Current Hazards. The houses damaged were all unoccupied, except the one destroyed. 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. One brick home was completely demolished. 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. - A terrific cyclone passed through a portion of Maury, Giles, Hickman and Williamson Counties last night, and as a result thirty-five or forty known dead and a hundred or more injured, some seriously. Numbers of barns completely wrecked, and several houses ruined. The horror of the storm was greatly increased especially were people were (sic) severely hurt by the darkness and torrents of rain, which followed. Just a few rods east of the McGrew place stood the home of Bud Guffey. Columbia, Tenn., April 20. List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks The stock barn of Rural home Stock farm was torn to pieces, and there were many other houses, barns, and outhouses destroyed. One person was killed near Nolensville and another near Walterhill. It left 10 people dead and 40 more with serious injuries. W. C. Greer lost his large barn and two mail hacks. The cyclone wrecked the house and killed Mrs. McGrew and six children, while Mr. McGrew, a son and a baby escaped with serious injuries. Coming as it did near midnight, when the people generally were asleep, many barely escaped in their night clothes. J. M. Colston and wife, near Fayetteville. In its track, which was about half a mile in width, practically all timber was uprooted or twisted to the earth. Wires all down everywhere and communication with the country cut off. Gibbons, of this place, was killed while eating. Oscar Brown, a young son, was also seriously injured. Dickson was left to the right of the storm's pathway, and fortunately little damage was done here. The most terrible cyclone in the history of Giles County struck with great fury between 11 and 12 o'clock Thursday night. The Tri-State Tornado occurred on March 18, 1925. Two of the couple's sons were blown over a 20-foot bluff and into a nearby creek. 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. B. Barnes'. A path about 100 yards wide was swept clear of timber. The strongest tornado confirmed so far from. A number of residences were badly damaged and business houses unroofed, the rain destroying almost the entire stock of John Jewell. However, the party living in this was away. The path of the cyclone at this point is about 300 yards wide, and was accompanied by a heavy rain and thunder and electrical display. The house of Mr. Harvey, near town, was turned bottom side up without serious injury to the occupants. The total damage cannot be accurately stated, but it will go into the thousands of dollars in this section. List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks Homes were "obliterated" at "Bee Springs" and near "Millville." 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. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. 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This large outbreak of tornadoes included an EF3 tornado that caused significant damage to homes, business, schools and infrastructure in Jacksboro, Texas. 30 - A heavy and disastrous cyclone passed through this section last night between the hours of eleven and twelve o'clock and struck one-quarter of a mile west of Franklin, killing an old negro woman and injuring three of her children, two of which may die. - Dickson County was swept by a terrible storm last night, and as a result more than fifty houses lay wrecked today, and the damage to property will run far into the thousands of dollars. The storm seemed to reach the proportions of a tornado at a late hour of the night, sweeping from northeast to southwest, carrying down many farm buildings, but fortunately it passed through a sparsely-settled section and in about twenty minutes it completely reversed its course, turning from the northeast to the southwest, and many of the buildings were blown back in the opposite direction. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 1 1909, PAGE 10, FROM M'EWEN: M'EWEN, Tenn., April 30. Special thanks to Sam Shamburger from the National Weather Service office in Nashville, who did extensive research on this tornado outbreak. SHAMBURGER (2016): The devastating and very large Decherd tornado, which was only given a few meager words in the book Significant Tornadoes by Tom Grazulis, began somewhere west of Owl Hollow in western Franklin County, then moved east-northeast passing about 1.3 miles north of Winchester, then plowing directly through Decherd. and Mrs. W. S. McLaurine, Mrs. Ella King, widow of the late Mit King, collar bone broken, Hiram Usselton's baby, seriously, perhaps fatally hurt, George Hardy, son of T. J. In town here a number of window panes were broken. On March 21-22, there were 108 tornadoes that impacted several states most focused across Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Alabama. 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. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 1 1909, PAGE 4, section Robertson County: SPRINGFIELD, Tenn., April 30 - A "twister", or cyclone, struck Montgomery County last night at Rudolphtown and plowed its way on through Montgomery County and the Seventeenth District of Robertson County into Kentucky, leaving devastation in its wake and entailing a loss of over $50,000. