March 1913 tornado outbreak sequence

March 1913 tornado outbreak sequence

Photo of the 1913 Omaha tornado, the deadliest of the outbreak
Date of tornado outbreak:	March 21–23, 1913
Duration1:	~2 days
Maximum rated tornado2:	F4 tornado
Tornadoes caused:	≥ 19
Highest winds:
Largest hail:
Damages:	≥ $9.68 million
Fatalities:	≥ 241
Areas affected:	Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana
1Time from first tornado to last tornado 2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale

The March 1913 tornado outbreak sequence was a devastating series of tornado outbreaks that affected the northern Great Plains, the Southern United States, and sections of the upper Midwest over a two-day-long period between March 21–23, 1913. Composed of two outbreaks, the sequence first began with a tornado outbreak that commenced in Mississippi early on March 21. Several significant tornadoes occurred, one of which killed seven people in one family and another destroyed much of Lower Peach Tree, Alabama, with 27 deaths all in that town. The tornado at Lower Peach Tree is estimated to have been equivalent to a violent F4 tornado on the Fujita scale, based upon damage accounts. The tornadoes occurred between 0630–1030 UTC, or pre-dawn local time, perhaps accounting for the high number of fatalities—a common trend in tornadoes in the Dixie Alley. In all, tornadoes in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama killed 48 people, perhaps more, that day and injured at least 150 people.

On March 23, Easter Sunday, was the most violent tornado outbreak to affect the northern Great Plains on so early a date in the year—a record that still stands as of 2012. That day, four F4 tornadoes affected portions of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, killing at least 168 people. The deadliest tornado of the day was a potent F4 tornado that grew to 0.25 miles (440 yd) in width as it passed through northern Omaha, Nebraska, killing at least 94 people in the city proper and three in rural areas. Damage in Omaha reached at least F4, possibly even F5, intensity, though confirmation of F5 damage could not be determined from available evidence. The tornado is the 13th deadliest ever to affect the United States and the deadliest to hit the U.S. state of Nebraska. No other violent tornado would affect Omaha for another 62 years. Outside the Great Plains, the outbreak of March 23 also produced two other F4 tornadoes, one each in Missouri and Indiana, including a devastating path more than .5 mi (880 yd) through southern Terre Haute, Indiana, killing 21 people and injuring 250.

In all, the two consecutive outbreaks killed at least 241 people and caused at least 19 tornadoes, though only significant events were recorded and other, weaker tornadoes may have went undetected. The outbreak sequence also produced seven violent tornadoes, nearly half the documented total of tornadoes for the sequence. At least $9.68 million in damages were reported.

Meteorological synopsis

Easter Sunday began under cloudy skies in Omaha. Rain threatened but never fell on the city, and by noon the skies had brightened to the point where the sun began to peek through. In the afternoon the skies darkened again as a massive storm system moved into the area from western Nebraska. This storm system brought snow to the Colorado Rockies and high winds to Denver on Sunday morning.

At 5:20 p.m. the first tornado from the storm touched down just outside of Craig, Nebraska. It traveled into Iowa without causing major damage. A second tornado touched down at about 5:30 p.m. near Ithaca, claiming the first casualties of the day as it swept through Yutan. Two other rural tornadoes followed.

Tornado table

Confirmed Total	Confirmed F0	Confirmed F1	Confirmed F2	Confirmed F3	Confirmed F4	Confirmed F5
≥ 19	?	?	10	2	7	0

Confirmed tornadoes

March 21 event

F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Georgia
F2	S of Madison to near Buckhead	Morgan	0600	8 miles (13 km)	1 death — Tornado hit five plantations and destroyed 30 buildings.
Mississippi
F2	Near Ruleville	Sunflower	0610	unknown	3 deaths — Tornado completely destroyed homes.
F2	Louisville to N of Macon	Winston, Noxubee	0630	30 miles (48 km)	9 deaths — Family of tornadoes destroyed or damaged roughly 25 homes near Louisville, killing two people and injuring 15. Five people in one family were killed as the tornadoes passed north of Macon. Paths of individual tornadoes could not be identified.
F2	Rienzi to Corinth	Prentiss, Alcorn	0630	5 miles (8.0 km)	2 deaths — Tornado killed two people as it reportedly leveled the entire town of Rienzi. Was not rated higher due to poor building standards in the rural South at that time.
Alabama
F2	Near Florence	Lauderdale	0700	unknown	3 deaths — Tornado destroyed seven barns and 20 homes, killing three children.
F2	W of Decatur to near Meridianville	Morgan, Limestone, Madison	0730	40 miles (64 km)	3 deaths — Tornado destroyed numerous sharecroppers' tenant homes, other homes, and an Episcopal church. Probably a tornado family. Two of the deceased were children.
F2	E of Talladega to Heflin	Talladega, Clay, Cleburne	0900	35 miles (56 km)	Tornado destroyed 12 rural homes near Talladega. May have been a tornado family as two tornadoes were observed 1 mi (1.6 km) apart and the path was not continuous.
F4	E of Fulton to Lower Peach Tree	Clarke, Wilcox	1030	13 miles (21 km)	27 deaths — Tornado began at Scyrene and destroyed 100 homes at Lower Peach Tree, with F4 damage to about 20 well-built homes. All deaths at Lower Peach Tree. Tornado damage $100,000 with major flood damage after the tornado. Total losses from tornado and flood at least $200,000. Path .25 mi (0.40 km) wide.
F2	E of Camden	Wilcox	1100	12 miles (19 km)	1 death — Tornado began from the same supercell thunderstorm that produced the Lower Peach Tree tornado.
Sources: Grazulis 1991

