The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-03-22
Several States Of
 Old South Battered
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rom Page D
 trict. Nurses and physicians and surgeons from every large com munity hurried into town where To- cal medical help was not nearly sufficient to care for the injured.
 Meanwhile, authorities charted the course of the winds that brought disaster to the state.
 The storm was first reported at Linden and Myrtlewood, two small communities about 40 miles east of Meridian, Miss. They are slightly south of the center of the state.
 At this point the storm appar- ently split, one part moving 15 miles directly north to Demopolis where there was little damage, then on 40 miles to Northport where many were killed and hurt.
 The other section of the storm headed northeast from Linden to Myrtlewood, 10 miles on to Founs- dale, another 1J miles to Marion, and then it turned almost straight east 25 miles to this town and Thorsby. From here it moved north to Columbiana. only 20 miles, from Birmingham.
 An off shoot of the storm hit Cullman, 50 miles north of Bir- mingham, while high winds and lightning broke communication lines all through the south, espe- cially in east Tennessee and north Georgia.
 The nine towns which felt the heaviest force of the storm and the number of residents in each are:
 Northport. 217S; Linden, 9s2; Marion, 2141; Demopolis. 4037; Clanton, 1S47; Greensboro, 1795; Calera, 975; Columbiana, 11S9; Faunsdale. 264. They are in Tus- caloosa, Shelby, Marengo, Chiffon, Hale and Perry counties.
 The storms fury passed up Tus- saloosa, except to level the coup- try club and nearby buildings. Then 1t swept across the river and demolished 150 to 200 homes, most of them in the negro district.
 Fire followed, the wind through Northport. Eight city blocks were reported razed there and the flames spread rapidly before they finally were checked. The fire trucks served also as ambulances.
 One company of national guardsmen crossed the Black War rior from Tuscaloosa there to help maintain order and give relief to sufferers.
 Hysterical relatives of dead or missing wandered aimless1y through the streets until finally directly by guardsmen or sympa- thetic townspeople toward a place of rest, or to the first aid stations.
 The injured at Northport taxed the capacity of the 100-bed hos pital. Twelve of them, 1t was be- lieved, were near death.
 Survivors described the No- lence of the wind in that city.
 "The wind picked up a lumber pile and drove 1t like a catapu1t right into the residential district" one said.
 Some of the victims were im- paled by the flying timbers. Others were hurled against ruined bui1d- ings. Bodies were tossed into the afr"
 Students from the University of Alabama, across the river in Tus- caloosa, became relief workers. Injured were rushed to the Central hospital where they were quickly placed on the few remaining beds, chairs, or on the floor to await at- tention by frenzied doctors and nurses.
 Mothers, many bleeding from minor injuries, paced the streets seeking lost children. One woman collapsed and fell in a flooded gut ter carrying an unconscious child.
 At Faunsdale. Floyd Collins, store clerk, stepped out to watch the whirling winds. He was buried by flying bricks as the walls of the building crumbled.
 The Episcopal church was de- stroyed there, so were the rectory. five dwellings. several garages and small buildings. And box cars in the railroad yards were piled on the tracks in jumbled confusion. 1 ported splintered at Marion, strik- | ing terror into the hearts of negro | residents of the district.
 At Columbiana the storm cut a | path $50 yards wide, leveling a score of homes.
 At Lomax Station, a railroad | settlement three miles from here. | the ten houses of the community | were disorderly pieces of lumber. |
 At Thorsby, beyond Lomax. houses were damaged. A drug | store in the center of the town | was partly destroyed. but because | the emergency kits were there. temporary hospital was established | for the care of the injured. Ten | cots were placed in the crowded | space.
 Isolated sections beyond Thors- by, Union Grove and Collins Chapel | were barricaded behind long | stretches of fallen trees which | promised hours of work by volun- teer groups before extent of dam- age could be discovered.
 A hospital here which had been | closed for several months was re- opened last night. IL was crowded within an hour.
 Two trains were held at Thorsby | for injured and dead, They were | sent to Birmingham where the | congestion In the hospitals soon | ka. ... unAaf n In lhA al El am |