COLUMN: Woodville Tornado Was an Unwelcome Visitor Nearly a Century Ago
Virginia is far from Tornado Alley, but Mother Nature is an unpredictable force. And 97 years ago this month, the Old Dominion got an bitter taste of life on the Plains.
By Donnie Johnston
COLUMNIST
Virginia is far from Tornado Alley, that part of the Midwest where spring cyclones spiral down on an annual basis.
But 97 years ago this month, long before climate change was blamed for every weather disaster that now occurs, there was an outbreak of tornadic activity in the Old Dominion that rivaled the worst that Kansas or Oklahoma has to offer.
And Central and Northern Virginia was at the center of all the action.
The May 2, 1929 tornado outbreak, which would claim 42 Virginia lives before the day was over, began that fatal morning in the community of Rye Cove in Scott County, some 300 miles from Fauquier, Culpeper and Rappahannock counties where it would end.
It started with an F2 cyclone descending on the Rye Cove school where 150 students were in class that Thursday morning. When it was gone, twelve children and one teacher lay dead.
Among those who assisted during the tragedy was A. P. Carter, patriarch of the famous Carter Family. He would later write a song about the tragedy.
As the day wore on, the strong cold front that spawned the outbreak stalled, warm air to the east, colder air to the west. In the Rappahannock County community of Woodville, located halfway between Culpeper and Sperryville, the morning began with rain.
But by noon the clouds had broken and the temperature rose dramatically, causing great instability in the air. Around 2:30 dark clouds began to gather to the south, just east the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains, and rumbles of thunder could be heard.
Atop a small hill, the teachers at the Woodville School saw the storm approaching and decided to dismiss classes a few minutes early. It was, however, too late. The tornado that had touched down across the Thornton Gap Turnpike (Rt. 522) was upon them before the last students could get out the door.
One student was killed, a boy named Marshall Hawkins, who was found behind the school under a 4x4 timber with a broken neck.
A second student, Mary Elizabeth Browning, was found badly injured and near death. Her sister, Fannie Brown, would later describe the scene.
“She was blown completely over the hill. Her right shoulder was crushed – the bone was sticking out – and her left wrist was broken. And she had a big hunk of flesh hanging from her abdomen. They say you could see her intestines.”
Mary Elizabeth would live, but she would suffer from her injuries the rest of her life. At least a dozen children were injured when the school literally exploded. One child was found entangled in a barbed wire fence, saved only because she was wearing a heavy coat.
In addition to the school, the Woodville Tornado would destroy three churches and several houses before lifting and moving northeast. It descended again near Ben Venue (12 miles as the crow flies), hit a house and killed a mother and her child. Then it lifted again and headed for Loudoun County.
A pocket watch that had been on a Woodville teacher’s desk was found 10 miles away and one of Mary Elizabeth Browning’s schoolbooks was found in Jefferson County, West Virginia (near Charles Town).
Legend has it that an upright piano that was sitting on a Woodville porch was lifted up and deposited on a neighbor’s porch without getting out of tune. That story was never confirmed, but has survived for nearly 100 years.
A second tornado developed about 7 p.m. in eastern Culpeper County and moved northeast through Fauquier County (Midland). An elderly couple was killed in Culpeper and three people, including 15-year-old twin girls, Myra and Elmira Allen, were killed in Fauquier.
May 2, 1929 is remembered as one of the most violent weather days in area history.
And locals still talk of the Woodville tornado every time they drive through the picturesque hamlet.
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