100 years ago this month: The Omaha Easter Tornado of 1913

They called it the Devil Cloud. At about 6:00 pm on March 23, 1913 the “Easter Sunday Tornado” struck Omaha and cut a swath from 49th & Poppleton Sts. through Carter Lake to Council Bluffs Iowa.  140 citizens were killed and 400 injured. News of Omaha’s disaster went out on the only surviving telegraph wire — the Omaha Daily News. It remains one of Omaha’s greatest distasters, killing at least 150 people and injuring many more. This account from the March 25th 1913 EXTRA editon of the Omaha Daily Bee shows a map of the storm’s path. The Idlewild Club  at 2307 North 24th Street was the scene of the greatest loss  of life. The owner, C. W. Dillard, and 13 customers were killed as they tried  to take shelter on the south side of the pool hall’s basement. The victims were crushed by falling debris or overcome by smoke from fires begun when woodstoves used for heating overturned. The postcard image shows the slow process of  removing the debris to recover the bodies. The victims were then removed to the Webster Telephone Exchange Building at 2213 Lake Street. This image of a house wrecked and burned  at  26th & Patrick Avenue in northeast Omaha illustrates the danger. Fire was breaking out along the corridor of destruction. Entire police and fire  departments from Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, were called to the scene. They fought the fires along Franklin and Decatur streets 3 blocks south of Patrick Avenue for nearly an hour. Firemen carried hoses because trucks could not reach the flames. Heavy rain fell after 8 p.m. and by 9 p.m. the houses were  smoldering ruins.  The piano sitting out front may be the only thing that was saved. The Sacred Heart Convent immediately to the south of Bemis Park suffered heavy damage. The color postcard of the Academy of the Sacred Heart shows what it looked like before the storm. The photograph on the right of the Sacred Heart Academy shows the damage to the side facing Bemis Park.         Many more tornado images    documenting the destruction the tornado caused are in the  Omaha Public Library collection in Nebraska Memories . The 100th anniversary of the Easter Tornado will be featured in an NET television progam called Devil Clouds: Tornadoes Strike Nebraska  to be broadcast March 22nd. Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials. Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.