1903 Gainesville tornado
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| Type | tornado |
|---|---|
| Formed | June 1, 1903 |
| Duration | ≤2 minutes |
| Tornadoes confirmed | ≥1 |
| Fatalities | 98 |
| Damage | $1000000 (1903 USD) |
| Areas affected | Gainesville, Georgia |
In 1903 a tornado in Gainesville, Georgia killed 98 people.[1][2][3] The tornado lasted approximately two minutes, and struck a trail roughly four miles long. It skirted the south of the city, starting in the southwest and proceeding northeast, passing through a natural depression roughly 100 feet lower than the city itself. The area was inhabited by a number of cotton mills.[4]
The tornado, initially appearing along the train track was at first thought to be smoke from a train. The tornado struck a cotton mill at 12:45, ripping off the top floor where a number of children were working, many of them among the fatalities. The power of the tornado ripped an iron cupola from an approximately 40 feet diameter standpipe, crushing a number of people when it fell to earth.[4]
The tornado also damaged the Gainesville Iron Works and track, signals and freight cars of the Southern Railway Company, before destroying approximately 70 of the 120 cottages inhabited by workers at the Pacolet Mills in New Holland, and occupied at the time by young children and the elderly. In total, 98 people were killed, with reports indicating up to 190 people injured. The number of people harmed was reduced due to many workers attending picnics away from the site at the time.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Johnny Vardeman (March 21, 2016). "Johnny Vardeman: 113 years ago, another tornado took deadly toll on Gainesville". Gainesville Times. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "85 ARE KILLED BY GEORGIA TORNADO; City of Gainesville Wrecked Within Two Minutes. FIRE AMONG THE RUINS Cotton Mill Operatives Buried Under Machines -- Majority of Victims Women and Children -- 200 Houses Demolished". The New York Times. 1903-06-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
- ^ "25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes". www.spc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
- ^ a b c Marbury, J. B. (June 1903). "TORNADO AT GAINESVILLE, GA., JUNE 1, 1903". Monthly Weather Review. 31 (6): 268–269. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1903)31[268b:TAGGJ]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0027-0644. Retrieved 2023-03-30.