Nearly every building in the little town of 400 population was wrecked or damaged. A brick store building, five two-story houses and seven cottages, the Congregational church, a school house, a three-story structure, barns and outhouses were completely demolished.
CHAPTER XXIV
The Tornado in Pennsylvania
STORMS THROUGHOUT THE STATE—ALARM IN ALTOONA—FURIOUS WIND IN WILLIAMSPORT—HEAVY STORM IN SHAMOKIN—COLUMBIA IN DARKNESS—A VERITABLE TORNADO IN SCRANTON.
The disturbances in the atmosphere which wrought such havoc in Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana were also at work in Pennsylvania. Altoona, Williamsport, Marietta, Columbia and Scranton were among the towns suffering the greatest damage. The flood situation throughout the Keystone State will be treated in a later chapter.
ALARM IN ALTOONA
The storm struck Altoona on Tuesday, March 25th. With a crash that alarmed the entire neighborhood, eighty feet of the 162-foot steel stack at the Pennsylvania Central Light and Power Company's plant was blown down. The wind tore madly through the city and the rain fell in torrents. Many houses were unroofed and a number of smaller buildings were entirely demolished. No one was injured, but damage to the extent of at least $2,000 was reported.
FURIOUS WINDS IN WILLIAMSPORT