| 1929 Rye Cove tornado outbreak | |
| Type: | Tornado outbreak |
| Active: | May 1–2, 1929 |
| Tornadoes: | 17 |
| Fujitascale: | F3 |
| Tornado Duration: | 30 hours, 25 minutes |
| Total Fatalities: | ≥ 42 fatalities, ≥ 323 injuries |
| Damages: | Unknown |
The 1929 Rye Cove tornado outbreak was a deadly tornado outbreak that swept from southwest to northeast along the Appalachian Mountains from Oklahoma to Maryland in early May 1929. This outbreak, which killed at least 42 people and injured at least 323, is notable as one of the worst to affect the states of Maryland and Virginia. It is also one of the most intense tornado outbreaks to affect Appalachia. The F2 tornado that struck Rye Cove, Virginia, is the deadliest tornado in Virginia history[1] [2] and tied for the thirteenth-deadliest to hit a school in the United States, with all 13 deaths in a school building.[3] Western Virginia was particularly hard hit, with additional tornadoes confirmed in Alleghany, Bath, Culpeper, Fauquier and Loudoun Counties. One of these tornadoes, near Culpeper, also destroyed a school, but the storm struck during the evening after classes had been dismissed for the day.
| F# | Location | County | Time (UTC) | Path length | Damage | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | |||||||
| bgcolor=# | F2 | Tucker to SE of Van Buren, AR | LeFlore, Sequoyah, Sebastian (AR), Crawford (AR) | 2015 | 30miles | This tornado first touched down close to Moffett, Oklahoma, where it injured three structures. Observers witnessed four funnel clouds passing over the south fringe of Fort Smith, Arkansas, causing damage to three factories and 17 houses. The tornado razed six houses along the shores of Hollis Lake before dissipating. | |
| Arkansas | |||||||
| bgcolor= | FU | Jethro | Franklin | 2025 | 12miles | Tornado-related damage reported. | |
| bgcolor=# | F2 | Rex | Van Buren | 2130 | 5miles | This tornado struck the entire community of Rex, tearing off roofs and damaging every structure in its path. | |
| bgcolor=# | F3 | W of Brinkley to N of Wheatley | Monroe, St. Francis | 0045 | 15miles | 9 deaths – This deadly tornado struck several plantations, damaging or leveling 45 small houses, though some larger ones were razed as well, and other structures, along with crops, were reportedly damaged. | |
| Texas | |||||||
| bgcolor= | FU | Frankston | Anderson | 2100 | unknown | Tornado damage reported. | |
| Sources: Grazulis, Monthly Weather Review | |||||||
| F# | Location | County | Time (UTC) | Path length | Damage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | ||||||
| bgcolor= | FU | W of Newport | Cocke | unknown | unknown | This first member of a tornado family developed 15miles west of Newport. |
| bgcolor=# | F2 | Embreeville area | Washington, Unicoi | 1700 | unknown | 2 deaths – This was another member of the tornado family previously listed. The tornado struck 15 mountaintop houses - with six of them leveled - near the Washington–Unicoi county line. |
| Virginia | ||||||
| bgcolor=# | F2 | NW of Gate City (Rye Cove area) | Scott | 1755 | 4miles | 13 deaths – See section on this tornado |
| bgcolor=# | F3 | S of Woodville to Flint Hill | Rappahannock | 2030 | 13miles | 3 deaths – A tornado struck Woodville and destroyed several houses. One student died and 15 others were injured when a school was destroyed, with some of the students carried 200sigfig=3NaNsigfig=3 away from the school.[4] Two other people were killed when the tornado destroyed houses in Flint Hill. |
| bgcolor=# | F2 | NE of Iron Gate | Alleghany, Bath | 2300 | 17miles | A tornado struck several small, rural communities, including Coronation, Sitlington, and Nimrod Hall where it damaged or destroyed at least 13 farms and small houses near the Cowpasture River. |
| bgcolor=# | F2 | Near Hamilton | Loudoun | 0030 | 2miles | A tornado destroyed at least one house and numerous barns. A brick church and other structures were damaged. |
| bgcolor=# | F3 | Lagrange to near Catlett | Culpeper, Fauquier | 0100 | 18miles | 6+ deaths – A tornado struck a small house at Lagrange, killing two people inside. Four - possibly five - people were killed in two houses that were destroyed, and six other houses were damaged or destroyed in Weaversville. The tornado also destroyed a large, fourteen-room, brick structure. |
| Ohio | ||||||
| bgcolor=# | F2 | Galloway area to Columbus | Franklin | 2000 | 10miles | 2 deaths – A tornado tore the roofs off several houses as it passed between Galloway and Columbus; in Columbus, the tornado leveled a gas station and killed two people when it partially destroyed a jail. |
| Florida | ||||||
| bgcolor=# | F2 | Jacksonville area | Duval | 2120 | 2miles | 1 death – A tornado struck Jacksonville Heights and Ortega, on the south side of the Jacksonville, where it destroyed seven houses, damaged 15 others, and killed one person in a barn. |
| West Virginia | ||||||
| bgcolor=# | F2 | Morgantown area | Monongalia | 2120 | 4miles | A tornado struck the Evansdale and Riverside portions of Morgantown where it demolished 35 houses and caused minor damage to 200 others in addition to multiple factories. Fifteen people reportedly incurred serious injuries occurred. |
| Maryland | ||||||
| bgcolor=# | F3 | NW of Adamstown to near Taneytown | Frederick, Carroll | 0030 | 33miles | 2 deaths – A skipping tornado killed a couple as it leveled a farmhouse 3miles west of Frederick. Six other homes were damaged with some of them being unroofed. |
| bgcolor=# | F3 | Near Laytonsville to Brookeville | Montgomery, Howard | 0230 | 10miles | 4 deaths– A tornado destroyed six farmhouses, killing three people in one of the leveled houses. A fourth person died on the second floor of a house that was torn off during the storm. |
| Source: Grazulis, Monthly Weather Review | ||||||
| Rye Cove, Virginia | |
| Fujitascale: | F2 |
| Casualties: | 13 fatalities, 100 injuries |
| Damages: | $100,000 USD (1929) |
| Enhanced: | no |
At 12:55 p.m. (EDT), as many as 155 students were attending classes at Rye Cove High School, near the town of Clinchport, when a strong thunderstorm approached from the southwest and produced a tornado just 0.5sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 away.[5] As the tornado - referred to as a “dark cloud”[6] - approached the school, it intensified and tore the roofs off many structures. Strong winds lofted lumber for hundreds of yards, leaving pieces lodged in trees. Next to the school, the tornado struck a log house that was built in the 1850s, picking up the entire structure and carrying some of its furniture up to 4sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 away.
A teacher at the seven-room, wooden school heard the wind increasing outside but did not alert her students. Moments later, the tornado struck, reportedly causing it to “explode” and violently spread debris over a wide area. The powerful storm killed one teacher and 12 students, carrying their bodies up to 75sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 from the school’s limestone foundation. After the devastation at the school, the 0.25sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2-wide tornado destroyed five farmhouses before lifting.
The legacy of the tornado lived on in local folklore[7] as A. P. Carter of the Carter Family, having visited the storm-stricken area and assisted in relief efforts, immediately recorded a song about the storm.[8]