1878 Wallingford tornado
Connecticut
A paper receipt from Wallingford, Connecticut turned up sixty-five miles away in Rhode Island after the storm.
A paper receipt from a Wallingford business was found sixty-five miles east, in Peacedale, Rhode Island. The wind that carried it arrived on the evening of August ninth, eighteen seventy-eight. The day before had been called one of the loveliest of the season. Then the sky darkened around five, and by half past five the air had gone black. At six the air near the ground was dead calm while lightning filled the sky and the clouds tore along overhead. Some residents took shelter. At quarter past six a waterspout formed over Community Lake, just west of town, and came ashore. It followed Christian Street straight through the center of Wallingford, damaging almost every building it passed. Houses were pulled off their foundations and thrown more than six hundred feet. The Catholic church was blown to bits, and heavy tombstones in the cemetery nearby were tossed around. The brand-new brick high school was nearly leveled. The whole path through town ran only two miles.
This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.
A receipt from the town was later found 65 miles (105 km) east in Peacedale, Rhode Island.
Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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