Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-03-30
CYCLONES AND ToRNADoEs.
Something of the Life and Property oe-
stroyed In Recent Years.

Something of the Life and Property oe-
stroyed in Recent Years.
The following. taken from the New or IA
Times. will be of especial interest just ~
this iuncture
The difference between cyclone ana a
tornado is not generally UNDERSTOOD,
cyclone is a lOw-area storm with an atllYS-
nberic pressure below the average ana q
wind system blowing spirally inward anu
upward. IL is further characterized ~
cloudy weather, sOutherly ana ea1tv'y
winds, precipitation, temperature ia! -
oppressive in summer and aDnormaily mn
in winter. falling barometer, ana an H.
creasing humidity.
Tho cyclone is elliptical in form, and IN
the United States generally has its MAJOR
axis from wcst-Southwcst 20 ea3t-noItn-
eoet with a mean velocity varying IRON
GOO TO 500 miles n day. 4 tornado IS locas
disturbance resulting from the meetlng ~
n current of warm air from the sou'n M
n current of cold mir from tho north. Doth
blowing toward the centre OF the cycIonS'
While cyclone may he agcneral storm eN-
tending across continent, as IN the pres
eut instance, and cXertlnS an infuehce
ON vast areas. q tornado Is purely locai. anu
rarely has O width of more than three quar-
ters 0f a mile, while its length IS que ~
| tirelv to its force. A tornado - o gi@hntlc
WnlrlNlnu, anu Us lllANifiN - -.
| End OperatiOn is the same as that oil the Or
binary whrlwind. the difference beiDS
! only in magnitude.
Every inhabitant Of Central Kentucky IS
familiar with these tornadoes, although
/ that which occurred at Louisville IS pro
I bably the most violent "a 1t Is certainly
/ the most disastrous. the State mas ever
| known. These tornGdOes come with oar nl,
! inc audiences, and the more pOwcrful
J cd hn "a tremendous
| roaring that is terrifying. II often nap
pens. too. that the phenomena are uarhcu
! bv a dense cloud of reddish-brOWn c0lor'
! This rushing, whrling volume fears along
| in its narrow path, tearing up trees ana
! demolishing buildings until lts force IS
spent Tornadoes of such violence ~ 10
! demOlish or even unrOOfa Well-bult houSe'
| however. arc rare n Kentucky. Inc
average Kentucky tornado confines ltseu
| tothe destruction Of corn-helds and fences.
One of the most notable recent cyclones
wac that Of 1883, which lasted from August
18th to I'D. inclusive, and, starting from
! the West Indies. crossed the Gull OF MeXl-
co. entered the United States at point IN
| Western Louisiana. curved Oh toward the
northeast. and with slight variation. went
! directly across the country TO New Eng
! land. whence it passed Oft into the Atlantic
/ This storm was excessively damaging 10
/ that could be injured by excessive ram
/ and tent winds. The damage IN Loulsl,
ana alone was estimated at c5gO.O0O' and
/ that 10 the whole country could not have
| been less than half as much again.
The island of GuadelOpe was devastated
| September &. 1863, 10y a tornado. and there
was great loss of both life and property.
/ The cyclone of 1873, extending from Au-
gust 18th to 9th. inclusive, and known as
/ - ,.aIgpa y u Df a.
most destructive that ever visit the At
| lantic coast. IL recuTyed between the
| island of Bermuda and Cape Ilatteras. and
its centre NJ no time touched tho coast
/ line. One thousand two hundred and
| twcntv-three vessels are known to have
| been DESTROYED by it and 223 human lives
were definitely reported rs lost. 1t has
/ been estimated that at least COZ lives were
| lost in this storm. including the crews OF
missing vessels that were never heard ir9lh'
/ Tho storm seriously crippled the hshlng
| interests Of both the United States and
| Canada. and the pccuuiary loss was esu-
mated AZ more than @3.50O,OOO
On September -, l,7J, cyclone oc-
! cured nj lndanola, Texas. and nearly de-
| strovcd that place. The wind reached 4
| velocity Of lightweight miles per hour,
| and this, with general inurdatlon from
/ the sea. resulted in the loss of no human
!
property. Ine same storm then moved
! northeastward across the United states
and left the coast between Capes
| Henry and May. destroying property
/ and cnusing many marine disasters
! The cyclone of October. 1873, first
! damaged buildings and sank ships at ba-
yana. II then entered the United stat IS
near Wilmington. y. C., and. moving due
! north. passed over Washington ana Eastern
/ Pennsylvania, Gndlclt the coast ut Portland
| Me- This storm totally DESTROYED more
1 than 100 buildings in Ihiiadelphia alone,
sank twenty-five vessels there, and killed
eight people and injured many more.
| Other loss Of lie wa reported from the
path Of the storm, while many ships were
/ wrecked on the coasts OF North Carolina,
| Virginia, and New Jersey.
The cyclone OF August, 1879, did on enOr-
nous amount OF damage 20 maritime and
| inland property. 1t skiIted the coast from
/ Cape Lookout. n. c., 10 LastpOIt. Mc. The
/ wind reached velocity of l3S miles per
/ hour at Cape Lookout, where the anemO-
meter was carried away. On August p,
/ 1881. a cyclone entered the United States
near Savannah, and fOlloweda very unusua
course nOrthwestward 10 Minnesota. lilo
/ loss Of life and damage TO property IN
| Charleston, :. c., Iybce Island. and along
/ the coast was very great -Four hundred
! lives were lost ana hundreds or houses
were destroyed. Charleston was visited by
"a similar storm in August. 1885, when twen-
tv-one lives were lost and 100000 worth
| Of property was destroyed. In August,
! 1856. a cyclone completely destroyed IN
danola. Texas, which had been almost
swept away in 1875. Not n house wa LETT
standing and more than score oil lives
were lost.
/ The recent awful loss Of life at Nj. YER
non. H., was due t. q tornado. and the
great Samoan disaster of less than year
ago was due 20 "a similar cause. The great
difference between the pressure at the
storm centre and It's rear sometimes causes
storm-waye 10 follow in the path OF the
cyclone, thus inuGdating such low-lylng,
level lands as are in its course. In such
cases if the land is inhabited, the loss OF
human life sometimes has been enormous.
/ The Calcutta cyclone Of October 5. lsbl.
was followed by q stOrm-wave OF sixte
feet over the level delta OF the Gauges,
and 1900 people were killed. Again. on
October 81, 1876, the Backergunge cyclone
was accompanied by a storm-waye that
! covered the eastern edge of the delta OF the
GGnges with water from ten to nearly hity
feet in depth. The lowest estimate fixed
the number of people killed by this wave