Evening star., 1921-04-17
Thousands Homeless as Re.
lief Is Rushed to Devas-
tated Region.
FIVE STATES ARE SWEPT
BY DISASTROUS STORM
Heavy Rainfall Adds to Damage of
neutrality-suspicious. and Com.
munication Systems Paralyzed.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press
MEMPHIS. Tenn. April 1s.-Tor-
nadoes which swept eastward rom
Texas to South Carolina last night
and today claimed total of approxi-
mately 100 lives. injured several hum
dred and damaged property and crops
to the extent Of millions of dollars.
according to reports iltering into
points Of communication tonight from
sections of the storm swept area of
half a dozen states
The storm toll in lives. indicated in
dispatches received up to midnight
are as follows: Texas. six dead at the
town of Avinger: one dead at Atlanta.
and several others reported killed near
OFarrell
Arkansas: Twenty dead near the
town of Hope. eighteen in the vicin-
ity of Texarkana, fifteen near Pres
colt. one at Gravely, Yell county: one
at Delight, Pike county: three near
Russelville, Pope county. Several
other deaths were reported in iso-
lated sections of Hampstead county.
but the reports had not been verified
tonight.
Mississippi: Five persons killed at
Steen, near Columbus; one at Sontag,
one at Rural Hill. near Aberdeen; one
killed in an accident near Laurel.
Alabama: Five dead at Cave
Springs, near Tuscumbia; four at
Ralph. Tuscaloosa county; three at
Sulligent. Lamar county; one in Dali
las county.
Owing to interrupted wire COM
munication. only fragmentary reports
have been received thus far from the
sections reported to have suffered the
greatest loss of life and property.
Relief Parties Searching.
Relief parties tonight still were
searching the storm-swept areas. and
until they report the full toll taken
by the wind will not be known.
The storm apparently broke in
Smith county. Tex, swept sections OF
Good. Gregg, Casewan and Bowie
counties and passed into Miller and
Hampstead counties. Arkansas. where
the reported dead list tonight had
reached fifty. Six OF the seven per-
sons killed in Texas were crushed
to death when their homes in the viii
lage of Avinger were wrecked. An
other death was reported at Atlanta,
Tex.
Crossing into Arkansas the storm
skirted the city of Texarkana and cut
swath a half mile wide through a
heavily wooded section of Miller and
Hampstead counties.
In the vicinity of Hope, Hampstead
county. the list of reported dead to-
night had reached twenty. Fifteen
others were said to have lost their
lives in the vicinity of the town of
Prescott, and a like number north of
ed in Yell county.
Five persons were reported killed
at Steen. a small town near Colum-
bus, in Eastern Mississippi. and one
at Sontag, sixteen miles east of
Brookhaven.
Leaving Mississippi the storm
swooped down again in northern Ala
bama, in the Aycock community near
Tuscoumbia. Seven persons were re-
ported to have been killed and three
others lost their lives in the town
of Ralph. in Tuscaloosa county.
Hundred Homes Destroyed.
In Birmingham ten persons were
injured and a hundred homes in the
northern and eastern suburbs of that
city were damaged. The property
damage there was estimated at $780,
600.
In Memphis heavy rain storm
damaged streets. sewers and drain.
age canals to the extent Of approx
imately $4,000. Newport, Lynville
and Connersville in the central and
eastern part Of the state also reported
property damage.
At Rome, Ca, where the storm
struck shortly after noon. several
persons were injured and property
damage estimated at $4,000 was done.
The rainfall in Mississippi was re-
ported the heaviest on record.
At Jackson 6.5 inches of rain fell
from noon yesterday until early to-
day, damaging a number Of stores
and causing other damage.
Train service throughout the state
was disarranged and in some in
stances suspended because of wash
outs and damage to railway roadbeds.
Railway Trnin Ditched.
One wreck was reported, Southern
railway mail train running into .
washout near Laurel. Miss. and top
pling into a ditch. One passenger
was killed.
Announcement was made tonight
at the headquarters in St. Louis of the
southern division of the Red Cross
that all it's available resources would
be offered for relief of sufferers from
the storm, while relief funds already
have been started at Hope. Ark. TO
afford immediate relief to the storm
victims in that state.
FIVE DEAD IN MISSISSIPPI.
Cyclone Strikes Small Town East