Easter Sunday ended tragically in Omaha in 1913. A powerful tornado swept through town that evening and killed 94 people. More than 3,000 buildings were damaged, and the property damage was estimated at $3.5 million. This photo is looking north on 24th Street from Erskine Street.
Flyover of the path of the 1975 tornado in Omaha with photos and the original 911 calls.
Easter Sunday ended tragically in Omaha 108 years ago today. Death and devastation unlike any in Nebraska before or since roared through Omaha when a monster tornado ripped a bloody scar across the heart of the city.
The 1913 Easter tornado struck Ralston and Omaha with no warning, wiped out several thousand buildings and homes, and caused more than 100 deaths. Ralston, not quite a year from its incorporation as city, was almost entirely leveled and seven people were killed.
The massive storm cut a path two to four blocks wide across the city, going north and was undiscriminating in the damage it wrought. It tore through the homes of the rich and the hovels of the poor. An estimated 103 people were killed and 350 injured in the Omaha area. Five other tornadoes in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa killed about 65 others, injuring 240 more.
About 750 of Omaha’s more than 2,000 damaged houses were destroyed. Ten churches, five schools, three convents and a hospital were damaged or destroyed. Electrical, telephone and telegraph lines, streetcars and railcars were toppled. Fires from broken natural gas lines or upturned wood-burning stoves threatened widespread conflagration. Damage was estimated at $8.7 million.
The Omaha tornado — now categorized by the National Weather Service as an F4 storm with 166- to 200-mph winds — was part of the most catastrophic outbreak of tornadoes in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa history.
The storm hit with all its fury at about 6 p.m., wreaking what the Omaha Bee described as heart-rending havoc. Several days later, a photograph of a regulator clock hanging on the wall at the Electric Garage at 40th and Farnam Streets was found to have stopped at exactly 5:49 p.m., fixing the time the tornado hit.
Photos: 1913 Easter tornado roars through Omaha
Photos: 1913 Easter tornado roars through Omaha
A postcard shows 48th Street and Poppleton Avenue after the tornado.
Main Street Ralston after the tornado. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
From the book "Ribbon of Destruction, the 1913 Douglas County Tornado."
Map showing the route of the tornado, from the book "Ribbon of Destruction, the 1913 Douglas County Tornado," published by the Douglas County Historical Society.
S.J. Henderson seated on a box, looking over belongings and his insurance policy on April 24, 1913. Piles of debris and a broken desk are next to him. The paper in his hand reads: Standard Tornado Policy, The Insurance Company of North America.
A streetcar smashed at 24th and Lake Streets after the tornado.
The tornado cloud as it was seen in Ralston. From a book printed by the Omaha Daily News titled "Tornado."
Damage to Sacred Heart Convent, now Duchesne Academy, after the tornado.
A view north across Bemis Park from 34th and Cuming Streets a day after the tragedy.
Easter Sunday ended tragically in Omaha in 1913. A powerful tornado swept through town that evening and killed 94 people. More than 3,000 buildings were damaged, and the property damage was estimated at $3.5 million. This photo is looking north on 24th Street from Erskine Street.
Knights of Columbus workers rake for valuables in the ruins of a home at 42nd and Harney Streets, where a woman was killed.
Joslyn Castle after the tornado. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
Joslyn Castle, seen in 1914, the year after the tornado. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
The scene at 42nd and Harney Streets after the tornado.
The Highland Terrace apartments at 40th and Harney Streets after the tornado hit. The owner, a woman, had purchased the building only a few days before.
37th and Cass Streets after the tornado. Fourteen houses within a block were destroyed. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
The Arthur Brandeis residence at 38th and Cass Streets after the tornado. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
The residence owned by D.C. Patterson at 38th Avenue near Davenport Street. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
Ruins of Trinity A.M.E. Church at 21st and Binney Streets. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
Looking north from 40th and Dodge Streets. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
A sign on the demolished building at right gives locations of relief stations. Hundreds were in need of food, clothing and shelter after the tornado.
The ruins of Omaha Furniture Manufacturing Co. at Ralston after the tornado. From the 1914 World-Herald book, "How Omaha Rebuilt the Tornado District in One Year."
A relief station at 48th and Leavenworth Streets after the tornado.
A World-Herald illustration of the tornado's path.
A crowd gathers to watch rescue operations at the Idlewild Pool Hall after the tornado.
An unidentified house toppled and shattered.
A home at 402 N. 38th St., damaged in 1913 Easter tornado.
The Howard Baldridge home after the tornado.
The scene at 23rd Street and Patrick Avenue after the tornado.
This postcard reads: "The ruins of the home of George Shrader five miles south east of Murray Nebraska where Mrs. Shrader was killed on Easter Sunday by the tornado. Mr. Shrader was a pioneer contractor for the Union Pacific and with the money made from contracting he purchased this 400 acre farm on which he has been living since the territorial days."
A postcard with photo by Mrs. Blance Gabus of Brock, Nebraska, shows a barn blown into schoolhouse in Berlin, Nebraska.
A postcard with photo by Mrs. Blance Gabus of Brock, Nebraska, shows the scene at Berlin, Nebraska.
The scene at 42nd and Farnam Streets, on the south side of the street.
A view of the destroyed Joslyn Palm House from a castle turret after the 1913 tornado.
A view of the destroyed Joslyn Palm House after the 1913 tornado.
Joslyn Castle after the 1913 tornado.
View of 44th and Leavenworth Streets.
View of 24th and Lake Streets.
View near 38th and Davenport Streets.
This is a view of destruction at 34th Street and Lincoln Boulevard. The nearby Methodist Hospital sustained blown-out windows. Wind sheared off the north wing of the Academy of the Sacred Heart (Omaha Duchesne) at 36th and Burt Streets.
Looking north from the intersection of 77th and Burlington Streets in Ralston one year after the March 23, 1913, tornado. Ralston, along with other communities affected by the storm, began rebuilding almost immediately.
The west Leavenworth district after the tornado.
The scene in the Bemis Park district after the tornado.
Damage after the 1913 tornado.
The German Lutheran Church at 28th and Parker Streets.
The German Lutheran Church at 28th and Parker Streets.
The scene at 39th and Cass Streets.
The Duchesne Academy building — unroofed — after the tornado.
Three people stand outside their Miami Street home March 25, 1913, after the Easter tornado. They each hold some belongings, including a screwdriver, chair, picture frame and rug.
On March 24, 1913, a young boy and girl sit on top of a wagon loaded with a saddle, mattresses and bedding. The boy holds a dog. The children are identified as Lyn Hill, 4, left, and Alvin Hill, 8. They lived at 2611 N. 19th Ave. They are helping their aunt, Miss Minnie Swan, whose house was destroyed by the tornado. A second aunt was injured.
Photographers in front of Bostwick's 1912 Packard and tornado wreckage on April 1, 1913. From left: lab man Bob Mullin, Homer O. Frohardt, unidentified guard and Louis Ray Bostwick. Near Academy of the Sacred Heart.
Damage at 31st and Seward Streets.
Damage at 2410 Lake St.
Howard Stove Works in Ralston.
A gardener in the destroyed Joslyn Palm House.
The scene at 34th Street and Lincoln Boulevard after the tornado.
The March 24, 1913, Morning World-Herald front page. Take a closer look (PDF).
The March 24, 1913, Evening World-Herald front page. Take a closer look (PDF).
