September 13, 1928 SD tornado

[Bobbi Andrzejek]

I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

Does anyone know where I can read more about this tornado? It occurred about 4:15 pm in southeastern South Dakota. I know it destroyed one farm and killed four people about four miles southeast of what is now Mayfield. It may be the same tornado that went on to destroy the town of Davis. I'm not sure about that.

I'm mostly curious about it because it hit what is now my farm. It destroyed all of the barns (some were never rebuilt and just the foundations remain), but left the house intact. I have a "survivor" maple tree that was twisted and torn up but is still living (barely). I just wanted to read about it but I can't seem to find anything.

 

[Sean Mullen]

Hope this helps:

http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/056/mwr-056-09-0353.pdf

Keep the faith
Sean

 

[David Drummond]

Wow, that was a pretty detailed tornado report for those days. Of interesting note, the writer talked about how the destroyed schools should have been sheltered by the hills nearby, and then went on to dismiss the idea that the 3 rivers converging would protect Sioux City.

Of course we all know now that both are myths, but I was just amused and how he believed in one myth but dismissed the other one.

 

[Bobbi Andrzejek]

Thanks Sean. That's a neat report with a ton of detail. I saved it. How did you find that? It has more about the Pender, NE tornado, though, than it does about what occurred in SD.

 

[Sean Mullen]

You're welcome. I found this with a Google search, using the phrase "September 13, 1928" and the term "tornado". I also tried "9/13/28" but ended up getting a lot of non-related hits containing 9:13:28AM.
I noticed that there was a lot of information from the damage survey from the Red Cross. Perhaps they have old records with more detail on the SD tornado. You also might try local newspapers and libraries.
I don't know if this event is listed in Significant Tornadoes by Grazulis, but maybe someone who has a copy will see this and check. You can also try contacting the Tornado Project(http://www.tornadoproject.com/) and see if they can provide you with the information you are seeking.
Good luck!

Keep the faith
Sean