endways into boards; and large animals have been lifted and carried considerable distances. In one case a cow was lifted out of a high corral and deposited, not seriously injured, several hundred feet away.[1]
The cause of the tornado cannot always be determined; in a few instances it has been assumed by reason of strong circumstantial evidence. During the passage of a northerly
The graphic story of a tornado.
cyclone that has bent its path into the south, great volumes of dry, cold air are sometimes whirled into regions where the air is
- ↑ The accompanying diagram illustrates a gruesome story. When the funnel cloud approached the house, the family fled. At first they ran northward, a direction of safety. Then, one after another, they turned eastward and ran into the whirl. The younger of two girls ran directly into the tornado path and was instantly killed. The mother had reached a place of safety; then she turned into the tornado path and was crushed to death against a tree trunk. The older girl and a boy also turned toward the storm track; their clothing was stripped from them and they were torn and bruised. The father, with the baby in his arms, had reached a place of safety; then, in fright, he too ran back into the storm track where both were killed. This is one story that illustrates many. As a rule, the path of safety is toward the northwest or the southeast if the direction of the tornado track can be determined.
