24th & Ohio Street after the tornado at Omaha, Nebr., Mar. 23, 1913
Description
Black and white postcard (13.5 x 9 cm). Written across the bottom after the number 31 is 24th & Ohio Street after the tornado at Omaha, Nebr. Mar 23, 1913. Through the middle is written Olson Photo Co., Plattsmouth, Nebr. In the rear of the image a building can be seen that is still standing. Four men are seen on top of the roof. Behind it, part of an elevated billboard is seen advertising 5 cent and 10 cent sizes. In the foreground a man is standing amid the rubble in a suit and hat writing in a note pad.
Late in the afternoon on Easter Sunday, March 23, 1913, disaster struck Omaha in the form of a massive tornado. The path of the tornado started at 49th & Poppleton and continued through Carter Lake and Council Bluffs, IA. Areas suffering the heaviest damage were Bemis Park, Sacred Heart Academy and 24th & Lake streets. Homes of both rich and poor were leveled. Several churches were seriously damaged. Fires from broken gas mains and wood stoves raged throughout the devastated neighborhoods. 140 citizens were killed and 400 injured. The Webster Telephone Exchange at 2219 S. 29th served as a temporary morgue while the telephone operators remained at the switchboards. News of Omaha's disaster went out on the only surviving telegraph wire the Omaha Daily News. Offers of aid came in and Omaha's citizens helped one another. The 1913 Easter Tornado remains one of Omaha's greatest disasters. Source: Driscoll, Charles. Complete Story of Omaha's Disastrous Tornado, Omaha: Mogy Publishing, c1913.
