Hallam, Nebraska Tornado
June
12, 1912
The farms most severely hit in Lancaster
county by the tornado were those of
Chris Keller,
one-half mile east of Hallam;
George Sanserline
[sic], one-half mile west and one mile north of
Hallam; Gus Nelbuhr,
one-half mile west and two miles north of Hallam;
and Alton Vrbsky,
also near Hallam. All of the buildings,
including the residences, were totally destroyed
on these places, and the residents saved
themselves only by taking refuge in their
cellars. Farm machinery and other property was
carried away and scattered over the country, and
much live stock, though the total amount is
unknown, was killed.
On the farm of [illegible]
Schneider,
one-half mile west and three north of Hallam,
the barn and some sheds were destroyed, but the
residence remained standing.
The storm traveled from northwest to southeast,
and in many respects was a tipical [sic]
tornado. Following the general overcasting of
the sky so that it became almost as dark as
twilight, a heavy hail of large stones fell, and
this was followed by the violent wind of the
funnel-shaped cloud which swept a path of about
forty rods in width. The tornado just missed the
town of Hallam, and was witnessed by the
residents of that place and of the neighboring
towns and villages.
The tornado did not move in the direction
that a majority of these storms do. It is seldom
that one travels from northwest to the southeast
as this one did. The prevailing direction is
from southwest to the northeast.
At the weather station it was explained this
morning that all depends on the direction the
wind is blowing at the time that a tornado
originated. As it almost invariably blows from
the southwest when such destructive agencies are
generated, they generally move necessarily in a
northeasterly course.
Lincoln Daily News, Lincoln, NE 15 Jun
1912
Transcribed by Jennifer
Merry. Thanks Jennifer!
 Search
for more information on the Hallam Tornado
and other disasters in the Historic
Newspapers Collection. The number of
newspapers on line has recently doubled - search
over 1000 different newspapers. Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
Search for ancestors in
Hallam, NE among billions of names at ancestry.com. Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
Lincoln Nebraska
State Journal, Lincoln, Nebraska Read it online at ancestry.com.
Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
|
