Disaster | Natural

The Knickerbocker Storm

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Rescue workers immediately began using lanterns to search the rubble for survivors as nearby residents offered food and hot drinks.
The Knickerbocker Storm of 1922 was named for the theater where 98 people died when heavy snow caused the roof to collapse.

On January 27, 1922, a massive blizzard began that eventually dropped at least 28 inches of snow on Washington, D.C. At the Knickerbocker Theatre, snow piled up on the building's flat roof as patrons filled the seats for a silent movie that night. At about 9 p.m. during an intermission, the roof of the theater collapsed in an instant. A survivor told his story: "I grabbed for my hat and coat, and the next minute found myself flat on my face with something weighty on top...Then I started working my way slowly in some direction...and with four other fellows we saw a hole with a light shining through. The next thing I know I was on the street, but I don't know how I got there." By 2:30 a.m., the rescue operation had swelled to 600 workers. Despite this effort, the roof collapse killed 98 people and injured another 133.

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The theater roof split down the middle, which brought down the balcony and a portion of the exterior wall.

 

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After the rescue efforts ended, the recovery and removal of bodies from the rubble continued on January 29, 1922.

 

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A few miles north of the nation's capital, weather observers measured as much as 33 inches of snow.

 

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Snowdrifts towering as high as 16 feet covered the railroad tracks between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.