Cyclone visits Norfolk County

What proved to be one of the fiercest and most destructive storms swept over certain sections of this county on Sunday evening last.

About five o'clock it began to grow very black in the west, but no real warning of the storm came until about five minutes to six, and at six o'clock the rain was falling in torrents, accompanied by hail, while the wind blew a hurricane.

The course of the cyclone seemed to be from the south-west corner of town, passing through to the north-east corner.

The path of the wind, which could not have been over fifty feet wide, passed through Mr. D. D. Marr's farm, south-west of town, and after carrying a drive shed about two hundred yards, left it on the ground, a bunch of kindling wood.

The cyclone then passed through Mr. McKnight's farm, doing little damage, except blowing down fences.

On the grounds of Elmhurst fifty rods of fence were destroyed and several large trees, a foot and a half at the butt, were broken off.

The premises of Sheriff Jackson were a tangle of twisted trees and broken summer houses, and further on the wind carried fifty feet of roof off a wing of the canning factory, and a chimney off the residence of Mr. Frank Reid.

A substantial bank barn  on the farm of Mr. George Schuyler, about two miles north-east of town, was completely demolished.

In an orchard near Lynnville all the trees but one were uprooted and a fine barn belonging to Mr. James Irwin, near Waterford, completed just a few days before, is now a heap of wreakage.

A barn and a large straw shed on concession 11, Townsend, owned by Isaac Potts, were both unroofed. The roof of the shed was carried by the violence of the storm, about fifty yards killing a cow in a neighboring field.

The section which suffered most seems to be at Nixon, which evidently was the centre of the tornado. 

It arrived about six o'clock and in less than a quarter hour there was scarcely a building which was not more or less injured, many of them completely demolished.

Two houses were completely destroyed, and Mrs. Croft, who was in bed ill and alone in one of them had a very narrow escape from losing her life. She was able to crawl out of the debris however, and sustained no injuries save several bruises and a very bad fright.

The Wabash coal chute, containing a very large amount of coal, collapsed under the terrific [force] of the storm, hundreds of tons of coal with the boards and timbers of the chute being piled on the rails, blocking traffic.

The Universalist church, which was used as a school house, and two barns are lying on the ground completely wrecked.

One of the freaks of the storm was to lift a large tin roof, carry it some distance, and leave it reposing in the branches of some trees.

Although the damage to property is immense no loss of life or serious personal injuries have been sustained.