Cyclone Hits the West Notch

learay — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:09:38 +0000

On July 12, 1884 a cyclone passed over this portion of Allegany County and struck the farm of Alonzo Mead, on the West Notch Road. Mrs. Mead was preparing a codfish for cooking. A tin dipper stood on the table, and on a nail in the wall hung a pair of hickory overalls. Mr. Mead was standing in his barn door talking with Farmer Wightman, a neighbor, who had driven into the barn with his wife to wait until the shower they supposed was coming up had passed over. Suddenly there came a loud roaring from the direction of Southwest Hill and Farmer Mead saw first a grove of of large maples coming toward the barn and house, in the air, carried along by what seemed to be a funnel-shaped cloud of black smoke. A half second later nearly all the trees in Mead’s orchard had mingled with the flying maple grove and all were rushing along at a frightful velocity. Farmer Mead started to run to the house to warn his wife. He was caught up on his way by the whirling mass and carried with it a hundred yards and deposited in a rye field. Simultaneously the house and barn were lifted up and carried along in crashing fragments with the whirlwind. The passing of the cyclone was but momentary. Not more than five seconds elapsed from the time it was first seen sweeping from down from Southwest Hill by Farm Mead until it had disappeared in the northeast. Mead was uninjured by his sudden journey through the air, and as soon as he could recover himself he ran toward the ruins of his house, expecting to find his wife crushed to death or borne away. Only a small portion of the house was left standing. Mrs. Mead was in the cellar, where she had hurried at the approach of the hurricane and was uninjured. Mead found Farmer Wightman and his wife imprisoned by heavy timers in the barn. A pile of hay and caught the timbers at the end and prevented them falling with full weight on the farmer and his wife. They were both held firmly beneath the timbers, however, and Mrs. Wightman was badly hurt. To lift one end of the timbers today Farmer Mead says he would require the aid of at least two men, but on that day he raised them alond and threw the ends up on a beam four feet high and rescued his neighbors from their perilous situation. How he managed to handle the heavy timbers he is unable to explain.

Every piece of furniture was carried out of Farmer Mead’s house. Fragments of it have been found along the course of the cyclone as far as a mile away. On Wednesday parties who were searching in the woods for missing cattle three miles from Mead’s farm found hanging in a tree a codfish and a pair of hickory overalls, and lying on the ground beneath the tree was a tin dipper. These have been identified as the fish Mrs. Mead was preparing when the cyclone came along, the dipper that stood on the table, and the garmet that hung on the wall. They are the the only articles that Farmer Mead has recovered intact.

The three children of Stewart Shinebarger were playing in the yard when the cyclone appeared. After the storm had passed search was made for them. They had been carried over a hundred feet and thrown against a barbed wire fense, where they were found entangled, with their clothing nearly all torn from them and their flesh badly lacerated by the sharp barbs in the fence.

This article was published in the New York Times on July 13, 1884

Snow? Oh No!

learay — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:11:02 +0000

Residents woke up this morning to 5″ of snow. What an unexpected surprise for everyone.

When In Wirt » weather

Cyclone Hits the West Notch

Snow? Oh No!