One hundred years ago, a catastrophic tornado ripped through three states, leveling whole towns and killing nearly 700 people. It remains the worst tornado in U.S. history.
Called the Tri-State Tornado, it started the afternoon of March 18, 1925, near Ellington, Missouri. For about four hours, the storm raced along a track of over 200 miles, decimating parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. It came with no warning.
By the end of the day, 695 people were dead, more than 2,000 were injured and thousands were left homeless – even town-less.
Because meteorological technology advancements weren’t up to today’s standards when the Tri-State Tornado hit, modern scientists can’t be sure whether it was really on the ground the entire nearly four hours and 219 miles. Exactly where it started and ended is also less clear now than thought at the time.
On that same day, other tornadoes also struck parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, killing nearly 50 more people and injuring dozens.
The front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on March 19 showed a grim picture of a public school building in shambles. It said all hospitals were filled and property damage was in the millions (about $16.5 million at the time).
“By any measurement – the destruction it caused (of property, loss of life, injuries) or size (length of path, forward speed) – has never been matched in climate history,” wrote Christopher H. Burt in “Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book.”
The worst twister in US history
Of the 695 who died in the Tri-State Tornado, 234 were in Murphysboro, Illinois, a record in a single community from such a disaster. Some 15,000 homes were destroyed.
The tornado barreled along its path at speeds of 60 to 70 mph.
“Scenes of Horror As Families Are Separated and Injured Men, Women and Children are Carried to Hospitals—Southern Shops and H.J. Heinz Plant, Prides of Princeton, Demolished by Terrific Wind,” read a headline on the front page of the Princeton Clarion-News the next day.
In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a schoolgirl who survived the storm in Gorham described the ordeal:
“Then the wind struck the school. The walls seemed to fall in, all around us. Then the floor at one end of the building gave way. We all slipped or slid in that direction. If it hadn’t been for the seats it would have been like sliding down a cellar door.
I can’t tell you what happened then. I can’t describe it. I can’t bear to think about it. Children all around me were cut and bleeding. They cried and screamed. It was something awful. I had to close my eyes…”
The tornado was so large, people who saw it described it as a massive black cloud or a “fog,” Burt wrote in his book.
In Gorham, Illinois, 37 died and 100% of the town was damaged or destroyed, according to the weather service. About 90% of Parrish, Illinois, was destroyed. Biehle, Missouri, was hit with 100% damage or destruction. Thousands were left homeless in Murphysboro. Rural areas in Hamilton County, Illinois, saw 41 deaths and entire farms and schools destroyed.
“Most never recovered after the tornado. Still today, many towns along the path remain below 1925 population levels,” tornado researcher Victor Gensini of Northern Illinois University said.
Could another Tri-State Tornado happen today?
Experts say that while a massive tornado outbreak like the Tri-State Tornado could happen again in the future, we are better prepared now than 100 years ago to withstand it. For one thing, modern weather monitoring systems will allow meteorologists to alert the public to the danger much more effectively.
“Despite all the uncertainties surrounding the 1925 Tri-State Tornado, one thing is for certain – a storm like it will happen again. The only question is: when and where?” the National Weather Service site says.
One such deadly tornado outbreak compared to the 1925 storm happened on Dec. 10 and 11 of 2011, when a storm system spawned tornadoes, including a violent EF-4 tornado that moved across Tennessee and Kentucky. Its 165.7-mile track was one of the longest ever. Fifty-seven people died and over 500 were injured.
Last weekend, tornados and severe weather tore through eight Midwest and Southern states, leaving at least 42 dead.
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