Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-06-11
TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
SWEPT BY T0RNAD0ES
Village of Zephyr, Texas, Is Struck
in Night by a 1errIfc
Windstorm.
FLOODS ADD TO THE PERIL.
Series of Twisters in Oklahoma
Leave Two Towns Heaps
of Ruins.

A tornado Of great fury struck the
little village of Zephyr, in the eastern
portion of Brown County. Texas, at 1
o'clock Sunday morning and left a
path of death and destruction seldom
paralleled. The death list has reached
4 total of thirty-two, n the number
Of seriously and fatally wounded VIII
reach fifty.
The storm formed half a mile south
west of Zephyr and swept down upon
the village, cutting a path directly
through the residence and business
district. Nearly fifty houses were de-
molished. Lightning struck a iumpel
yard and started a conflagration which
destroyed one business block. NO Ell
fort was made to fight the fire. as the
care of the dead and wounded victims
demanded all attention. A section
hand rode a hand car to BroWnWood
and spread the alarm. In w 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. Hundreds OF
persons directly in the storm pain
saved themselves by taking refuge IN
storm cellars. More than a dozen Dod-
les were horribly mutilated. County
Clerk Thad Cabler and wife n two
children, who had gone to Zephyr 10
spend the night, were killed. The Dig
stone school building and two church
es were swept from the face of the
earth.
Destruction in
Fifteen and perhaps more persons
were killed Saturday night in a series
of t%ornadoes that devastated the Okla
hcma towns of Key West and Depew.
Forty or more are injured. At least
ten were killed in Key West. Five
are dead at Depew. The tornado swept
over a wide stretch of farming coun-
try. Following the wind came a del
uge of rain. Floods then added their
terrors to the situation. The wreck.
age of Key West soon was overwhelm-
ed by the rising waters. Practically
, nothing was left of the town of 200
! inhabitants. Rescuers fastened to the
; place, but could not cross Salt Creek.
which had become a raging torrent.
! A few inhabitants of Key West cross
ed the streat before the rise made 1T
! impossible.
Depew was destroyed by a double
twister that was formed from that
striking Key West and travelled in a
n~ortheasterly direction and another
coming from the east. The tornado
wiped out Depew, then pushed north
800. ,.-l;~~ -, foroo rroc,,p,,h 1v .
few miles forther on. Small lorna
does followed in rapid succession in
an atmosphere hat was very humid.
They rose high into the air, circled
about and dipped. AS many as five
we're observed during the display. The
little t%ornadoes had spent their force
when the big one came at 5 o'clock.
Preceding and following it were ter
rife rain and hail storms. The streets
of Stroud and Sapulpa were veritable
rivers.
Seven Die in North Dakota.
Seven persons are known to be dead,
many are dying and owe a score are
seriously injured as a result of a tor
nado which swept over northwestern
North Dakota. The torn was espe-
cially severe at Langdon, where the
residence section of the city was prac-
!ically wiped out, four people killed
Ind twenty injured. The tornado de-
nolished all of the buildings of the
Jamestown Fair Association, the loss
being $4,000, and several other large
buildings.