Men View the Ruins of Rye Cove School

The Rye Cove Cyclone is the deadliest tornado in Virginia history. Part of an unusual outbreak of tornadoes across the eastern United States on May 2, 1929, it hit the Rye Cove School in the Appalachian highlands of Scott County in the southwestern part of the state, killing twelve students and one teacher and injuring fifty-four. One week later, the State Department of Education dispatched a photographer to document the destruction; this photograph is taken from that collection.