Natural Disasters and Family Misfortunes 10: Appalachian Storm 1950

I have mentioned major storms in some previous posts about natural disasters and their effects on people and communities. This past weekend marked the anniversary of a severe early winter tempest that devastated many parts of the eastern United States. Most readers of this blog will not remember it but their parents might. It happened right about the time that television was making its way into private homes, so perhaps not as many people would have seen the pictures or newscasts as is the case today.

It also happened at a time when atmospheric CO₂ levels were not very high, so storms of this magnitude occurring during this and previous periods could not be blamed on anthropogenic climate change associated with that so-called greenhouse gas. The storm was just one of those big events that came around every once in a while – and always had – when meteorological conditions combined in particular ways.

As described in Wikipedia (and in several other reports), the “Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 was a large extratropical cyclone which moved through the Eastern United States, causing significant winds, heavy rains east of the Appalachians, and blizzard conditions along the western slopes of the mountain chain. Hurricane-force winds, peaking at 110 miles per hour (180 km/h) in Concord, New Hampshire and 160 miles per hour (260 km/h) in the New England highlands, disrupted power to 1,000,000 customers during the event. In all, the storm impacted 22 states, killing 353, injuring over 160, and creating US$66.7 million in damage (1950 dollars). At the time, U.S. insurance companies paid more money out to their policy holders for damage resulting from this cyclone than for any other previous storm or hurricane. The cyclone is also one of only twenty-six storms to rank as a Category 5 on the Regional Snowfall Index.”

 

Surface analysis showing cyclone near time of maximum intensity on 25 November 1950 

(retrieved 20 November 2017 from Wikipedia)

According to authors, Paul Kocin and Louis Uccellini, in their books, Northeast Snowstorms, Volumes 1 and 2, the 1950 storm “represents perhaps the greatest combination of extreme atmospheric elements ever seen in the eastern United States. We feel that this storm is the bench mark against which all other major storms of the 20th century could be compared.”

The New England Historical Society documented the event here. See also The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 summarized on the LEX18.com (the Lexington, KY news website) last week.

The 1950 storm was not the first to rampage over the Eastern US in the early winter season. A powerful blizzard slashed across New England on Thanksgiving Day in 1898 – hitting hardest in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts – disrupting transportation and communication, and leaving 20-foot snowdrifts in its wake. It caught many areas unprepared as it followed a warm Indian Summer period. Over 450 people were thought to have been killed. At sea the steamer Portland was overpowered by winds and sunk.

Other not-so-Thanksgiving Day storms:

·         1926 Arkansas tornado

·         1945 Boston nor’easter

·         1971 New York snowfall

·         1982 Hawaii hurricane

·         1988 North Carolina tornado

·         1991 California dust storm

·         1992 Gulf Coast to Eastern Seaboard tornadoes

·         1998 Washing State windstorm

You will find hundreds more if you search for destructive storms on any other day of the year – holiday or not.

History records major storms throughout the centuries of human existence, although it is only in the last few hundred years that the consequences have been set down in print. Prior to that, we have only geological data on which to base their existence and severity. A quick search of the Internet will bring up dozens of examples of extreme storm events in North American and Europe that have occurred almost on a regular basis during the past several centuries.

Most of the deadliest storms we hear about happened in the last 100 years mainly because reporting of such events was more complete. You have to go into historical records – which do not always contain a lot of detail, especially concerning meteorological data – to find out about similar events before the 20^th century.

On 26 November 1703 (later to be the US Thanksgiving Day season) the Great Storm struck southern England causing widespread damage from the West Country to London. The maritime fleet was decimated with over 100 shipwrecks – including 13 royal Navy warships – and more than 8,000 seamen drowned.

Areas along the coasts of continents are most susceptible to hurricanes and typhoons that come in from the sea. Coastal towns and cities fare worse than areas further inland when these sorts of storms attack.

Everybody talks about the weather. Farmers, in particular, have been known to agonize over it. For much of mankind’s existence, weather has had a significant impact on survival, controlling agricultural success or the numbers and health of animals hunted or raised as food sources.

Besides the deaths of people in major storm events, there is always significant property damage which can cripple families under unforeseen financial burdens.

Chronicling of major storms falls well within the time period of genealogical studies. The 1950 time frame would not normally be a part of genealogical investigations but it did affect people three or more generations ago. More to the point, it certainly was not the first (nor will it be the last) intense storm to have an impact on communities.

It may be worth family researchers’ time to review the aspects of the environments in which their ancestors lived to see if natural disaster like storms, and associated wind or flood damage had major impacts on lives and livelihoods.

Natural Disasters and Family Misfortunes 9: Landslides

A recent news story out of Quebec, Canada, reminded me of another disaster that can affect people and communities. Earlier this month the bank along a portion of the Richelieu River collapsed leaving one home only a few feet away from falling into the chasm. Further erosion of the river bank continues, creeping further under the home’s foundation. The house has been condemned now as being unsafe and the owners have been forced to relocate. To make matters worse for this family, their insurance company will not pay to replace the house as this kind of loss falls into the natural disaster type of damage which is not covered by most policies.

 

Photo of 13 November 2017 collapse along Richelieu River (retrieved 16 Nov 2017 from The Weather Network website)

Situations such as occurred in Quebec happen often as lands along the margins of rivers or ocean and in mountainous areas give way to gravity, destroying everything in their path. Where people or property is present the damage can be more than just a natural erosion of land. Homes and businesses can be lost along with the lives of people caught unaware.

Throughout history there are many examples of landslides that ruined farms and communities. In some cases the slippages occurred over a longer period (weeks); in a few the events happened in just minutes. The latter inevitably were the most deadly as people in the path had little or no warning.

