Somerset, PA Storm, May 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

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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
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