March 15, 1928 Clarke County Tornado

From The Clarke County Democrat, Grove Hill, Alabama, March 22, 1928, pg. 1:

Tornado Hits Whatley Doing Much Damage

Several homes and business houses were wrecked in Whatley when a tornado swept down on that town Thursday night about midnight. The tornado also did damage in Grove Hill, but the damage here was light as compared with that done in our sister town. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in either place. At Whatley a negro girl in the home of Mr. Ira Chamberlain suffered numerous painful cuts and bruises, but none of them was considered of a severe nature.

             The attractive new bungalow of Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Coleman of Whatley was so badly wrecked that it will be necessary to rebuild it. The home of Mr. and Mrs. R.E. Chamberlain, on an adjoining lot, also suffered much damage, the most of which was caused by flying timbers from the Coleman home. Homes just across the road had hardly a shingle blown off, the path of the twister appearing to be not more than 100 feet wide. Other residences suffering serious damage were those of A.J. Welch and I.L. Chamberlain. Mr. Welch’s home was so badly wrecked that he had had to abandon it. Mr. Chamberlain’s home sustained serious damage but it was of such nature that it can be repaired.

             Under the hill the garages of Sutton and W.B. Garrick were blown completely away, two box cars were blown from the side tracks across the main line, Mitt Jackson’s barber shop was completely demolished, the warehouses of R.E. Chamberlain and E.L. Coleman were unroofed and otherwise damaged, and the following stores sustained more or less damage: Coleman Bros., W.H. Miles, R.E. Chamberlain and E.L. Coleman.

             The storm performed some of the tricks common to phenomena of this character. Two pieces of timber were driven so deeply into one of the window casings of the R.E. Chamberlain home that they could not be pulled out; pieces of metal roofing were wrapped around telephone poles and other pieces were reported to have been picked up near Amity church, about four miles distant on an air line. In Grove Hill the tops of three brick chimneys were blown off at the Gross Scruggs home and the water tank blown over, the residence otherwise not being badly damaged.

             The above mentioned damage was the most serious done in Grove Hill. Across the road from the Scruggs home, the tin roofing was blown off the T.C. Paul barn. The John Hunter smokehouse was blown down and his meat scattered about the yard, while a little further along the poorhouse was blown off its blocks. This was about all the damage of consequence reported in Grove Hill.

             Other sections of the state were visited by tornadoes on the same night, a negro being killed at Central Mills and other people sustaining injuries which it was feared at the time prove fatal.