Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1926-07-22
HEAVIEST WIND STORM IN
YEARS HITS THIS LOCALITY

| N
Morgan county was visited Sunday
afternoon by real cyclone storm
perhaps the most severe ever ezper-
fenced here. While much of the
county was damaged, the, worst
seemed to be in the two towns and
vicinity. The storm broke soon af-
ter four O'Clock, and lasted for about
a half hour. When Investigations
were begun, the destructiveness of
the storm was soon seen. Streets
were filled and blocked with uproot-
ed trees and limbs. A number of
roofs were damaged by trees and
heavy branches falling on them.
,,Chimneys were blown over, and tel
ephone and electric wires were torn
down, and slate and metal roofing
torn off or loosened. Gardens and
growing crops were also badly dam
aged. The wind was accompanied
| by heavy rain, the latter doing much
damage, in flooding places where the
roofing was torn off. The garage on
the Capt. Frank McGrath lot, just at
the rear of the residence now occu-
pied by County Clerk w. E. Medley,
was demolished Over at the Malta
ball park ball game was going on,
and practically all of the roof of the
grandstand was blown away. A part
of it fell on Ford roadster nearby,
going through the top and badly
cutting the back of Mr.. Guy Hupp,
who was in the machine, and who is
employed by the state highway de-
partment. Dale Yocom of Beverly
who was also at the ball game, had a
bad cut across his forehead, caused
by flying timbers and roofing, and
! Ode Dye of Hackney who was at the
game, was also injured.
| Clifford Ritchey and family of
! Newark had driven here and had
i just parked their machine, which
was a new Chevrolet, below the
corner of the Citizens bank build
ing on Seventh street, and had
gone to the rest room in the l. o. O.
! F. building, for shelter, when huge
! limb broke from a tree and fell on
their machine, wrecking the top of
lit. Bernard Deedrick's auto was
also damaged by falling limb. 1t
was parked in front of the DR.. Nor
thrup building. The Abel garage
likewise had a machine damaged by
la falling branch. The J. H. Stalker
garage up Kennebec hill, which has
a capacity of several cars, was COM
pletely relieved of it's metal roof-it
being lifted off and blown across the
street. Out Kennebec ridge, the
wind seemed to strike with particu
lar force, and number of persons
took refuge in their cellars. Roof
ing was torn off the Harry Harlan,
! DR.. l.. E. Sharp and E. M. ,Barkhurst
residences, and at the sanatorium
much slate was blown off the roof of
the nurses home The rose per-
COLA was also blown over in places.
Slate was torn off the A. G. Scott
residence near the sanatorium, the
rain doing much damage to practi-
cally every room in the house.
Many fine fruit trees were also
blown down in the wake of the
storm. The slate from buildings
was shurled with great force, in in
stances sufficient to split boards.
The back part of the Miss Jessie
Wells property on South Seventh
was damaged when a huge limb fell
on it, In Malta a tree standing in
F. D. Coulson house, damaging the
roof and weatherboarding, and
knocking off plastering. Many other
roofs were damaged, other than
these mentioned.
Below Malta, roofing was blown
off at the Newell Whitelock, Gregg
and Heintzelman places, and a sheep
barn on the Mrs. Mary Willis farm
on Malta Hill was practically demol-
iShed, and on out toward Penns-
vile many roofs were damaged, and
buildings unroofed, ETC., and silos
blown down. Like all such storms,
many freaks are reported. Down by
the Chas. Reeder house, occupied by
Ed Walker, a huge strong elm was
literally twisted off at trunk by the
wind, and no other trees nearby
were damaged. In other places
large trees were destroyed, and pot
ted house plants in practically the
same place, were not so much as
blown over. The storm was
accompanied by comparatively lit
tie lightning.
Mr.. Tom Love of Malta reports
that the wind struck his place out in
rem township with great IOrce, uH-
roofing two of his buildings, and
taking slate off his house, etc.
When the roof of the grandstand
at the Malta ball park was blown
off, Edward Ham of Malta, aged
about 15 years, who had climbed
up next to the roof in order to keep
dry, and was holding to the rafters,
was taken with it, lighting
about 80 feet away in an automo-
bile. Other than having his arm
badly scratched and bruised, he was
not injured.
The rainfall for the 20 minutes, |
which was the length of the heavy !
part of the storm, was 1.22.
Out beyond Neelyville, near the |
Singree place, fine Cadillac auto |
was badly damaged, when large
limb fell on it. The occupants of |
the machine had left the auto and
gone into the Fred Noyes residence
for refuge.
The electric power was off until
Monday afternoon, as result of the
storm.