March 23 event

F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Nebraska
F3	W of Craig to NW of Blencoe, IA	Burt (NE), Monona (IA)	2300	15 miles (24 km)	Tornado hit rural areas; 12 farms damaged and 11 homes destroyed in Nebraska. Also caused damage in Iowa.
F4	SE of Mead to W of Logan, IA	Saunders, Douglas, Washington (NE), Harrison (IA)	2330	55 miles (89 km)	22 deaths — Tornado destroyed southern side of Yutan, Nebraska, killing 17 people, half of them children. Destroyed 40 homes plus four churches in Nebraska; losses nearly $100,000 in the state. Two deaths in Iowa.
F3	Near Havelock, Lincoln, to E of Greenwood	Lancaster, Cass	2330	15 miles (24 km)	Tornado destroyed homes along its path as it hit Prairie Home and passed east of Greenwood. Parent thunderstorm later spawned the F4 Omaha tornado.
F4	Ralston to SE of Beebeetown, IA	Sarpy, Douglas (NE), Pottawattamie (IA), Harrison, Shelby	2345	40 miles (64 km)	103 deaths — See section on this tornado. Photographs indicated possible F5 damage at Omaha but may have reflected clean-up efforts, so only F4 rating was assigned.
F4	Bellevue to SE of Harlan, IA	Sarpy (NE), Pottawattamie (IA), Harrison, Shelby	0015	48 miles (77 km)	25 deaths — Likely tornado family hit southern section of Council Bluffs, causing 17 deaths in small homes. Other deaths at Gilliat (two), east of Weston (two), and near Neola (three), all in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. One final death southeast of Harlan. Final 15 mi (24 km) in the track probably a separate tornado. Losses $400,000.
F4	S of Douglas to near Macedonia, IA	Otoe, Cass (NE), Mills (IA), Pottawattamie	0015	60 miles (97 km)	18 deaths — Longest-lived, continuous tornado of the outbreak; caused F4 damage to many farms northwest of Syracuse, Nebraska, along with major damage to Otoe, then called Berlin, and 12 deaths there; losses $250,000 at Otoe. Entered Iowa after passing through Rock Bluff, Nebraska. More F4 damage to farms in Mills County, Iowa, with three deaths north of Bartlett and two more southeast of Glenwood.
F2	Burchard	Pawnee	0100	5 miles (8.0 km)	Tornado unroofed and destroyed a school and four homes.
Louisiana
F2	NW of Saline	Bienville	0100	6 miles (9.7 km)	1 death — Tornado hit and destroyed tenant homes along with a large estate. Another deadly tornado may have hit Bossier Parish.
Indiana
F4	N of Prairieton to Terre Haute	Vigo, Clay	0230	22 miles (35 km)	21 deaths — Tornado destroyed or damaged 300 homes and produced F4 damage to a five-block swath in southern Terre Haute. All 21 deaths in Terre Haute with downburst damage in nearby communities. Major floods followed the tornado, causing 12 more deaths at Terre Haute and 260 in other areas. Total damage $1,000,000.
Missouri
F4	SW of Savannah to E of Albany	Andrew, Gentry, Harrison	0230	45 miles (72 km)	2 deaths — Tornado killed two people as it passed just southeast of Flag Springs. F4-level damage north of King City and south of Darlington, with damage to 30 farms in Gentry County. Occurred at the same time as the F4 Terre Haute tornado.
Sources: Grazulis 1991

Omaha tornado

This section is about the 1913 tornado. For the 1975 tornado, see Omaha Tornado of 1975.

