THE ROANOKE RAPIDS
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VOLUMETWENTY-FOUR ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C. THURSDAY, FEB. 23, 1939NUMBER 33
In The Path of Tornado
This house at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday was a comfortable home in which Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Mizelle, Mr.
and Mrs. Starkey Mizelle, and Robert Lawrence were holding an after-supper conversation. A few
seconds later the tornado struck the house and Mr. Lawrence, 95, was killed in the wreckage.
The above is the home place of Robert Mizelle of Roanoke Rapids.
Seen here are victims of the tornado which br night death and injury to farm families in the
Green’s Crossroads section of Bertie County near Windsor late Tuesday. Hospital space was crowded
and extra beds and supplies were needed to care for the injured.
The three children in the cots nearest the cam era are Rosa Lee, Roy and Clyde Asbell, niece and
nephews of Robert Mlzelle of Roanoke Rapids. I n the bed in the left foreground (not seen in the
picture) is Mrs. Asbell, Robert’s sister. In the center bed, looking at the camera, is Mrs. Paul Sand
lin, a cousin of the Roanoke Rapids ’man.
ROANOKE RAPIDS
MAN LOSES MOTHER
AND GRANDFATHER
Robert Mizelle of Roanoke Rapids left again
this afternoon for storm-swept Windsor, his old
home, to be at the bedside of several relatives who
were in the path of the tornado which struck near
there Tuesday night. Mr. Mizelle’s grandfather
was almost instantly killed when the family home
was demolished by the wind and his mother died
this morning from injuries received when the
house collapsed.
Others of his family injured were
his father, Joseph S. Mizelle, a
brother, James S. Mizelle, a sister,
Mrs. W. R. Asbell, and her three
children. All are expected to re
cover.
The grandfather, Robert Law
rence, 95 years old;- was evidently
thrown from his chair and crashed
to the floor with enough force to
break his hip. The old gentleman
died from the shock an hour after
the storm struck the home at 6 o’
clock Tuesday evening.
Mr. Mizelle’s mother, Mrs. Mary
F. Mizelle, died at 5 o’clock this
morning at the Windsor Hospital.
His father, Joseph S. Mizelle, at
nrst reported dead, was badly in
jured but able to be up today. A
brother, James S. Mizelle, also in
jured, was able to leave the hos
pital today.
The storm, which swept a three
mile path thru a thickly populated
area, in Bertie County, struck
heaviest at Mizelle’s relatives, com
pletely destroying his old home
and that of his sister across the
road. Houses, barns, fruit trees,
everything on the two farms was
destroyed.
Mrs. Mizelle, who died today, was
survived by her husband and nine
children: Robert of Roanoke Rap
(Continued on Pg. 8, Sec. A)
More than a dozen of farm homes, like the one seen here, were
damaged by the tornado which struck the Green’s Cross Roads section
of Bertie County late Tuesday. Others were levelled to the ground by
the twister which brought death and injury to farm families.
This house above was the home of the parents of W. R. Asbell. Mr.
Asbell is a brother in law of Robert Mizelle of Roanoke Rapids.
One of the numerous homes wrecked and destroyed by the tornado
near Windsor Tuesday was the colonial home seen above. Outhouses
were demolished and trees uprooted.
The above is the John Phelps home three miles from the Mize He
home.