A 2014 landslide in Washington State took the lives of 43 people when a wall of mud, sand, water and trees virtually obliterated a residential community near the town of Oso.

 

An aerial image of the Oso landslide on 13 April 2014. Photo Credit: University of Illinois engineering professor Tim Stark (retrieved 17 November 2017 from phys.org website)

The area had received record-breaking rainfall in the preceding weeks, resulting in saturation of the slope. With the slide starting at a high elevation relative to the houses it built up a high degree of destructive energy against which little could withstand.

Along the southern coast of England, erosion has resulted in instability of the land. Major collapses have been records for the past five centuries. Normally they have begun with crack developing above the cliffs with subtle slipping of large blocks. Over periods of several days or weeks these blocks begin the slide toward the sea. Once moved, waves and currents begin their assault, taking away the material and leaving an undisturbed cliff wet hundreds of yards back from the original shoreline. And the process begins again.

One such event was chronicled in a special publication in 1840 (Coneybeare and Dawson’s memoir and Views of Landslips on the Coast of East Devon). In this book, the authors described the 1839 Bindon landslip in detail, and included several high quality illustrations. Landslips and erosion continue along the English coastline with many farms and towns in constant danger of being lost.

Like many other natural processes, landslides can result in devastating consequences. Often they accompany or are caused by earthquakes. Whether lives are actually lost – and there have been thousands over the centuries – livelihoods have certainly been impacted with loss of land and homes. In many instances, as with the recent case in Quebec, losses could not be replaced because either owners had no insurance or insurance policies did not pay out. In the past people may have been forced to leave areas where they had lived for decades, especially if their homes and businesses were gone.

A brief description of 26 catastrophic landslides of just the 20^th century can be found here. A summary of landslides over the centuries can be seen here, The ten deadliest are listed here. The greatest loss of life occurred in Ningzia, China in December 1920 when a major earthquake triggered 675 landslides that resulted in massive destruction of property and claimed over 100,000 lives.

Genealogists might pay attention to the areas in which their ancestors lived to determine whether a natural event such as a landslide could have affected lives and livelihoods.

Alexander Cooper – Colour Sergeant, Cameronians, Scottish Rifles

My wife’s grandfather, Alexander Cooper, was a military man. In his later personal life he is said to have been difficult, almost tyrannical in the treatment of his children. His life story may explain part of that. I told quite a bit about the man in a post on 12 August 2014: Sometimes Those Family Stories Have a Grain of Truth. In it I only briefly mentioned his army career.

In this piece, relevant to this time of year, I will tell more about that period in Alexander’s life that may have significantly impacted his attitudes and approaches to people.

Alexander joined the British Army with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) on 14 August 1885, at the age of 18 (his attestation form says he was 19 years and 2 months old so he fibbed a bit about that). He was discharged on 30 June 1908, having spent most of his adult life as a soldier. During his service he almost certainly was imbued with a sense of order and a penchant for following the instructions of superiors in rank. That mind-set would likely have permeated his private life after he left the army, particularly when fate dealt him serious personal setbacks.

Alexander rose rapidly through the ranks achieving the position of Colour Sergeant in 1896 (the highest rank possible for non-commissioned soldiers). In addition to the time spent at the Cameronian headquarters in Hamilton, he also served in India (1894-1895) and South Africa (1901-1902). Toward the end of Alexander’s army career he was posted back to Glasgow with the Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, an established battalion that was linked with the Cameronians in 1881.

He met and married his first wife, Margaret Scott, in 1890 while stationed at the regimental quarters in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland. She was then living on Auchingramont Road, in the nearby village. They moved to Church Street, Hamilton, shortly after their marriage. Alexander and Margaret had two children together, Mary Jane, born in 1892, and Alexander, born in 1895. Both children were born in Lossiemouth, Elgin, Scotland, where Margaret’s parents lived. Mary Jane died of measles in February 1895 on board the ship they were sailing home on from after a posting in India.

In 1901 the family was located in Kent, England, possibly a stopover on their way to a posting in South Africa. Alexander would have worked then at the Brompton Barracks. Following their time in South Africa, Alexander and Margaret returned to Glasgow. They were living on New City Road in 1907 when Margaret fell ill with heart disease and died.

Alexander met and married Elizabeth Walker in 1908 just before his discharge. Both were living in Glasgow at the time. No doubt Alexander appreciated the help Lizzie brought to care for his young son. Lizzie also had a child at the time, daughter Violet, born in 1905. The couple went on to have six children together between 1908 and 1917, the first born on Napiershill Street, Glasgow, and most of the rest when the family lived on Gayfield Street in the city.

The family endured another tragedy in 1916 when Alexander Jr. was killed in action near Bethune, France. He is buried in the local military cemetery there. Alexander is our lone family connection to WWI, having joined the Cameronians in the fall of 1914, just before his 19^th birthday.

Another misfortune for Alexander’s family occurred in 1918 when Elizabeth suffered a severe mental affliction. The seriousness of her condition resulted her being institutionalized. Their children, shockingly, were told she had died. (I will deal with that story and subject in a later blog post.) Alexander was now left with a family of young children, the oldest ten years of age and the youngest only one.

Having lost a wife, a daughter and a son, and now losing a second partner, is it any wonder that Alexander may have been overwhelmed with grief and uncertainty? His military training did not prepare him for the new familial situation. His inability to relate to his children other than as a disciplinarian left them traumatized even more. All of them were either sent to live with grandparents or enrolled in boarding schools. The radical change to family life affected them all. Eventually they were separated, growing up under wildly different conditions.

It is important to remember that Alexander served his country faithfully and with distinction. His transition to private life, though, was met with unhappiness and misfortune.

He died in Glasgow at the relatively young age of just 60, felled finally by cancer.