The Times' commemorative coverage of the 75th anniversary of a tornado that killed more than 200 in Gainesville was honored with two awards Thursday by the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.

The online component of the tornado package, called "Ruin & Rebirth" and focused on the storm's survivors, won first place for Best Use of Multimedia. The front page of the print tornado package won second place for Best Front Page Design.

The newspaper's website, gainesvilletimes.com, won third place for Best Website.

"The SNPA includes in its membership many excellent news organizations from several states," said Dennis Stockton, publisher of The Times. "With that in mind, it is certainly gratifying to be recognized for award-winning achievement by SNPA. These awards are reflective of the exceptional work done by very talented people in our newsroom on a daily basis, both in print and online."

The awards continue to a trend of success in the regional competition. The website has placed each of the past four years, winning top honors in 2008 and 2010. This is the second time in three years, The Times has been honored with the multimedia award.

The tornado package commemorated the 1936 tornado - still the fifth deadliest in U.S. history - primarily through the eyes of local residents who survived the storm. In print, coverage included a special six-page section of stories and photographs.

For online, the newspaper produced a 22-minute documentary using survivor stories as the narration. The online page also included stories, photo galleries, audio and video interviews and historic newspaper front pages.

"We felt it was important to tell this story using the words of the people who lived through it," Executive Editor Mitch Clarke said. "There aren't as many survivors around as there once was, and we wanted to chronicle their stories while we still could."

The online tornado package, including the special documentary, can still be viewed at gainesvilletimes.com/tornado.

The Southern Newspaper Publishers Association was established in 1903 and includes about 400 daily and nondaily newspapers, located primarily in the South and Southeast.

In the SNPA Better Newspaper Contest, The Times competes against daily newspapers with a circulation under 50,000.