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. Two people were killed and 20 injured in that second storm. The old McGavock home is wrecked. Several other houses were blown down and a number of people injured. It began just before midnight and had destroyed three large sections of Zephyr by the early hours of the morning. GRAZULIS: Moved NE near "Sango," 8 miles ESE of Clarksville. Tornadoes in the United States 1950-2019 These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred in North America . A latter report comes in from Hillsboro, a small place northwest of here that several people had been killed, however, this is not authentic. It is impossible to obtain details, as the wires are all down. Near Cross Roads, one man was killed and two more people were severely injured (F2) before the tornado lifted somewhere northeast of that community, a distance of roughly 20 miles. 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. Mrs. Will Adcock and her daughter are reported killed, but not verified. Hardest-hit areas were in and around Pulaski, Bryson and Fayetteville. 6 Feb. 2021. It is impossible at this time to estimate the damage. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 1 1909, PAGE 10, "AT WATERTOWN, TENN.". This tornado appears to be the same tornado that struck Decaturville and Perryville in Decatur County, which crossed the Tennessee River before moving across central Perry County. The several cashiers will take charge of same several cashiers will take charge of same and see to it that it is property and judiciously distributed among those who are destitute. The Lasting, Unseen Damage Of Historic Tornado Outbreaks - Forbes - At Statesville, seven miles from here, the storm of Thursday night destroyed the three churches and the school building. At least 695 . 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April 29, 1909 Tornado Outbreak Reports from farmers are that crops will have to be planted over again. The cyclone went from Primm's on to Centreville. $150,000 damage. A tornado destroyed 23 homes and damaged a depot and a hotel in Decherd. Twenty-two others lost their lives that fateful night across Middle Tennessee in tornadoes that struck Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Wilson, Grundy, and Fentress Counties. The clouds rolled like tremendous waves out of the southwest, and the thunder's crash was deafening, while the electric flashes played incessantly, lighting up the dark-canopied earth like a refulgent monster meteor. - A cyclone passed through this county last night about 10 o'clock, doing much damage to timber, fences, dwellings and barns, but so far as heard from only one life was lost, that being a little child about 6 years old. In its course from Rudolphtown to the Robertson County line the storm put out the eyes of several mules and other stock at Hinton, blew down the residence and stable of Joe Rosson, blew away the residence of Mrs. Ella Rosson and blew her over 100 yards. Damage: We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. 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. [1] However, descriptions of the damage appear to warrant at least an F2 rating, which was used here. Questions? 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. This tornado likely continued into Logan County, Kentucky, but no information is available. -92-93 Daily Journal, Stevens Point, WI. The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration These pictures show the damage in Centerville in Hickman County where there were 9 deaths and 32 injuries. NWS The Bee Spring Church was destroyed and many graves in the cemetery are the resting places of those killed that fateful day. A tornado destroyed a church and three homes. Two more people may have died in rural areas near Fayetteville. 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. The total list of those killed in Giles County, so far as could be learned the day after the storm was eighteen white people and four negroes, making twenty two in all. This massive tornado then passed into Lincoln County where much of Millville, Cyruston, Clardyville, and Harms were damaged or destroyed. The desperately injured are: R. H. Thompson, a son and daughter of Mrs. Money, Hiram Prince and Prof. R. S. Ballen. For a strip more than two miles in width along the railroad between here and Tennessee City, and on through that portion of the county traversed by the storm, scarcely a tree is left standing, but all lie as flat as if rolled over by some immense road roller. Damage: The dwelling of Lon Dowell was unroofed, and the house of Will Hickman was blown fifty yards and caught fire and was consumed. The home of the widow Speight was also destroyed. It is thought that the dead and injured list will be increased by further reports. Deadliest Days: Killer tornadoes in Middle Tennessee How 148 Tornadoes in One Day in 1974 Changed Emergency Preparedness Only two houses were left standing. J. D. Butler's house was damaged considerably, and the Methodist Church, South, had part of the roof blown away. Tornadoes in Maury County - Maurypedia Fayetteville, Tenn., April 30. All NOAA, (The following newspaper article was transcribed from The Pulaski Citizen of May 6, 1909.). This tornado is estimated to have begun southwest of Statesville, then moved east-northeast into DeKalb County, passing 2 miles south of Alexandria before ending near Smith Fork - roughly around 15 miles. of those most seriously hurt: Esq. Miss Jennie Kelso, Fayetteville; killed by live electric light wire. But nowhere was the loss of life greater or the destruction of property more complete than in Giles County. 