March 16, 1902 Bibb-Shelby County Tornado 

From The Birmingham News, March 17, 1902, pg. 1:

Heavy Wind Strikes Bibb County; One Killed And Several Injured

Town of Piper Swept and Houses Leveled With the Earth. Trees Were Laid Flat and Victims Buried Under the Debris. The Cost Will Be Not Less Than Ten Thousand Dollars. Mine Was Filled With Water.

A cyclone passed over Bibb county yesterday morning between 1 and 2 o’clock, doing much damage at Piper, a mining camp near Coleaner. Besides destroying a large number of small tenement houses occupied by miners and mine laborers and others, one man was killed and four or five others more or less hurt.

             The dead: Ed Turner, colored, miner.

             The injured: Mrs. J. Allen, seriously bruised.

             J. Allen and three children slightly hurt.

             Many others received slight scratches.

             That there was not a larger loss of life seems a miracle.

‘Twas An Ugly Night.

Saturday night was a bad one in Bibb county, and very black throughout the whole section. About midnight the rain came down in torrents and many people were aroused from their slumbers by the fury of the elements.

In Bibb county, near Blocton, within a radius of ten miles, there are a number of mining camps, two and three miles apart, and in some cases even less than that. First comes Blocton, then Hargrove, then Ardella, Belle Ellen, Coleaner, Piper, Garsney and Gurney Junction. Mines both large and small are operated at all these places and many people are given employment.

Houses Are Frail.

Each mining camp is a progressive one and is building up rapidly. The houses are bunched and being put up under contract or in a hurry and are not of the most substantial kind. So when the storm became more pronounced toward midnight Saturday night, fears were expressed at all the places.

Heard Loud Roaring.

Between 1 or 2 o’clock the rain came down in torrents and a roaring noise was heard, then the wind continued blowing and the rain kept falling in big drops.

             Early in the morning it became known that the fury of the winds had been spent at Piper. Here the Little Cahaba Coal Company, in which J.R. Smith and brother are interested, own and operate the place. They have over a hundred small tenement houses for their mines and mine laborers besides larger houses. Mr. Charles DeBardeleben is superintendent and the mines are enlarged daily.

Struck Negro Quarters.

When the roaring wind struck the place it hit that part where the negro miners and workers have abodes, though quarters of the white folks were touched up pretty lively. Houses went down like saplings.

             As the small three and four-room houses went down before the winds and the big and tall trees of the forests were thrown violently over, being pulled up by the roots, pandemonium reigned.

             In the midst of the heavy rain those who were not injured at all began at once looking for those who might be injured. A thorough search was made and it was at first feared that many lives had been lost. Some big trees were lying on the ground and on houses.

Only One Killed.

The search only revealed one dead. A tree had fallen across his house and had crushed it in, mashing out his life. The victim was a negro, Ed Turner, who was well known, and he suffered very little, as death came quickly.

             At another place the family of Allen was found under debris, but after being gotten out were found not to be badly injured. Other people had scratches, but fright was the greatest damage done.

Track Torn Up.

The water got inside of the mines, and the tram track was torn up as if it was thread-pinned to crossties, and then rushed to the bottom of the mines in fury. Before daylight the mines were filled to the top almost.

             When dawn broke the storm had passed over. The sight which was presented was similar in some extent to the tornado scenes of Birmingham of a year and more ago. The wrecked section of Piper looked discouraging, and the many families who had been housed were walking about gathering up such things as had not been damaged or blown away. The porch around the company’s office and store was blown off, the timbers thereof being left standing next to the building.

             There were sixty or seventy-five houses more or less damaged, twenty of them beyond repair and twenty others very badly smashed. The balance had shingles and other portions carried away.

News Reached City.

Superintendent Charles DeBardeleben telegraphed Mr. J.R. Smith early yesterday morning of the trouble, and asked that pumps be brought down at once to get the water out of the mines and also a coffin for the dead man. Dr. Ed French visited the stricken portion of the mining camp to see if any one needed attention, and did all that was required in his line.

             Mr. J.R. Smith went down to the scene last afternoon, a News reporter accompanying him. This morning a large gang of carpenters went down also to assist in the rebuilding of the houses and to repair those which were damaged. It will take a day or two to remove the water from the mines. A pump was sent down by express.

             The damage to the property of the Little Cahaba Coal Company will not be under $10,000.

             Ed Turner, the colored miner who lost his life in the cyclone, lived near Gadsden.

             The wind and rain swelled all streams in Bibb county all day yesterday, the Cahaba river being very high. The rushing water showed that the downfall of rain during the previous night was very heavy.

At Other Points.

At Belle Ellen a few foot bridges were washed down and some water got into the mines. A number of fences were blown down and a little damage done to the mines. At Hargrove and Blocton the wind was as furious as it was at Gurney and Garnsey, but no material damage was done.

In The City.

The wind and rain yesterday morning between 12 and 1 o’clock in the city were felt with considerable force. There was damage here also. The fire alarm system got a taste of the blow and rain, and one circuit was entirely destroyed. Chief Mullin has to telegraph to Louisville and New York for some new batteries to replace those destroyed. It seems that some of the wires became crossed and burned out. The battery and sounding box of the East End station were badly damaged during the storm.

A number of fences around the city were damaged, as were several small outhouses.