1926 — Nov 9, Tornado, La Plata, Charles County and Prince Georges County, MD  —     17

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-12-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–17  Cumberland Evening Times, MD. “Figured in School Tragedy.” 11-12-1926, p. 11.

–17  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, p. 427.

            –14  Schoolhouse outside La Plata.

            —  3  Houses.

–15  AP. “15 Dead, 40 Injured at La Plata, MD.” Evening Times, Salisbury, MD. 11-10-1926, 1.

            –15  All 15 reported killed at the La Plata schoolhouse.

–14  NWS FO, Baltimore/Washington. Virginia Tornado Database. Sterling, VA, Sep 9, 2004. 

Narrative Information

Nov 10, AP: “La Plata, Md., Nov. 10. – (A.P.) This little town of 500 souls stooped in sorrow today to take up again the usually placid threads of its existence which were sheared suddenly yesterday afternoon by the wrath of a tornado that wreaked havoc and destruction along a path at times 500 yards wide through a portion of Southern Maryland, killing 15 and injuring two score, mostly school children, here, and severely injuring four more at Cedarville, 14 miles northeast of here.

“Sweeping up from out of the Potomac, the disturbance swooped and twisted intermittently but concentrated its fury upon the schoolhouse here where 61 pupils, teachers and attendants were gathered. Eleven of the children were killed and most of the others injured when the wooden walls of the building were seized and flung them flat.

“At least a dozen other farmhouses and barns in the path were leveled to the earth and the damage was estimated at thousands of dollars. The loss of life was small in comparison to the strength and power of the disturbance because it passed through a sparsely settled region. The schoolhouse was the only place in the region where any appreciable number of persons was gathered….” ( AP. “15 Dead, 40 Injured at La Plata, MD.” The Evening Times, Salisbury, MD. 11-10-1926, p.1.)

Nov 11, Cumberland Evening Times, MD: “Death came upon a group of children at their desks in this La Plata, Md., school house [reference to photo] as it was crushed like cardboard in the vortex of a whirlwind which cut a swath of destruction across the countryside. More than twenty other pupils were injured and a negro couple living nearby also lost their lives.” (Cumberland Evening Times, MD. “Maryland School Wind Levelled.” 11-11-1926, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “15 Dead, 40 Injured at La Plata, MD.” The Evening Times, Salisbury, MD. 11-10-1926, p.1. Accessed 3-12-2025 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/salisbury-evening-times-nov-10-1926-p-1/

Cumberland Evening Times, MD. “Figured in School Tragedy.” 11-12-1926, p. 11. Accessed 3-12-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cumberland-evening-times-nov-12-1926-p-11/

Cumberland Evening Times, MD. “Maryland School Wind Levelled.” 11-11-1926, p. 1. Accessed 3-12-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cumberland-evening-times-nov-11-1926-p-1/

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Baltimore/Washington. Virginia Tornado Database. Sterling, VA: NWS LWX FO. 9-9-2004. Accessed at:  http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/Historic_Events/tornadoes/tor-base.htm