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. As it moved into Williamson County it eventually passed just south of Franklin causing 8 deaths and 11 injuries. FROM THE PULASKI CITIZEN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ON MAY 6, 1909: Centreville, Tenn., April 30. The tornado continued into Giles County where nine more people lost their lives. The storm struck the county line just opposite Perryville, and traveled a northeast course, passing about five miles to the north of Linden. W. S. McLaurine's baby were also killed. FROM THE WILLIAMSON HERALD NEWSPAPER: The second tornado that night struck at 11:15 p.m. about four miles southwest of Nolensville. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The path length was estimated based on a beginning point in the Bushtown area and end point just past Algood. The most terrible cyclone in the history of Giles County struck with great fury between 11 and 12 o'clock Thursday night. One of the saddest stories was of two brothers 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. Large trees were torn and twisted from the roots, and in some places scarcely a tree was left uninjured in a whole forest. It touched down during the dead of night between 10 and 11PM. March 2022 Tornadoes Report | National Centers for Environmental Just like the previous storm, it caused widespread property damage. The three churches - the Cumberland, the Methodist and the Baptist - also the schoolhouse, were blown down and destroyed. It then completely blew away Webb & Crawford's Planning Mills and the stock house of the Cookeville Roller Mills. SHAMBURGER (2016): Despite the significant destruction caused by this tornado in Cookeville and Algood, Grazulis did not include this tornado in his book Significant Tornadoes. It cut a huge path over a mile wide through the area. 63 people lost their lives, and more than 200 were injured from a total of 12 tornadoes. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 2 1909, PAGE 4, section FOUR DEATHS IN MONTGOMERY: CLARKSVILLE, Tenn., May 1. 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. Following is a partia (?) Tornado - Occurrence in the United States | Britannica (Bud) Hardy, Mrs. Louie Gordon, who was living with her mother, Mrs. Eliza Wilkinson, was cut and bruised about the face and arm. The farms lying on the hillsides are washed in deep gullies and the low land is completely flooded. Nashville, TN500 Weather Station RoadOld Hickory, TN 37138615-754-8500Comments? Only two houses were left standing. The home of Tobe Cunningham stands directly between the two churches and has withstood both storms without any especial damage. Fayetteville was not in the pathway of the cyclone, but was near it. Prof. J. M. Coulson's residence destroyed and a number of other buildings greatly damaged. Besides the devastation mentioned, fences, timber and numerous small buildings were blown away and other damage done. National Weather Service In all there were 12 tornadoes that caused 62 fatalities in Middle Tennessee. Historian John Lancaster with the Giles County Historical Society recalled that fateful night. The listing is U.S.-centric, with greater and more consistent information available for U.S. tornadoes. 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. Multiple locations were found. At Walter Hill the residence of Mrs. Upchurch was totally destroyed and she herself was fatally injured. - A terrific cyclone passed through a portion of Maury, Giles, Hickman and Williamson Counties last night, and as a result thirty-five or forty known dead and a hundred or more injured, some seriously. All of the buildings belong to the Fentress Coal & Coke Company. Many Nolensville residents said it was the worst storm to ever strike there -- even worse than the notorious cyclone of 1900, which had cut a path only a few hundred yards wide. April 29, 1909 Tornado Outbreak - National Weather Service A. C. Morgan's house was blown away and Mrs. Morgan was badly injured, but not fatally, it is thought. But for the fact that the country is hilly and in places thinly settled the destruction would have been even greater. Ed Ragland's house was blown from its foundation. - A terrific rain and wind storm swept this county last night and many reports of widespread damage and destruction are being received. Mrs. Will Adcock and her daughter are reported killed, but not verified. Col. Pendergrass' residence was blown from its foundation. Remembering the April 27, 2011, tornado super outbreak - Washington Post From the foot of the mountain, near Wonder Cave, half way to the top, two-thirds of the large trees are down. 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. 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. Mr. McNutt, wife and three children, near Fayetteville. Homes were destroyed in Marion, Arkansas, resulting in five deaths in Arkansas. It traveled through the Conway Community, destroying the local public school, Lancaster explained. Eight-year-old boy of Paulina Farris, colored, Centreville. 