Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-03-23
TWO YEARS AGO DEvAsrATINo
STORMS SWEPT AcRoss
TWO STATES.
IOWA AND NEsRAskA>
TOWN DEMOLISHED,
Night Of Easter, 1912 Brought Heavy
Less q Life 10 Omaha and TO Wsst-
srn lows Tewns-storm Attended by
Many Psculiar FsaturSs-M stsoroi-
oaists. Record Unusual Frsaks.

damaged q portion OF Council BUTTS
ruined the Mosquito valley and tore
northeast across Pottawattamie and
Mills counties, killing and manning
people and wrecking homes and farms.
the most disastrous storm that ever
visited this portion OF the Missouri
valley.
March %. 1913. was Easter Sunday
and while not particularly q nice day
the weather was mild and pleasant.
with no hint Of tho horror which was
to come in the evening. About 1850
in the afternoon the air became pecul-
iarly warm and many people noted the
sudden change. The barometer fell
three fifths Of an inch In less than an
hour and then, from q center some
where In tho vicinity Of Yutan, Neb.,
southwest Of South Omaha, not less
than Ave storms radiated. like spokes
from the hub of a wheel.
The most disastrous was that which
swept directly across Omaha, wrecking
some Of the finest homes Of the city,
damaging hundreds Of houses and caus-
ing the death Of many people. This
storm was witnessed by many people
who live in the hill districts Of Coun-
Gil Bluffs and was followed by fires
caused by broken gas pipes and electric
wires.
The Council Bluffs fre department
was called to Omaha to assist in fight
ing the fire and in rescuing people
imprisoned in the wrecked homes.
On tho lows Side. =
At the same time another Of the
storms swept across Lake ManaWa,
wrecking the Kursaal and several farm
homes, cut across the southeast corner
of Council Bluffs at South avenue,
where five persons were killed and sew
eral others injured, and then passed
on up the Mosquito creek valley, kill
ing and manning people all the way to
Nicola
Another storm wrecked Ralston and
Yutan, Neb.. and hurtled across Ne
braska as far as Palmyra, west Of Ne
braska city. And still another shot OF
southeast across Mills county where
today are still visible marks Of the tor
nado in the vicinity Of Malvern, where
grove Of trees is badly shattered
and farms show the devastation Of the
wind. Three people were killed in this
storm.
The greatest damage, Of course. was
in Omahss where the storm cut across
the most thickly settled portion Of the
city, wrecking homes, demolishing busi-
ness houses .Ands skil1ingi and .inJuring
scores OF people. For days after the
storm the damaged district was
crowded by sightseers who came Tor
miles to inspect the work Of the cloud.
Eut today, except for few scatter
ing instances, no trace OF the disaster
is visible in Omaha, or In other parts
of the country. save in those places
where the storm tore thru groves Of
native timber, in which cases the paths
Of the storms are marked by the swath
that the observer can tell to foot the
width of the path Of the twlster.
Meteorological Phenomenon.
Meteorologists have given much time
and thought to the circumstances sur
rounding this most peculiar Of storms
and it is stated that not In the knowl-
edge Of weather men I'm this section
before has such a phenomenon been
known.
1t appeared that in the country near
Yutan the storm center formed and for
nearly an hour hung stationary. Then
suddenly five separate storms shot out
] radiating from the center and the two
which went southwest across Nebraska
and southeast across Iowa are the only
two ever known to have travelled in
these directions. these storms as q rule
moving northeast.
One OF the peculiarities of the storms
in question was the race between a
Union Pacific passenger train and the
Yutan storm. the train winning by only
a few yards, passing the Yutan station
only few moments before the storm
destroyed the station.