Viroqua, WI Tornado, Jul 1865

Terrible Tornado at Viroqua, Wisconsin.

From a letter to the New York World we obtained the following thrilling particulars and incidents of the awful tornado which struck the village of Viroqua, Wis., on Wednesday of week before last.

About 8 o'clock Wednesday afternoon black clouds, heavily rolling, betokened a severe storm. The clouds did not float as they usually do, but seemed to roll and gather size and blackness each moment. A sudden wind sprung up, and there was seen coming toward the village from the northeast a heavy cloud and trail of wind, rolling close to the earth, -- with tree tops, rails, &c., flying in the air. At the same time there appeared another cloud of like nature, but darker and wider, coming toward the village from the west. People ran to close doors and windows, and to seek safety within houses, stores, offices and shops.

The first noticed current was passing to the southwest, the other passing to the east. The ends or points came in contact near the residence of WM. VOUGHT, a quarter of a mile west of the main street, with a howl and rumbling sound as if an army of demons were there engaged in terrible battle. People ran in terror to the cellars of their houses. The wind increased in fury. There was a whirl, a crash, a howl, and the house of MR. VOUGHT was whirled into fragments and thrown hither and yon like pieces from a burst eggshell.

Men and women held doors firmly closed, or ran trembling to the cellars. In a moment, the current from the west turned the one from the northeast; the two joined and sped on in an eastern course, with a roaring, whirling, rolling, terrible force no pen can describe. The lesser current or storm seemed a prisoner, a toy, a plaything, an adjutant, a little whistle to amuse the greater volume. Now the two would unite, then they would converge, sweep around some house, meet again, join hands and on with terrible and resistless fury, like hell and his partner out on a drunken spree. The two storms danced hand in hand over the country for fourteen miles leaving a track from forty to eighty rods wide. It was a revel of the elements, a dance of terror, destruction, demolition and death.

In two minutes the storm had dashed into fragments the entire south portion of the village; and those who crept out of houses not torn down, or those who from the other part of the place could look upon the scene, saw a cloud rolling eastward. It was more than a cloud – a hash of wind, timber, dwelling houses, barns, out-houses, harness, household goods, etc., torn, broken, and twisted into fragments, filling the air with flying pieces, dirt, stones, trees, limbs, rails, wagons, fences, shrubbery, etc., as if the great black cloud was some gigantic crow's nest!

A young lady name LYDIA GILLETT, aged twenty years, ran up from the cellar, where the family had gathered for safety, to close a cellar door which was blown open. As she reached the top of the cellar stairs, the house was caught up, whirled in the air, dashed to the earth, and the fragments carried rods away. MISS GILLETT was found in a field some distance from the cellar, so badly injured that she died in a few moments. The rest of the family escaped unhurt, with the exception of slight bruises, while their home had gone forever.

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