1913 Omaha Nebraska Tornado

     Homes of some of Omaha's wealthiest business and professional men were among the worst wrecked of any struck by the tornado. Size and strength of timbers, beauty of architecture and costliness of finish were alike in uselessness to withstand the fury of the storm. Costly residences and palaces in the West Farnam and Bemis Park districts fared no better than the humble negro cottages in the Lake street district.

     A portion of the West Farnam district, south of Farnam at Fortieth and north of Farnam on Thirty-ninth street were damaged most. Some of the most seriously damaged homes were those of:

     Howard Baldrige, 124 South Thirty-ninth; roof caved in on the first floor, with all the windows gone.

     Mrs. Victor Coffman, 311 North Thirty-eighth avenue; house demolished.

     Charles E. Black, 3841 Davenport; house literally in splinters, with not enough left to show that it was a residence.

     Miss Bella Robinson, pianist, 312 North Thirty-eighth; house destroyed.

     S. A Barkalow, next door; house partially wrecked.

     Herbert Daniel, 4202 Harney; house demolished and burned.

     Charles Pickens, Thirty-ninth street; house lifted up, turned and crushed.

     Wilson Low, 220 South Thirty-eighth avenue; house crushed like an egg shell.

     E. W. Dixon, 426 South Thirty-eighth; bare brick walls still standing.

     Edwin Crow, Fortieth and Farnam, badly damaged.

     Charles Harding, Thirty-eighth street; front of house caved in.

     C. H. Day, 315 North Thirty-eighth avenue; house almost complete loss.

     Mrs. Herman Cohn; house beyond repair.

     George L. Hammer, 362 North Thirty-eighth street; house almost demolished.

     A. C. Patterson, 303 North Thirty-eighth avenue; residence probably beyond repair.

     Mrs. John N. Baldwin, 406 North Fortieth street, house lifted from its foundations and set down again.

     Osgood Eastman place, 534 South Fortieth, gutted.

     W. E. Martin home, across the street, lost its roof and windows.

     Walter Page home, Thirty-ninth street, badly wrecked on south and east sides.

     W. J. Coad's residence, 202 South Thirty-seventh, damaged.

     New and handsome residence of J. M. Baldrige, damaged.

     Walt Patrick home, occupied by Myles Standish, 144 North Thirty-eighth avenue, gutted and windowless.

     Harry Nott home, 4019 Farnam, tipped over and wrecked.

     Mrs. M. W. Cavanaugh, jr., was lying in bed ill at Fortieth and Farnam when her bed was blown to the middle of the floor.

     The Milton Barlow house on South Thirty-ninth street, and those of Harry Burkley and Walter Page, also suffered from broken windows.

     The Terrace, at Fortieth and, Farnam, recently purchased by Mrs. C. Vincent, was badly damaged.

     Joslyn's castle, Omaha's show place, escaped damage, but the whole yard, with its rare trees and shrubs, is swept bare.

     The home rendered famous by Dr. Frederick Rustin, at Forty-first and Farnam, and the Carpenter home, 508 North Thirty-eighth, were partially wrecked.

     E. R. Porter's residence and that of W. W. Slabaugh were damaged and the Talbot residence, 4123 Farnam, entirely demolished.

     The C. E. Yost home, across the street from the Joslyn place; the homes of C. R. Sherman, 132 North Thirty-eighth, and M. A. Hall, 118 North Thirty-ninth, were damaged. Joseph Crow's home, 408 South Fortieth, was lifted and the house turned completely around. The C. P. Moorehead roof was taken off, and Senator J. H. Millard lost windows and chimneys. Theodore L. Ringwalt, 409 North Thirty-eighth avenue, lost the top floor of his residence.

     Bemis park, one of the best known residence districts, was almost entirely demolished. Hardly a house was left standing from Thirty-fourth street and the boulevard to Thirty-second and Hamilton, and from there to Twenty-ninth and Hamilton. The big trees, the chief beauty of the park and resident district, were uprooted.

     The Tolf Hanson home at the boulevard and Thirty-fourth was one of the first homes to go down before the storm. The L. J. Traynor home also was destroyed, as were two houses across the boulevard from the Hanson residence.

     Mrs. Katherine Drummy, Dr. Needham, Mrs. Murphy and others lost their homes when the storm swept along the lower part of the residence district and followed the boulevard to the east.

     The McMasters residence was demolished and the family had to be rescued from the ruins of the home.

     To the south of the Bemis park district proper the damage was almost as great, many nice homes being wrecked and the streets filled with parts of houses and other debris.

     The M. A Cameron home, 3507 Cuming, is a total wreck. Bishop Scannell escaped with the loss of windows and the porch. The F. J. Birss place, 3308 Lincoln boulevard, is another of the total wrecks. Dr. J. M. Keys, 923 North Thirty-eighth street, who had one of the costliest houses in this district, suffered considerable loss. The E. A. Parmelee home, 1921 Corby street, was demolished.

     Relief work of the most earnest sort was done by victims of the storm who lost many of their possessions. Those who saved anything realized keenly the suffering of their more unfortunate neighbors who had nothing at all left.

     An example of this kind of relief work was the case of Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Stafford, 2228 Lake street. The five-room cottage occupied by the Staffords suffered badly in the storm, but it was the only house for some distance that was left standing on its foundation. Mr. Stafford, who is a blacksmith, set about repairing the damage Monday morning, and the house was made so nearly habitable that the family shared half its home with the medical corps of the army.

     A red cross station, in charge of Lieutenant John Trinner, army surgeon, was established in the three front rooms. In the two back rooms Mrs. Stafford cared for relatives who were made destitute by the storm.

     The partially wrecked house was turned into an emergency hospital immediately after the passage of the storm, and twenty sufferers were cared for all night, although a big tree was sticking through one window, and the entire interior was drenched with rain.