A horse owned by Rev. of those most seriously hurt: Esq. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, May 1 1909, PAGE 4, "NOLENSVILLE SECTION": NOLENSVILLE, April 30. CYCLONE BRINGS DEATH AND DESTRUCTION Many Lives and Much Property Lost in Giles County. About 75 homes were damaged or destroyed at Centerville, and losses totaled over $100,000. Great injury was done forests. This tornado is estimated to have touched down in Fentress County southwest of Gatewood Ford Road just west of the Morgan County border, then moved northeast to near where the Crooked Creek and Clear Fork meet destroying a sawmill (F1), and then on into Morgan County. J. M. Colston and wife, near Fayetteville. "Storm's Dead Total 93." 10-18-1909, p. 2. Tornado outbreak of late-April 1909 - Wikipedia FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 1 1909, PAGE 4, "DEKALB COUNTY": ALEXANDRIA, Tenn., April 30 - A destructive wind of high velocity accompanied with much lightning and the largest hail ever known here struck the section of the country from Statesville to Smith Fork, traveling east. Hardest-hit areas were in and around Pulaski, Bryson and Fayetteville. Henry Frate, colored, who lived on Finis Brown's farm, was so badly hurt that he may not recover. The residence of Rush Brown, four miles from town, was razed to the ground and Mrs. Brown dangerously injured by the falling of the roof. FROM THE NASHVILLE AMERICAN, MAY 4 1909, PAGE 5, "THREE CHURCHES DESTROYED": ALEXANDRIA, Tenn., May 3. M. Gilbert, 1909 Natural Disasters: 1909 Atlantic Hurricane Season, 1909 Earthquakes, Tornadoes Of 1909, Late-April 1909 Tornado Outbreak|LLC Books . References National Weather Service. SHAMBURGER (2016): Based on the narrative by Grazulis and the reports in the Nashville American, the path of this tornado was adjusted to begin on the Humphreys County border around 9 miles west of Dickson, pass between Tennessee City and Dickson, go through Charlotte, and end between Charlotte and Bellsburg. The 77 killer tornadoes recorded in the year 1909 marked an all-time yearly record for the number of killer tornadoes, a total that was only equaled in the year 1917. Four people are known to be dead and two are missing, supposed to have been blown away as their home was demolished. We hear that considerable damage was done in the south part of the county, that a large amount of timber was blown down near Gatewood Ford on Clear Fork and that the Tennessee Lumber and Coal Co.'s saw mill near the mouth of Crooked Creek was demolished. Thousands of trees were downed and cattle were killed. From the foot of the mountain, near Wonder Cave, half way to the top, two-thirds of the large trees are down. From almost every section of Tennessee are reports of fatalities and property loss, while Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and even Indiana and Illinois report touches of the cyclone. John Lee's barn was blown over. The storm was about two miles south of Alexandria, and the following farmers had their barns demolished entirely or unroofed: James Dinwiddle, J. S. Turner, J. D. Griffith, Oby Jenkins, G. G. Gibbs, Vick Groom, Bob Vannatta, John Midgett (two), Mort Foutch, and Hanison Self. Ab Hays, of Nashville, who was visiting Joe Rosson's family, near Port Royal, was seriously hurt by timbers, and died this morning. Columbia, Tenn., April 20. Mrs. Berry (sic) Prosser, near Fayetteville; fatally injured. The homes of Mrs. John Brown and William McAdoo were blown down, and part of the home of B. M. Peebles was blown away. It is miraculous that there was no more personal injuries, as this was the worst storm ever seen in this part of the State. One hundred trees were blown across the Rugby Pike, delaying the mails that day, for it was next to impossible to get through. [1] A family of tornadoes also affected later Hickman and Williamson Counties southwest of Nashville and later moved into Cookeville and Putnam Counties. So one family that lived here in Bee Spring near the cemetery lost seven members of the family including the mother and six children. The house was completely torn to pieces. - Dickson County was swept by a terrific storm last night, and as a result more than fifty houses lay wrecked today, and the damage to property will run far up into the thousands of dollars. GRAZULIS: Moved NE from 9 miles W of Dickson to Charlotte and on to Bellsburg. