SEGMENT: TORNADO
Marie South Williams>UIS Collection T-Z>UIS Collection T-Z, Segment 24
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- TORNADO
- Mrs. Williams tells of destructive tornado that hit in 1925 when she was at school. Everyone got under their desks. Asked children to pray. Then said Lord's Prayer after the event. No panic. Damage not bad in Carterville, but elsewhere destruction was severe in DeSoto where many were killed. Most adult men in the mines. Many women, children, & elderly died in tornado. Story of people coming to DeSoto to help. Poor needed help purchasing caskets. Carterville townsfolk went to DeSoto to help. Roads were blocked by National Guard. Looting occurred. Train picked up dead & dying. "Makes me have cold chills." Relatives killed & hurt. Many towns leveled. Red Cross came immediately. Townsfolk set up kitchens & took in survivors & their belongings. Did not recover for years. Town had dozens of funerals everyday. State Police & soldiers dug graves.
Sangamon
1980s
90s
Recalls family and farm life in southern Illinois, early 1900s