The Newport plain talk. (Newport, Tenn.) 1909-1939, 1913-03-27
TORNADO
AT OMAHA
More Than 200 Persons Kill
ed and 400 In
jured.
Loss OVER FIVE MILLIONS
], 500 PersonslAre Homeless and
Aside From the 45O Buildings
Destroyed, 5000 Buildings Arr
Damaged-Several Cities SUI
fered From Visitation of Storm
Third Storm Within a Week.

Third Storm Within a Week
Omaha, Neb., March 24.-More than
200 persons were killed and 400 werc
injured in windstorm that demoiish-
ed 45O homes, damaged hundreds OF
other buildings and caused monetary
loss of S5,C0O,0O0, according to reports
available up to late hour tonight
from the main path of the tornado IN
and near Omaha.
Most OF the casualties were in Oma-
ha. Nearby towns in Nebraska ana
across the Missouri river in Iowa also
suffered severely. Wires were snapped
off in all directions and IL took many
hours to gather and circulate news 81
the disaster.
Fire broke out in the debris Of man7
wrecked buildings in the Nebraska
metropolis and these were menaces for
some time, as the wire companies were
nindered byfallen walls and blockadesl
streets. A heavy rain followed the
wind, however, and drenched the hun
dreds of homeless persons, but also pgt
out the flames
/ Of the 220 known dead within the
area covered by the storm, l52 were re-
sidents of Omaha. The remaining dead
are scattered over considerable range
of territory with Council! Bluffs report
ing twelve; Yutan, Neb., sixteen; Ber-
lin, Neb., seven; Glenwood, Iowa, five,
Nicola, Iowa, two and Bartlett, Iowa,
three. The same cities and towns re-
port an aggregate of 400 injured ane.
$50 homes demolished.
BY far the greatest damage was done
in and near Omaha, through part Of
which tornado swept Sunday even
ing throwing down many substantial
buildings, ripping off roofs and sidings
OF hundreds OF houses and killing men
and children by the score.
The storm kept its work a secret
from the rest OF the world for hours by
breaking down all wire communities
lion. Messengers with news stories
had to go by train to Lincoln, the state
capital, to send out the first delinits
news of the disaster.
During the early hours of the morn
ing injured persons worked desperately
to remove persons caught beneath
razed buildings. The debris caugft
lire in many places and many persons
were painfully burned before they
could be extricated
No great number was killed in any
one place. The wind swept along take
ing its tol here and there. The tornado
even jumped over portions of the city
in its path, swooped down again ana
dashed distractions to the earth.
The gale left Omaha only to sweep
on to towns in Iowa in the same de-
structIve manner that it had attackes
villages in Nebraska. The rage of the
element even extended in somewhat
abated form to points far to the east In
Illinois.
No sooner had the twister passed
than a gale swept over much the same
territory, but with lesser fury. #
What seems to have been separats .
| storm swept portions of Indiana, being
greatest in and near Terre Haute.
There nearlya score Of pcrsnns wefs
slain and hundreds were hurt. Other
places in Indiana report lesser damage
The sleet and wind storm of the lsst
few days had reduced telegraph ana
Telephone companies to more straighls
ashundIeds OF poles and thousands oi
miles of wire were carried down in d
tangle. The Easter tornado added b
the havoc west of Chicago, aithouga
wires were repaired to the east Il
many eases large regions already un-
able to use commercial telegrapife
facilities and news associations wege
compelled to send reports in the meet
unusual ways TO reach the newspape,
Among the first to bring TO tbe ont
side world details of the thoronghness
of the tornado's destructive work IA
Omaha was f. G. Elendorf, traves-
ing salesman Of indianapolis. who III
rived in Chicago tonight.
~ was sitting by window OH lbs
first floor of a hotel when 1t grew SUD-
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