93 dead across 5 states: The deadly tornado outbreak by the numbers (Bud) Hardy, Mrs. Louie Gordon, who was living with her mother, Mrs. Eliza Wilkinson, was cut and bruised about the face and arm. A damage rating of at least F2 intensity seems likely based on the newspaper descriptions. Where Did The Tornado Touchdown In Tennessee? - PartyShopMaine - The house of Bush Brown, on Hurricane Creek, three miles from McEwen, was destroyed by a heavy wind last night. The cyclone wrecked the house and killed Mrs. McGrew and six children, while Mr. McGrew, a son and a baby escaped with serious injuries. As soon as a message could be sent to Pulaski, local doctors and citizens hastened to the scene of disaster to aid as much as possible in the work of relief. 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. National Weather Service. - The most horrible catastrophe ever known in Lincoln County was the cyclone which passed through the county last night about midnight, wrecking homes, destroying lives and injuring a large number of citizens. Dr. Barger lost five of his six barns, and the merchants suffered much loss from their business houses being unroofed. The most lives were lost in the Bee Spring community of Giles County. Four-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Thompson, Totty's Bend. Will Hudson, another farmer near Charlotte, lost his barn, and had several head of stock crippled by the storm. 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. So one family that lived here in Bee Spring near the cemetery lost seven members of the family including the mother and six children. The Bee Spring community after the tornado was never quite the same and never really recovered. - This place was visited Thursday night about 1 o'clock by a cyclone traveling in a southeasterly direction. A large warehouse and storehouse were wrecked. For a strip more than two miles in width along the railroad between here and Tennessee City, and on through that portion of the county traversed by the storm, scarcely a tree is left standing, but all lie as flat as if rolled over by some immense road roller. It eventually passed just south of Franklin causing eight deaths and eleven injuries. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Its course was about a half mile wide and lay from Cross Roads into Scott Co., between the farms of William Cummings and Laban Riseden, just escaping both the homesteads, but tearing up all the timber in the neighborhood and bearing on southward below Rugby, carrying away the home of Young John Brewster and crushing in his shoulder and injuring his wife. The cyclone struck Primm Springs, a summer resort in Hickman County, and devastated the country. C. H. Whitney's barn, in the track of the storm, was blown down and Rural Carrier Morgan's horse was killed in the barn. The house was completely torn to pieces. The Evans Mills, on Stones River, one mile north of Florence, were blown into the river and destroyed. Due to the proximity to the county border, this tornado likely began in Overton County, but the article does not mention any damage to confirm this. The damage in town is slight compared with the country. 22 people were killed here in Giles County from this tornado. The loss in timber alone in this section was placed at $100,000. Ab Lane lost his barn and two mules. The emergency is one which as charitable, sympathetic people, we should take prompt steps to alleviate. 30 - A heavy and disastrous cyclone passed through this section last night between the hours of eleven and twelve o'clock and struck one-quarter of a mile west of Franklin, killing an old negro woman and injuring three of her children, two of which may die. of those most seriously hurt: Esq. A number of small barns was blown down. NUMBER EIGHT - THE ZEPHYR TORNADO - MAY 30, 1909 Tornado number 8 formed somewhere close to the town of Zephyr, in Brown County, near midnight and destroyed large parts of the town during the early morning hours, leaving little to view except vacant lots. The tornado outbreak this week featured more than 400 tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings that spanned nearly two-dozen states. The Elk Cotton Mill was damaged about $5,000. 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 reported that three white people are killed about two miles further down the trail of the cyclone, but this statement has not been authenticated. Trees were twisted in two and hurled great distances. Two barns and one stable were wrecked, ,and his stock suffered considerably. 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. "Some splendid homes were turned to rubbish.". 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. A tornado outbreak March 24-25 dropped several long-track, powerful tornadoes in Alabama, one of which impacted cities like Greensboro, Brent and Centreville and stayed on the ground for more than . In that general area, at least 55 were killed by tornadoes. Web. Elk River is higher than ever before. [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. On account of the destitution which is reported to exist in the stricken district, Mayor Northington has issued the following statement: "Reports having reached me of the destitution occasioned by Thursday night's storm, on account of which scored of persons have lost all of their means and been rendered homeless, it becomes my duty to make the fact known in our citizens officially. 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. The cyclone struck Rudolphtown about 8 o'clock and traveled in a northeasterly course. The strongest, an F-4 with winds 207 mph or higher traveled for 30 miles across Giles and Lincoln counties killing 31 people in all.