i fered heavily from the same tornado. Houses were unroofed and ten peTsons killed. BUILDINGS WHIRLED INTO THE AIR. DOZENS OF DEAD AND DYING. INDESCRIBABLE SCENES. f MILLIONS OF DAMAGE TO 1 PROPERTY. ; Received 25, 10 p.m. Omaha, March 25. The passengers on the Chicago-Burling-ton-Quinck train saw the tornado strike the Omaha buildings and whirl them bodily into the air. bodies falling thereout. When the train stopped, the passengers. who ran to assist the l:ij:ir<'d.' were overwhelmed. t At Ralston there are dozens of dead ' and dying, the latter asking to be put ' out of their misery. Whole acre; are | covered with wreckage. A railway box- i car was carried in mid-air for a quarter of a mile. The train proceeded with the dead and injured, and entered P.ensor. where the scenes were a repetition of those at Ralston. When South Omaha was bit. the scenes baffled description. Fire also overtook the town, and the flames were visible for miles. The people rushed panic-stricken Into the streets. The police were un- I able to cope with the disorder. Special ' trains brought assistance. The tornado cut a swathe twenty-four blocks long and three wide through the wealthiest part of the city. Twelve hundred houses were wrecked. The damage is estimated at three million sterling. A hundred bodies have been recovered. Milwaukee also suffered, a rainstorm flooding the city. Other smaller centres were siniilarly ■damaged.