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. A thorough reading of newspaper articles came up with a total of 17 deaths and 43 injuries, with 9 deaths and 32 injuries in Hickman County and 8 deaths and 11 injuries in Williamson County. At least 695 . Bud Guffey, his wife, and two chidlren. In addition to those killed outright many were more or less seriously injured. The cyclone wrecked the house and killed Mrs. McGrew and six children, while Mr. McGrew, a son and a baby escaped with serious injuries. Affecting particularly the Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys, it killed over 150 people, 60 of them in the U.S. state of Tennessee alone. The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. Following are some of the more serious losses: Lee Smith, house and barn; J. S. Bryan, house and barn; Werner Stevenson, house and barn; W. H. Watson, house and barn; Otha Young, house and barn; W. S. McLaurine, house and barn; Irby Scruggs, residence, outhouses and tenant houses; - barn escaped, Mrs. Eliza Wilkinson, residence; Hood Wilkinson, orchard, shop and barn, resident damaged, but not wrecked; T. J. Hardy, residence and barn; Ike Shapard, gin, The Scruggs' school house, near Conway, and the school house and church at Bee Spring were utterly swept away. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) The deadliest tornado outbreak ever in Middle Tennessee struck the region from the evening hours of April 29, 1909, through the night and into the next day on April. It touched down during the dead of night between 10 and 11PM. Large trees were torn and twisted from the roots, and in some places scarcely a tree was left uninjured in a whole forest. "April 29, 1909 Tornado Outbreak." Undated. Mrs. Speight, one mile from Charlotte, suffered a severe loss. In its course from Rudolphtown to the Robertson County line the storm put out the eyes of several mules and other stock at Hinton, blew down the residence and stable of Joe Rosson, blew away the residence of Mrs. Ella Rosson and blew her over 100 yards. There is no information about the tornado path from Lascassas into Wilson County, so the tornado is estimated to have lifted somewhere southwest of Statesville. [4], List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks, "Tornadoes, with Special Reference to Those That Have Occurred in Tennessee", "A tornado climatology of middle Tennessee (1830-2003)", "The Forgotten F5: The Lawrence County Supercell During the Middle Tennessee Tornado Outbreak of 16 April 1998", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tornado_outbreak_of_late-April_1909&oldid=1076670277, Tornado destroyed two homes about 7mi (11km) south of, Tornado transported a tank weighing 1,300. A portion of the residence of Mrs. Alice Estes was blown away. 30 - A heavy and disastrous cyclone passed through this section last night between the hours of eleven and twelve o'clock and struck one-quarter of a mile west of Franklin, killing an old negro woman and injuring three of her children, two of which may die. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The young son of J. L. Cox, who lives on Hervey Whitfield's farm in District No. Jeff Dunnivant, a tenant on Irby Scruggs' place and his family escaped from the wreckage of their home with only slight injuries, but not a fragment of anything was left to the family, except the night clothes in which they were sleeping. On Lick Creek the house of Frank Hunter was badly wrecked and one member of his family blown for a short distance without serious injury. In the end, this first tornado, an F3, cut a path 45-miles long through Hickman, Maury, and Williamson counties. The old Henry Wade residence, a two-story frame buildings, was demolished, and also several cabins on the place. Will Hudson, another farmer near Charlotte, lost his barn, and had several head of stock crippled by the storm. A heavy storm raged here throughout the night. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. National Weather Service. This large outbreak of tornadoes included an EF3 tornado that caused significant damage to homes, business, schools and infrastructure in Jacksboro, Texas. W. S. McLaurine's baby were also killed. The tornado was a mile wide at times, and its winds reached 300 mph, putting it at the top of the Fujita scale for tornado intensity. The parent supercell thunderstorm continued on to produce additional tornadoes in Scott County. The F-scale rating, location and path width are estimated from the reported damage. Mrs. Berry (sic) Prosser, near Fayetteville; fatally injured. This tornado was reported to occur over 2 hours after the Dickson County tornado, so it does not appear they are part of the same tornado or were produced by the same supercell, although that is certainly possible if the reported time is incorrect. 