Chambers County AlArchives News.....DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN WAKE OF A CYCLONE :
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Candace (Teal) Gravelle tealtree@comcast.net May 14, 2006, 12:23 am

"The Roanoke Leader' -- Roanoke, Randolph Co., Alabama :

NEWSPAPER Issue of Wednesday, April 30, 1924

DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN WAKE OF A CYCLONE

A cyclone, leaving death and disaster in its wake, swept over the northern 
past of Chambers county at four o'clock this morning. A representative of 
the Leader with others from Roanoke, visited a part of the storm area this 
morning and were awed by the heartless work of the storm King. The first 
point now known to have been struck in Chambers county was a place owned by 
W.G. Wallace and occupied by a Mr. Cantrell, being a part of the Sam 
Abernathy place near Milltown. Then the storm struck the Abernathy place, 
demolishing the out buildings and unroofing the residence. Next it destroyed 
the outbuildings of Jack Boyd and moved on to the Davis Stephens place where 
a negro house was completely destroyed and a negro suffered a broken leg. 
Then it took the roof off the Stephens old home. The outbuildings of Hiram 
Piper were also destroyed.

The most tragic work of the destructive storm, one of the worst that ever 
visited this part of the country, was done at the residence of T.B. Slagle, 
seven miles south of Roanoke. This was one of the largest dwellings in the 
county. It was an old time hewed log house that had been ceiled and 
weatherboarded and additional rooms built to it, with a second story added 
above. It stood in a grove of giant oaks and all are gone. Even the pillars 
on which the building rested are moved. Miss Delia Slagle, a maiden sister 
of Mr. Slagle was killed. Tom L. Slagle, his 17 year old son, with the bed 
on which he was sleeping, was blown a quarter of a mile and he got up and 
walked back to the place where the dwelling had stood to find his aunt dead 
and his 14 year old sister Mildred painfully hurt, both jaws being broken. 
In just a little while this brave young man gave way to internal injuries 
and the physicians hold out very little hope for his recovery.

Next, a negro house on the place of U.F. Royston was from what the writer 
could see from the road, literally blown away; no one was reported to be 
hurt. Then a negro house on the Charlie Higgins place was demolished with no 
one reported hurt although the west wall of one room fell across the bed 
where the children were sleeping but the footboard held it off of them and 
they crawled out unhurt. The Charlie Higgins old residence, occupied by Mrs. 
Cartie Breed, a widow, was thrown from its foundations and the dining room 
and kitchen blown down.

The next heard of the cyclone was at Amos Liles' home on the Knight farm 
where his dwelling was literally shaken to pieces and left standing and no 
one reported hurt. Ben Page, a negro on the place of Mrs. Tobe Jones was the 
next one to suffer. His house was completely destroyed and two of his 
children painfully hurt.

The storm skipped several miles northeast to the residence of Z.V. Hudson 
near Cedric which was wrecked but fortunately no one hurt except one child 
but not seriously. Nothing further has been heard at noon today and it is 
hoped that no other damage was done.

A report from Opelika is that a severe storm also struck the edge of town 
doing considerable damage out on the Columbus road just below Gentry Hill. 
Three negroes were killed, a dozen houses destroyed and quite a number of 
livestock killed. Unconfirmed is a report that Auburn suffered some damage 
from this same storm.


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