Newspapers of Tornado Reports
Looking at the history of tornadoes in America, you can see the lack of care the U.S. government has for its citizens.
Though it is known that areas along the Eastern side of the country are hotspots for tornado activity, there is a lack of preventative action taken to mitigate damage and loss of life. Even in the twentieth and twenty-first century, areas ROUTINELY affected by tornadoes do not have codes denoting where it is safe to live, how to even build tornado-resistant structures, or simply demanding public tornado shelters for a community to use.
These actions are not taken due to the U.S. government refusing to put a large amount of money into long-term plans, instead allowing people and buildings to be swept away. With tariffs placed on lumber by the Trump administration, this is not expected to get better and instead cause further displacement.
Communities in the nineteenth and twenty-first century both experience structural failures when faced with tornadic winds, yet what is causing hardship is vastly different. Imagine the shock of nineteenth-century individuals when they realise that the twenty-first century individual is capable of avoiding destruction, yet is still dying from the government's intentional neglect.
Showcase
To show how the government refuses to learn from past mistakes, the following is newspaper clippings from the nineteenth century that report the destruction specific tornadoes wrought. To not murder your eyes with the amount of words, yellow highlight has been added over sentences that indicate this concept.
Title
Dreadful Calamity!
Description
Within this newspaper clipping, a tornado is described as touching down in Charleston, South Carolina. As the highlighted area shows, this tornado was believed to be unprecedented, adding to the horror of being unprepared. During its path, the tornado unroofed several houses, which David Prevatt reveals is a prominent factor in the destruction of houses and subsequent death of its inhabitants. The lack of information on tornadoes causes further fear with the destruction of sturdier brick houses. Meanwhile, the damage is placed before the lives lost, showing how property damage is seen as more important.
Title
New Orleans Tornado!
Description
This newspaper reports a tornado in New Orleans. In the beginning, emphasis is placed on the buildings destroyed and carried away by the tornadic winds, one roof being carried for nearly 100 yards. The newspaper also states that many of the houses were literally levelled, which is a continued issue as Prevatt proves with the cleared slabs left by the Joplin tornado of 2011. The next paragraph reveals what Paulikas argues is a driving force in fatalities, as tornadic winds send debris flying with a piece of timber piercing through a brick wall.
Title
Tremendous Tornado
Description
In this newspaper, a tornado strikes a path through Washington, Westmoreland, and Alleghany. Many lives would have been lost if not for the warning of an elderly individual who tells his community to take shelter within their cellars. This is especially necessary, as nothing is left in the tornado’s wake, indicating its power. What is important here is that, when given warning and able to access shelter, these individuals were able to survive. Twenty-first century individuals should take notice of this example of cause and effect.
Title
Dreadful Tornado!
Description
This newspaper reports a tornado touching down in Tuscaloosa, which historically has seen incredible destructive tornadoes such as the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham Tornado in 2011. In 1842, this tornado caused more than 20 structures to be destroyed, despite their varying styles of construction, some of which being built with brick. The mass destruction is described as leaving the village a heap of ruins, echoing the destruction left behind after the Joplin tornado of 2011. After this ravaging, the newspaper calls for assistance from fellow citizens and not the government, understanding that the government will not help much like nowadays.
Title
A Tornado near Niagara Falls
Description
This tornado touched down near Niagara Falls, which is unusual at the time, though may become more common with climate change. The tornado was violent enough to twist large trees, making it significantly intense. Many buildings are described as being unroofed and destroyed, amounting to about $20,000 in damages from possible loadpath failures. It is later on described how two individuals who did not have adequate shelter were injured, one of them fatally, due to the tornado collapsing their structure. Meanwhile, a suspension bridge being constructed survives the winds even as the tornado blew away the workers; crazy, right?
Title
Terrible Tornado!
Description
This tornado is described as causing nearly $500,000 worth of damages during its path, despite only lasting fifteen minutes. The newspaper describes how quickly the weather turned, revealing the clues that indicate a tornado will form with the sun heating up the atmosphere while stirring up the cool air. Due to the fair weather, many people were caught away from any form of shelter when the tornado struck, emphasising the modern importance of having tornado warnings and watches. A multitude of lives were lost due to the structural failure of the buildings they were sheltering in, a continuous issue.
Title
A Fearful Tornado!
Description
This tornado touched down in Sussex and spread destruction across multiple counties. Its tornadic winds were powerful enough to lift an entire house off its foundation, leaving behind only the sills and putting the tornado’s intensity at incredibly strong. One woman is noted to be severely injured to the possible point of fatality, wherein the assault of the debris carried by the tornado caused her collarbone to break and several ribs to fracture. Furthermore, the tornado tore up a large tree by the roots, destroyed nearly each house it came upon, and carried away the community’s provisions, causing total eradication.
Title
The Iowa Tornado.
Description
This newspaper describes a tornado as it tore a path from Dakota to Lake Michigan in Iowa. In its wake, the tornado caused the death of sixty-nine people and injured five hundred with one hundred fatally wounded. These numbers would likely have been higher nowadays due to the suburban communities that use the spaces known for tornadoes. A constant thread here is the severity of night tornadoes, which cause more deaths due to unawareness. This newspaper notes that the lack of cellars in many buildings was the driving force in the fatality rates, while buildings with cellars had less fatality.