Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1875 — The Georgia Tornado. [ARTICLE]

The Georgia Tornado.

Augusta, Ga., March 23. The path of the tornado was from 200 to 600 yards wide. The cyclone was cylindrical in shape, and rotated with fearful velocity from north to south. The front cloud was b’ack as night and half a mile high; the rear was illuminated by a bright light. It traveled nearly due east, veering a little to north. After devastating Camak the tornado seems to have divided, one portion going east by north, and crossing the Savannah River above and below Augusta, both proving equally destructive, laying waste everything in their track. Huge trees were broken like reeds, and in some instances carried three-quarters of a mile. The tornado was preceded by a dull, heavy roaring, as of heavy artillery in the., distance. It spent its greatest fury in about three minutes. An eye-witness says the senses were utterly deadened and appalled. There was a crash, a roar, and the mingling of a hundred -terrific and unearthly sounds. Houses were demolished, and oaks that had- withstood the storms of a -century were snapped in twain. There is great distress in the devr. astated district, embracing eight counties in Georgia and two or three in South Carolina. The destruction of property is immense, and the-J|Bt of "And WUf appalling, V' •