view raw text
FORTY-FOUR TORNADO DEAD Figure Given as Minimum Number Dying in Terrific Wind Storm in Arkansas Damage Heavy. MONTICELLO, Ark., April 17 Forty-four persons were known to have been killed, fears were felt for scores of others still unaccounted for today and between 100 and 125 victims were injured, many severely, by catastrophic tornadoes which ripped through four southwestern states over the week-end. In one instance, at Center Point, Ark., the twister hit with such fury that the town was believed to have been demolished. One report was that nothing was left of Center Point, in eastern Arkansas, but a "hole in the ground." Information reaching Monticello today from Center Point, stated twenty-three persons were killed there, thirteen of the victims dying when the freak wind struck a church where a funeral service had just been concluded. Eight persons died in Louisiana in another heavy blow. Six were killed in Texas and seven were injured fatally in Oklahoma. In almost every damaged town the announced death toll was considered the minimum. Search continued for others missing and feared dead. Property damage over the area was expected to exceed ,000,000. Telephone and telegraph systems were disrupted, further hampering a complete report of damage wrought. The storms began Friday and continued through Saturday and Sunday. The first twister roared into Oklahoma from the Southwest, zigzagged through rural Woods County and then blew itself out near the Kansas border. Seven persons died. The tornado cut a swath about a mile wide for more than fifty miles.