1913 Omaha Easter Sunday tornado
Photograph of tornado damage in Omaha
Date:	March 23, 1913
Time:	6:00 p.m. Central Time
Rating:	F4 tornado
Damages:	$8 million
Casualties:	103 (94 in Omaha)
Area affected:	Omaha, Nebraska

The Omaha Easter Sunday tornado struck Omaha, Nebraska, at approximately 6:00 p.m. on March 23, 1913. A massive tornado-producing storm ripped its way through Nebraska, and through the thriving city of Omaha. The storm's path was reported as being 40 miles long and from 1/4- to 1/2-mile wide, and included 8 distinct tornadoes.

Outbreak death toll

State	Total
Alabama	34
Georgia	1
Indiana	21
Iowa	33
Louisiana	1
Mississippi	14
Missouri	2
Nebraska	135
Totals	241
All deaths were tornado-related

At 5:45 p.m. a tornado touched down near Kramer. This tornado raced northeast and reached the outskirts of Omaha around 6:00 p.m. The Omaha tornado followed the path of Little Papillion Creek as it entered the city. It moved through the west side of town alongside the Missouri Pacific Railroad, destroying the small workers cottages in the area. The tornado was so strong that steel train cars were later found pierced by pieces of shattered lumber from the demolished homes.

By the time the tornado reached Dewey Avenue it was five blocks wide. When it reached Farnam Hill, the tornado followed a shallow valley through this upscale neighborhood. The large mansions of Farnam were no match for the winds, and many houses were torn to pieces, along with several in the Gold Coast Historic District including the Joslyn Castle, which sustained considerable damage. Buildings were found chopped in half, pipes and supports dangling into space, such as the Duchesne Academy which was nearly obliterated.

At North 24th and Lake Streets in the Near North Side neighborhood a large African American crowd was enjoying an Easter Sunday performance when the tornado flattened the building and killed more than two dozen people. Other brick structures in this small commercial district took similar hits, and more people died here than in any other part of Omaha.

A streetcar running down North 24th Street in North Omaha encountered the tornado near this area. Thanks to the quick actions of operator Ord Hensley, every passenger on the streetcar survived. Later, photographers would spot the wrecked machine and would call it the "Streetcar of Death," imagining that no one on board could have survived given the immense damage.

The F4 tornado skirted the downtown area and moved over the Missouri River into Council Bluffs. By this time it was losing intensity, and although Council Bluffs sustained damage, it escaped the destruction the tornado had brought to Omaha.

The only warning anyone had was a sudden and sharp fall in barometric pressure and temperature. Few had time to seek shelter.

Impact

In all, 103 people died, 94 of which were in Omaha, and another 400 were injured. In the aftermath of the tornado, a cold front moved into Omaha and caused further misery, as newly homeless residents struggled to escape the snowy weather.

Reportedly, 2,000 homes in Omaha alone were destroyed, with $8 million total damage from the storm, $5.5 million of which was in Omaha (financial damage estimates vary; the NOAA reports more damage than this). The same storm system that struck Nebraska also created a huge dust storm in Topeka, Kansas. On Sunday night, it spawned another deadly tornado in Terre Haute, Indiana, killing 21. On Monday and Tuesday, the storm brought heavy rains to the Midwest and upstate New York, causing widespread flooding.

Remarkably, operators from the Webster Telephone Exchange Building did not leave their stations either during or after the tornado. The building was used as an infirmary for the wounded and dying, with physicians and nurses coming from area hospitals. US Army troops from Fort Omaha set up headquarters in the building, as soldiers patrolled the area for looters and to offer assistance.

Initially, James Dahlman, the longtime mayor of Omaha, refused assistance from any outside sources, including the federal government. However, he requited after seeing the extent of the damage throughout the city. The federal government poured in assistance soon after. The massive damage caused by the tornado inspired new engineering techniques aimed at creating a tornado-proof edifice. The first such building was the First National Bank of Omaha building, built in 1916 at 1603 Farnam Street. The 14-story building was built in a "U"-shape.

See also

• Disaster Books - Omaha Easter Sunday Tornado
• Great Dayton Flood
• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• List of tornadoes causing 100 or more deaths
• List of tornadoes striking downtown areas
• Timeline of North Omaha, Nebraska history

Bibliography

• Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. Environmental Films. ISBN 1-879362-03-1. 
• — (2003). The Tornado: Nature’s Ultimate Windstorm. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0. 

References

• Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. I, ed. Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris (New York: Anchor Books, 1989).

External links

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• (n.d.) Omaha's Terrible Evening. Tragic Story of America's Greatest Disaster.