Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1913-03-28
IR ADDS !
o H0RR0
Of W's7'E|'R|
Dead in Omaha and
Vicinity 200.
WIRE COMMUNICATION
STILL OEM0RAuzED
.-. - g., :
hebraska Metropolis Suffers
Brunt Of the Casualties and
Property Damage.

Omaha, March 25-More than 200
persons were killed and 400 were in
jured in a wind storm that demol-
'dshed $50 homes, damaged hundreds
of other buildings and caused a none
tary loss of $5,0O0,OO0, according to
reports available from the main path
of the tornado in and near Omaha.
Most of the casualties were in Oma-
ha, which was stricken as never be-
fore. Nearby towns in Nebraska and
across the Missouri river and Iowa
suffered severely. Wires were snapped
off in all directions and it took many
hours to gather and circulate news
OF the disaster.
Fire broke out in the debris of
many wrecked buildings in the Ne
tbraska metropolis and there were
menaces for some time, as the fire
companies were hindered by fallen
walls and blockaded streets. A heavy
rain followed the wind, however, and
.drenched the hundreds of homeless
persons, but also put out the flames.
[ OF the known dead 1873 were resi-
tents of Omaha. The remaining dead
IRE scattered over q considerable
range of territory, with Council Bluffs
Exporting IL; Yutan, Neb., 16; Berlin,
Neb., z; Glenwood, a., 5; Nola, Ia.
2. and Bartlett, Ia, 2.
Fifteen Hundred Homeless.
Perhaps fifteen hundred persons
are homeless. Three thousand build
Angs were damaged to some extent.
Eight of Omaha's public schools were
wrecked.
All forms of communication were
almost interrupted by the wind. Sol
diers and state police poured into the
city and are patrolling the residential
districts in an effort to maintain or
der and relieve such cases of suffer.
ing as come to their notice.
The greatest damage was done in
and near Omaha, through part of
which a terrific storm swept Sunday
evening, throwing down many SUBJ
stantial buildings, ripping off roofs
and sidings of hundreds of houses and
Staying men, women and children by
the score.
The storm kept it's work secret
from the rest of the world for hours
by breaking down all wire commune
cation. Messengers with news stories
had to go by train to Lincoln, the
state capital, to give out the first def
mite tidings of the disaster.
Many Fires Break Out.
Uninjured citizens worked desper-
Ately to remove such persons as had
been caught beneath RACED buildings.
The debris caught fire in many places
and many persons were painfully
burned before they could be extricat-
cd from broken timbers.
No great number was killed in any
one place. The wind swept along,
taking it's toll here and there. The
tornado even jumped over portions of
the city in it's path, swooped down
again and dashed distractions to
earth. The gale left Omaha only to
sweep on to towns in Iowa in the
same destructive manner.
The rage of the elements even ex-
tended in a somewhat abated form to
points far to the east. No sooner had
the great wind passed than a second
violent gale swept over much of the
same territory, but with lessened fury.
What seems to have been a separate
storm swept portions of Indiana, do
ing greatest damage in and near Terre
Haute. There nearly score of per.
sons were slain and hundreds were
Injured. Other places in Indiana re-
port lesser damage. ..n
Wire Concerns Hard Hit.
The sleet and wind storm of the last
few days has reduced telegraph and
telephone companies to sore straits,
as hundreds of poles and thousands of
miles of wire were carried down in a
terrible tangle. <..
In many cases large regions were
unable to use commercial telegraph
facilities and news associations were
compelled to send reports in the most
,circuitous ways in order to reach the
newspapers. :..-. .is.
Floods swept through several Wis
consin cities, damaging many thou.
sand dollars worth of goods in base
ments. Dams were washed out in
many places and the released waters
swept over the fields.
In Chicag all the elements seemed
to meet shortly after Easter Sunday
had closed. Wind blew violent gale
rnnm flam hnfnra II In Some nlacaa