Volume 15 , Issue 20

April, 1892 - Windswept States of Kansas, Nebraska Missouri and Iowa

Back in April, 1892, Saturday morning, a terrible commotion of elements laid to waste a wide section of the country, which included Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa.

The Los Angeles Herald, dated 2 April 1892, spoke of awful havoc wrought along Missouri river. Butler county, Kansas seemed to have suffered the greatest havoc. Tonawanda was wiped off the face of the earth, and Augusta, a few miles distant, buffeted out of all resemblance to its former self.

In Tonawanda the town was asleep when the storm swept down, and not a house or building was left standing. The storm razed everything in its path, and left dead bodies lying in its wake. Four have already been recovered from the ruins searched. Twenty persons were fatally injured and forty more or less seriously, besides a large number slightly.

From indications the storm swept across the country from Indian territory through Barbour, Frazier, Sumner and Butler counties, carrying away villages and farm houses as it swept along,a nd the tornado continued in Kansas and NOrthwestern Missouri, but was less destructive.

Nebraska Cyclone

Omaha, Neb., April 1, 1892 -- The telegraph wires all over the state were prostrated, and it was difficult to obtain news of the extent of the last night's storm. The Western Union had one but one wire in operation in Nebraska, that being along the Elkhorn road. A dispatch to the Bee fromNorfolk, in the northern part of the state, says a cyclone struck there just before midnight and did much damage. If this was the same storm that devastated Nelson, the destruction between these points must have been very great, and the storm must have traversed 150 miles of the richest farming section, dotted with small cities and villages. In Omaha, it was still blowing and the wires were down on all sides as this news story was reported.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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