On April 27, 1899, at 6:20 p.m., a monstrous killer cyclone approached Kirksville from the southwest, then veered more to the northeast and cut a clear path of destruction from the southwest corner of the Normal School campus to Holy Cross Church at the eastern end of Washington Street. The Old Baldwin Hall tower was damaged, the brick side wall of the Catholic Church exploded and scattered interior furnishings, and the cyclone crossed the five hundred block of North Baltimore before continuing northeast. Heavy rains and fires followed through much of the night, but relief efforts continued with local doctors, nurses, and osteopathic students, while Mayor Noonan, city officials, and citizens worked to help. Trains brought doctors, nurses, and volunteers from Quincy and Moberly, the Commercial Club helped organize out-of-town workers, and mayors from St. Louis, Kansas City, Quincy, St. Joseph, Sedalia, Moberly, Macon, and even New York offered aid. At least 150 houses were destroyed, 28 persons were killed, 13 were fatally injured, 91 were injured, 1,000 were left homeless, and property damage reached $250,000. A newsman found an unharmed piano and played Home Sweet Home amid the desolation. Stories from the storm told of Edward Kellogg being carried about 300 feet into a pond whose water was sucked away, a baby found in a field 400 feet from home while another was found crushed, Miss Whaley pinned to the ground by a scantling driven through her back and abdomen and dying two hours later after surgeons sawed off both ends, Senator A.N. Seaber's barn vanishing into the clouds while a family horse remained tied to a post, Miss Moorehouse being carried beyond the Catholic Church and set down without serious harm, and a white horse owned by a teamster named Cheney being carried uninjured for a mile while its mate was killed. A piano made by W.W. Kimble Co. of Chicago was hurled 1,000 feet through the roof of a house and remained playable, later returning to Chicago as the Cyclone Piano. A poem about little Molly and the piano appeared, the popular song Just as the Clouds Passed O'er was based on the disaster, most of the bodies had been buried by April 29, the city drew sightseers for days, and Kirksville was determined to rebuild despite grievous losses.