Seaford, DE Tornado Causes Damage, June 1911

DEATH IN TORNADO'S PATH.

HOUSES WRECKED AND TWO MEN MISSING IN STORM IN LOWER DELAWARE.

Special to The New York Times.
Seaford, Del., June 14. -- Accompanied by a terrific electrical rainstorm, a violent tornado swept over a portion of Sussex County last night, injuring a number of people, killing two tramps and damaging properties to the extent of thousands of dollars.
The heavy rains flooded rural sections and in many instances the water came up above the house doors. The storm began about 6 o'clock and lasted about twenty minutes. The tornado started at Bunching Bridge, three miles southwest of Bridgeville, and swept a strip sixty feet wide for ten miles. The line stretches in a northwestern direction two miles beyond Greenwood. Everything in the path of the wind was torn up.
The house of ANTONIO BASSETTE, a farmer, was totally destroyed. MR. and MRS. BASSETTE and daughter, ELIZABETH, were seriously injured by the wreckage. MRS. BASSETTE was injured internally and did not regain consciousness until this afternoon. The daughter was picked from the ground and blown into the hogpen several yards away. Two tramps employed on MR. BASSETTE'S farm and living in a small shanty in the woods were carried away in the hut, and no trace of them or the building can be found.
The family of L. HARRY TULL, another farmer, were injured severely when the storm destroyed their home and killed their livestock. Two of the TULL children were hurt by falling timbers and one may not recover.
Thousands of chickens were drowned, cows and horses were killed, and barns and outbuildings were blown from their foundations. The damage was far-reaching. At Bridgeville roofs were blown from houses and trees were uprooted. A careful estimate places the total damage at more than $125,000.

The New York Times New York 1911-06-15
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!