In June 1910, a cyclone or tornado struck the Lykens Valley area doing a great amount of damage in the Halifax area, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The above photo, originally from a real-photo post card (later colorized) shows the destruction to a barn on a farm owned by the Keiter family.
Included in a book of memories published by a local historical society is a story of another cyclone that same year, but in August. Since not much more was found about the August event, it is possible that this may have been the same even that struck the area in June 1910. Nevertheless, the memory of the event which occurred at the Geary Strohecker home and farm in Lykens Township, Dauphin County, is presented here.
A FIERCE CYCLONE HITS
One morning in August of 1910, Mr. Geary Strohecker who lived about a mile west of Gratz left his home to attend to some business. He lived on the farm now [1988] owned by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Crissinger. His family remained at home and were taking care of the routine work.
Sometime during the day, some dark clouds rolled in and soon a terrific lightening and thunder storm developed. The brunt of the storm passed through the central part of Lykens Township. In the midst of the storm it progressed into cyclone force. Trees were uprooted and carried for hundreds of yards across fields. Giant oaks that had withstood the storms for years were twisted into shapeless masses and thrown to the ground. Fences were laid flat on the ground, and shocks of oats were distributed over large areas.
Mr. Strohecker’s farm seemed to get the worst damage. When he returned from his business, he found that the tin roof and brick gable of the house was gone, and the west end of the barn was a mass of ruins. His family was panic stricken.
After they had a chance to calm themselves, and realized that there were no injuries to any of the family, they began to investigate the damage. About one half of the unthreshed grain which had been stored in the barn was scattered along the highway. The tin roof and brick gable of the house was distributed on adjoining farms for a half mile or more. The rain which fell in torrents had submerged the upper stories of the house and damaged much of the household goods.
It was the worst storm in memory to hit Lykens Township. The wind was fierce and the downpour was equal to a cloud burst. But most of the damage was confined to this one farm.
_____________________________________________
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.