Somerset, Pennsylvania Storm
May
1, 1911
A HEAVY STORM STRUCK SOMERSET
Damage Done Yesterday Afternoon is Estimated at
$30,000
NEW BUILDINGS BLOWN DOWN
New Garage, Ice Plant and Portion of Power House
Collapse In Face of the Gale – Wind and Hail
Damage Window Panes
A heavy storm, apparently local in character,
struck central Somerset county yesterday
afternoon about 3:45. It did damage estimated at
$30,000. The property loss was severe although
no one was reported injured. The storm came from
the west. The high wind was accompanied by hail,
rain, thunder and lightning. Scarcely a window
on any western exposure in the town escaped
damage. Some of them were riddled by hail and
others blown in by the force of the wind and
rain.
The walls of the new garage of the Somerset
Automobile & Garage Company, in which are
interested F. W.
Blosecker, George P. Stein, George R. Scull
and others, collapsed. The new plant
of the Somerset Ice & Supply Company was also
blown down. A portion of the power house was
damaged. The Somerset County Trust Company’s
building was partially unroofed.
The storm continued for half an hour. About
50 trees in Edgewood Grove were uprooted and the
grandstand and bungalows damaged. Farms
adjoining town were damaged, many barns being
unroofed. In Somerset borough scores of tin
roofs were blown off.
One house, that of
Edward Qucor, was blown from its
foundation and other buildings in the vicinity
were shaken and moved several inches.
The Daily Courier, Connellsville, PA 2 May 1911
HIGH WIND SPREADS RUIN
Somerset, PA., Buildings Damaged, Trees
Uprooted, and Pupils Panic-Stricken
Somerset, PA., May 1. –A terrific wind storm
with cyclonic features, that accompanied a
thunderstorm late this afternoon, shattered
windows, moved houses and barns from their
foundations, uprooted trees, and lifted cattle
from fields, depositing them in a heap a hundred
feet or more away.
The large brick structure of the Somerset Ice
Company was demolished and the machinery was
twisted into a pile of junk. The roofs of the
Somerset Trust Company and the Farmers National
Bank buildings were torn off and the electric
light plant was crushed in by the wind pressure.
Hundreds of acres of timber and orchards were
leveled.
Hundreds of windows in two schoolhouses were
blown in, causing a stampede of the children,
but they were quieted by the teachers before any
injuries were sustained. It is estimated the
wind blew 60 miles an hour.
The Washington Post, Washington, DC 2 May 1911
Articles transcribed by
Michelle. Thank you,
Michelle!
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