Think The Wind Was Bad Last Night? You Should Have Been In Woburn 92 Years Ago Today

WOBURN, MA -- The wind storm that was predicted for Greater Boston last night into today has, so far, been a bit of a dud, with maximum wind gusts of 42 mph in the previous 24 hours, as of 10 am on Wednesday. That's lower than forecasters had warned on Tuesday, and significantly less the wind speeds that hit Woburn 92 years ago today, when a tornado ripped through the center of town before skipping through parts of Stoneham. The final tally of damage in the two towns was one dead, six injured and 75 damaged homes.

The tornado On October 25, 1925 was significant, even ripping the steeple of the Unitarian Church in Woburn, but newspapers across the country ran front page stories a day after the tornado that portrayed the damage as far worse than it actually was. In Medford, Oregon, the Mail-Tribune reported that 500 homes were destroyed in Woburn, which was part of a larger path of unstable weather across the eastern United States. In Elmira, New York, the Star-Gazette painted a scene of chaos in Woburn.

"Greatest damage was apparently in Woburn, Mass. With 500 houses with roofs unroofed or with walls caved in and the streets a mass of wires and wreckage, looting began in the city," the newspaper reported.

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That would explain the widespread reports of Massachusetts National Guard troops patrolling the city on front pages across the country on October 26, 1925. Among the injured was Helen Fitzgerald a woman whose car was hit by the falling steeple and its five-ton bell, the Asbury Park Press told its readers in New Jersey. The man who died was named George L. Dunnigan, who one newspaper identified as a national guardsman reporting for duty who had stopped on the side of a road to fix his car.

"A boy was cut by flying window glass while he lay in bead, and scores of motorists, driving through storm-darkened streets, were injured by flying debris," according to the Asbury Park Press. "Mayor Duffy asked contractors and builders to volunteer for repair work. Soldiers and police were ordered to start rehabilitation work and they were aided by citizens. The center of town was placed under military control and guards were stationed about damaged public buildings."

The newspaper accounts don't make clear at what time of day the storm struck, but the reports agreed that it "struck with terrifying suddeness" and took about three minutes for the three, funnel-shaped clouds to converge and leave "a swath of ruin three miles long and a quarter of a mile wide behind it."

Photo by Woburn Historical Society.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).