1909: Middle Tennessee's deadliest tornado outbreak North of Memphis, Tennessee, two F3 tornadoes killed a total of 22 from Crittenden County, Arkansas, to Carroll County, Tennessee. Striking the residence of Prof. W. H. Hooks it blew away all of his residence except the kitchen, his stable, outbuildings and shade trees. The tornado likely began in Humphreys County based on the information by Grazulis and the Nashville American. So far as reported, no lives were lost, but on the farm of Mrs. Charles Ward all of the outhouses were blown away and a Mr. Gannon and his wife were injured. Six people were killed in Hickman County, along a track through Shipps Bend, Centerville, and Little Tot. The home of Wilson Estes was also destroyed, together with the livery barn of Russell Estes, owner of Primm Springs Hotel. Tri-State Tornado of 1925 was deadliest in U.S. history - The The timbers in front of the hotel were laid waste, some of which fell on the hotel, doing considerable damage to the building. GRAZULIS: Moved ENE from 4 miles SW of Nolensville, passing south of Smyrna, just north of Walterhill and ending near Statesville. As soon as neighbors could be informed of the disaster, they hastened to the relief of the suffering. Damage: The path of the cyclone at this point is about 300 yards wide, and was accompanied by a heavy rain and thunder and electrical display. The two main outbreaks alone were responsible for at least 145 of these tornadoes. GRAZULIS: The entire town of Statesville had severe downburst damage. It was around 10:15 p.m. when the first of these tornadoes came rolling out of Hickman County into the White Oak area, just across the county line. Jeff Dunnivant, a tenant on Irby Scruggs' place and his family escaped from the wreckage of their home with only slight injuries, but not a fragment of anything was left to the family, except the night clothes in which they were sleeping. Elk River is higher than ever before. At Trinity, about seven miles west of here, the damage is beyond description. The barn of William Gillam was blown down and his house twisted. The creeks are out of banks and all the farm work of the spring is practically lost. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Despite the significant damage, death and injuries, this tornado was not included in Grazulis' book Significant Tornadoes. Several of the injured people who later died were plantation workers. The storm extended over many states inflicting damage on widely scattered communities from the Great Lakes to the Gulf. The second highest number of fatalities occurred from an F-3 tornado with winds of 158 miles per hour or higher that ravaged Hickman and Williamson counties. Another family lost five or six members of its family, as well. Two of the couple's sons were blown over a 20-foot bluff and into a nearby creek. The most frightful wreckage and loss of life occurred in the little valley through which passes the road from Bunker Hill to Bryson, and in which were located the homes of Bud Guffey, Will McGrew, Lee Smith, J. S. Bryson and others. Others moved to towns like Elkton, which is the closest incorporated town to the area, Lancaster said. B. Barnes'. FROM THE PULASKI CITIZEN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ON MAY 6, 1909 "FIFTY HOUSES WRECKED. The tornado destroyed homes on at least three farms and killed an elderly man and a child in separate homes. Four houses are blown down in Franklin. As the storm moved eastward, it cut a path into the Southall community, causing major damage and dealing additional death blows. The tornado is included here with an estimated F2 intensity and 2 injuries based on the destruction of the Bush Brown home south of McEwen. The listing is U.S.-centric, with greater and more consistent information available for U.S. tornadoes. The houses damaged were all unoccupied, except the one destroyed. Spawned by the same thunderstorm that produced the Charleston tornado family. The timber for 250 yards wide in the path of this tornado is down for many miles. Here is information to know, understand and remember; The annual average number of tornadoes reported in Tennessee grew from 11.3 for the 20-year period of 1980-1999 to 18.1 for 2000-2019. One son, Oscar, was hit by falling timbers and considerably bruised. A large warehouse and storehouse were wrecked. The emergency is one which as charitable, sympathetic people, we should take prompt steps to alleviate. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration A colored child on W. R. Anderson's farm was killed, making the fourth death so far reported. One of the heaviest and hardest rains followed by a hail storm; hundreds of trees blown down and nearly all orchards ruined. Please Contact Us. - M. C. NORTHINGTON, Mayor.". Please select one of the following: Nashville (KOHX) Local Standard Radar (low bandwidth), Hopkinsville, KY (KHPX) Local Standard Radar (low bandwidth), Hytop, AL (KHTX) Local Standard Radar (low bandwidth), Columbus, MS (KGWX) Local Standard Radar (low bandwidth), National Radar Standard Radar (low bandwidth), Southern Mississippi Valley Local Standard Radar (low bandwidth), Central Great Lakes Local Standard Radar (low bandwidth), Southeast Local Standard Radar (low bandwidth), State of Tennessee and Middle TN Daily Climate, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.