Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA
1898 - TORNADO AT FORT SMITH. About Forty People Were Killed and Scores Injured.
The Wind Swept Through the City, Clearing a Wide Path,
Crushing Dwellings, Churches and Big Business Blocks,
Burying the Inmates Under Piles of Brick and Timbers.
Fire Broke Out and Consumed Many of the Victims,
Who Had Been Imprisoned by the Falling Debris.
Other Sections of Arkanas Feel the Effects of the Blow - The Long List of Identified Dead.
Fort Smith, Ark., Jan. 12. - Two score of human lives and upward of $1,000,000 worth of property were destroyed by a terrible tornado which burst upon this city a few minutes past 11 o'clock last night. The storm struck near the National cemetery and tore its way through the entire city, leaving its path marked by death and desolation. Men, women and children, peacefully asleep in their homes, were, without a moment's warning, awakened to a horrible death in the fearful storm, while others, momentarily more fortunate and who escaped the furies of the wind, met a far worse fate a few moments later in the flames which soon engulfed many of the wrecked buildings...
The scene following the first terrible crash of the storm was one of awful grandeur. Business blocks, handsome mansions, hotels and humble cottages were razed to the ground and scattered in shapeless masses. Several of the wrecks caught fire and the inflammable timber burned furiously.
The city was crowded with rural visitors, many of whom were sleeping at boarding-houses, unregistered. For this reason the number of victims who perished in Fort Smith last night might never be definitely known.
The storm struck the city near the National cemetery and swept its way through the heart of town. Leaving Fort Smith, it bounded by Van Buren and continued down the river, demolishing everything in its path. News from outside points is not yet at hand, but rumors of much damage as far south as Alma have reached here, it is being reported that a number of persons were killed near that place.
It is now thought that all the persons in the storm-wrecked buildings have been accounted for.
The citizens' relief committee has $10,000 on hand for assisting sufferers. President Robinson, of the 'Frisco Railroad, unsolicited, sent his check for $1000. The Missouri Pacific Railroad also contributed $1000.
Business is practically abandoned all over the city, and men of all classes are assisting in clearing away the debris...
The Times-Picayune
New Orleans, Louisiana
January 13, 1898
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