Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917 - 496 Homes Destroyed

496 HOMES DESTROYED IN MATTOON

Property Loss in City That Suffered Most Estimated at $2,000,000 with 54 Known Dead

MATTOON, Ill., May 27-Stoically taking up the task of recovering the dead, nursing the injured and housing and feeding the homeless, Mattoon and Charleston, swept Saturday evening by a tornado, that took a toll of more than 100 lives in central Illinois and northwestern Indiana, tonight had established systematic methods of relief.

Sunday's sunrise showed that Mattoon had lost fifty-four known dead, with a score of persons missing and 500 injured, some of whom may die, in the devastation of 140 blocks of homes occupied by workingmen in the north part of the city. The wind razed 496 homes and partly destroyed 146 more; rendering 2,000 persons homeless. These are sheltered by friends, in public buildings and in a tented refuge in Peterson Park.

Twenty Still Missing.

Charleston, lying ten miles east of Mattoon, with 5,000 population, suffered a larger loss in proportion to its size than Mattoon, the known dead totalling thirty-eight, with twenty or more missing....

The twisting wind chose its victims in spots, and reports from the rural regions indicate that small loss of life occurred outside Mattoon and Charleston and only at widely separated places.

Sweeping through Modesto, south of Mattoon, where much damage was done, the storm rushed northeast, dropping down on the north part of this city. Leaving unscathed the business section and barely touching the industrial plants, the whirlwind lifted its tentacles until it reached Charleston.

There the tornado again gripped the earth and tore away substantial buildings, crushing out the lives of two score more human beings amid the falling houses, the hurtling of timbers and the snapping of trees.

The storm fitfully wore itself out in the northwestern corner of Indiana, causing more havoc here and there as it hopped along an erratic course to its disappearing point.

Militia Guards Debris.

Fire, which so often adds its calamitous touch to that of tornadoes, broke out in Mattoon, but, as calm succeeded the windstorm, was soon put out without any serious damage. But the darkness of the cloudy whirlwind was succeeded after a brief intermission of bright sunshine, by the blackness of night, until relieved in the stricken quarter of Mattoon by artificial light, because the lighting system was damaged.

For hours there was a confused rushing about of the survivors in the stricken area, seeking relatives and friends. Efforts to send for help were thwarted by the collapse of wires, but finally a messenger was dispatched to Champaign by automobile, so that a relief train arrived before midnight. Later an uncertain wire to Springfield was made workable and militia was sent to aid in guarding property and helping the homeless.

Before dawn order had been established. A temporary operating room was set up in a hotel. Beds for the injured were placed in the Public Library, the Odd Fellows Home and in various churches and schoolhouses.

Thousands of bandages, prepared by the United States Hospital Aid Society for war use were distributed to the hospitals. Hotels prepared and distributed free barrels of coffee, and restaurants served meals gratis to the homeless to strengthen them in the search for lost ones.

Continued