Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2012, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== SOURCE: Union - Sun And Journal Lockport, N.Y., Wednesday, April 4, 1956 Violent Twisters Kill 39, Injure Many in Midwest by the Associated Press A series of tornadoes and destructive wind storms struck with unabated fury across 10 states in the mid-continent yesterday killing at least 39 persons and injuring more than 300 others. Yesterday's violent spring storms, battering areas from the Midwest prairie lands southward into Mississippi, came in the wake of tornadic winds that raked the Southwest earlier Tuesday and Monday night. The casualty toll from the two day out- break of stormy weather was at least 49 dead and more than 325 injured. Property damage was estimated in the millions of dollars. Hundreds were homeless. Western Michigan, in the Grand Rapids district, suffered the heaviest death and injury toll. Latest reports showed at least 22 dead, 18 identified and four unidentified. More than 200 were injured. A dozen twisters hammered the area destroy- ing scores of homes. About 2,000 were re- ported homeless. The fresh outbreak of storms during the day and early evening killed 8 and injured more than 50 in two Wisconsin communities. Also in the path of the turbulent weather were sections of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. In Washington, the Red Cross said in preliminary reports that 170 homes were destroyed, *** damaged and a total of 835 families affected by the storms in Tennessee, Mississippi, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The Red Cross sent 43 disaster specialists into the stricken areas. The Weather Bureau in Chicago said that although the threat of tornadoes in the Midwest ended, winds from 20 to 30 miles an hour continued. The low pressure area causing the strong winds was near Lake Superior and headed northeastward into Canada. In Boston, the bureau said in- dications were that tornadoes would not hit New England "unless there is a definate change in pattern later today." Showers and thunderstorms were forecast tonight. Heavy hail and rain pelted the storm stricken regions. Temperatures, which had climbed into the 70s in Midwest areas, dropped. The cooler air, however, did not reach into the South. The intense storm center in Minnesota spread ice and snow over parts of the central and northern Great Plains. Several communities in Nebraska and South Dakota were isolated. Heavy drifting snow and ice was the outlook from eastern North Dakota and extreme north- east South Dakota across northwestern Minn- isota. Around two inches of snow fell in sections of Nebraska and the Dakotas, with falls measuring up to a foot in some areas. The tornadoes that hammered Michigan caused heaviest loss of life and damage at Hudsonville, a town of 1,300 about 10 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. Thirteen persons were killed. About 130 persons were treated for injuries in the three main hospitals of Grand Rapids, a city of nearly 200,000 population. Included were injured brought from Standale, a suburb where the storm struck a trailer camp that housed from 50 to 75 trailers. A deputy sheriff estimated damage at Standale alone at a million dollars. ===========================================================================