1934 — Oct 21, Windstorm, western WA –19-21
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 12-12-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 21 McNair-Huff. Washington Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. 2006, p. 102.
— 21 AP. “Seventeen Deaths Storm Toll.” Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. 10-22-1934, p. 1.[1]
— 19 Assoc. Press. “New Gale Forecast.” Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. 10-23-1934, p. 1.
—>19 Dougherty. “Violent windstorm rakes Western Washington on October 21, 1934.”[2]
Narrative Information
- AP. “Seventeen Deaths Storm Toll.” Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. 10-22-1934, p. 1:
“Seattle, Oct. 22. – (AP) – Blown to full fury by the storm gods out in the Pacific, a snarling gale struck the Washington and Oregon coasts at dawn yesterday and when it had passed at dark, at least 17 were dead and an untold amount of property damaged. Boats were wrecked, ferry schedules interrupted, houses and trees blown down, roads blocked, wire communications disrupted, windows smashed, power wires put out, planes damaged. All the injury that a wind of from 60 to 70 miles an hour could do in a heavily timbered, well populated marine area, was accomplished.
….
“The weather bureau said yesterday’s gale rushed 1,500 miles from Saturday night to last night, first indication of it appearing Saturday night on weather maps after four days of low barometric pressure had been charted in the Gulf of Alaska. The maps showed a storm 800 miles off Eureka, Calif., moving northeast across the Pacific ocean….
“The previous wind record in the 43 years Seattle has had a weather bureau station was 53 miles an hour, recorded Dec. 11 [unclear], 1924. At the weather bureau here yesterday, 59 miles an hour velocity was recorded, although Boeing field twice reported 70-mile gusts.
….
“Victims of Elements. [21 noted below]
“Jun Yock Tung, Chinese, killed here when a side of the Alki hotel collapsed.
“George Placidt, Indian Youth, drowned off Fish point near Bellingham.
“Capt. Bernhard Thomas and four members of the crew of the small purse [?] seiner Agnes, which sank off Port Townsend.
“Others lost were Leonard Torget, Leonard Berg, Ed Peterson and Howard Anderson, all of Seattle.
“R. M. Halverson of Portland, guest at a Bellingham hotel, who was working on the roof when an edge gave way.
“Charles N. Gibler, 35, killed on the road south of Port Orchard in Kitsap county when a tree fell on him as he was clearing logs off the road, blown there by the storm.
“Mr. and Mrs. Carl Christiansen, each 45, of Tacoma, who died from burns when a power line fell on a radio antenna they were repairing.
“Mr. and Mrs. John Dybal, who operated a fish trap at the mouth of the Skagit river. It was wrecked and their house on the piers, went down.
“Halmer M. Lee, 41, of Bremerton, killed when a tree fell on him after he had gotten out of his car on the Navy Yard highway to clear logs away.
“Chris Paeiun [unclear], 25, of Portland, whose boat overturned while he was duck hunting.
“Walden Larson, of Bellingham, drowned, while duck hunting on the Skagit flats.
“Henry Ross, 21, of Everett, drowned in the same party with Larson.
“It was feared other deaths may be reported as disrupted communications systems were repaired at isolated points.
“Grays Harbor was untangling wreckage from its most violent storm in more than ten years. Tidewater backed over city streets and into homes, crippled power and communication service, felled thousands of trees, shattered windows, blew down chimneys and smoke stacks, floated sidewalks and docks and ripped off roofs. Until early last night the district not only was isolated by broken telephone wires, but was marooned by high water over the Olympic highway between Aberdeen and Montesano….”
Sources
Associated Press. “New Gale Forecast.” Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. 10-23-1934, p. 1. Accessed 12-12-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/centralia-daily-chronicle-oct-23-1934-p-1/
Associated Press. “Seventeen Deaths Storm Toll.” Centralia Daily Chronicle, WA. 10-22-1934, p. 1. Accessed 1212-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/centralia-daily-chronicle-oct-22-1934-p-2/
Dougherty, Phil. “Violent windstorm rakes Western Washington on October 21, 1934.” History Link.org Essay 3734. Posted 1-9-2015 at: https://www.historylink.org/File/3734
McNair-Huff, Rob and Natalie. Washington Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2006.
[1] While headline notes 17 deaths, the listing of fatalities in the article comes to 21.
[2] Notes “some unverified accounts claim 22 died in the storm.”