New Orleans, Dec. 24—A toll of 34 lives was taken by a storm which swept the lower Mississippi valley last night and early today, according to reports received here tonight.
More than 75 were injured, several probably fatally.
Property damage was estimated at more than $300,000.
The villages of Clarksdale, Ark., and Spencer, La., were almost completely destroyed, reports stated. One white man and six negroes were killed at Clarkdale when a store filled with Christmas shoppers collapsed. More than 50 persons were reported injured there. Several negroes, injured there, were taken to Memphis hospitals for treatment, where it was stated several probably would die.
Seven persons were killed at Spencer, La.
In Morehouse Parish, La., Mrs. Mary Spain, white, and six negroes residing on the Spain plantation were killed. Two other members of the Spain family were badly injured.
Thirteen—three whites and 10 negroes—were killed and more than a score injured in Quitman, in Lefloure and Yazoo counties, Mississippi.
The storm first struck in eastern Arkansas and, continuing southward, passed through northwest Mississippi and northern Louisiana. A number of plantations and small farming communities were completely wrecked by the gale which at times reached 75 miles an hour, according to unofficial reports.
With wires down and virtually all communication cut off, reports are only fragmentary.
The village of Spencer, Union parish, 15 miles from Monroe, on the Monroe and Little Rock branch of the Missouri Pacific lines, was practically wiped out. Hardly a building is left standing and seven persons perished. The storm came up suddenly and many families were caught asleep in their homes. Few had time to escape. Many of the injured were hit by falling timbers, which were carried for yards by the wind.
Information of the Spencer disaster was brought to Monroe by Thomas Douglas, who set the number of dead at seven and the injured at 25.
Doctors and nurses were rushed to the little hamlet and relief parties organized for other sections in the path of the storms.
The Spain house on Bayou Bartholomew four miles northwest of Bastrop, Morehouse parish, was completely demolished. Mrs. Mary Spain, wife of Manager Spain of the Tisdale Plantation, on which the house was, and six negroes were killed.
W.L. Wall, agent for the Missouri Pacific at Spencer, and his wife, are reported dying. The depot, a store and five homes were razed. The population of Spencer is only about 100.
In addition to the seven killed, at least two others are near death. A dwelling was torn apart and the contents scattered for miles along both sides of the bayou.
Mrs. Spain was blown for 100 feet from her home against a tree, meeting instant death. Her daughter was blown against her and is in a critical condition. A small son was found some distance away from the home, apparently dead. He was revived, however, but is in a serious condition.
The exact loss of life in Morehouse parish cannot be estimated, but it is believed that the casualties were confined mostly to negroes.
William Turner, white, and four negroes were killed on a plantation near Marks, Miss.
In the town of Marks, swings and posts were blown down and a heavy rain flooded streets and ran into stores, doing much damage. All wires are down on rural telephone lines.
As an aftermath to the tornado, Quitman county lost one of its most prominent citizens, M.V. Turner was returning home after relief work among his tenants. Half a mile north of his home, he came in contact with a live wire on the Marks-Belen electric light line. He was on horseback. The horse was killed and its sudden fall threw Mr. Turner across the wire, causing instant death.
From the front page of The Charlotte News, Dec. 25, 1921
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