1896 St. Louis – East St. Louis tornado

1896 St. Louis-East St. Louis tornado

Damage at Jefferson and Allen Avenues
Date of tornado outbreak:	May 27-28, 1896
Duration1:	Unknown
Maximum rated tornado2:	F4 tornado
Tornadoes caused:	Unknown
Damages:	$3.4 billion (2005 USD)
Fatalities:	284+
Areas affected:	Central-Eastern United States
1Time from first tornado to last tornado 2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale

The 1896 St. Louis – East St. Louis tornado is a historic tornado event that occurred on Wednesday, May 27, 1896, as part of a major tornado outbreak across the Central United States on the 27th, continuing across the Eastern United States on the 28th.^[1] One of the deadliest and most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history, this very large, long-track, and violent tornado was the most notable of an outbreak which produced other large, long-track, violent, killer tornadoes.

May 27 outbreak

The first significant tornado of the day formed near Bellflower, Missouri and killed a woman. Three students died and sixteen were injured when the Dye School in Audrain County, Missouri was hit at around 6:15 P.M. The same tornado killed one student and injured 19 others at the Bean Creek school a few minutes later. At 6:30, two supercell thunderstorms produced two tornadoes. One decimated farms in New Minden, Hoyleton, Richview, and Irvington, Illinois.

Twenty-seven more people died in the other Illinois tornadoes of this outbreak.

St. Louis – East St. Louis tornado

The tornado spawned from the other supercell became the third deadliest and the most costly tornado in United States history. It touched down in St. Louis, Missouri, then one of the largest and most influential cities in the country. 137 people died as the tornado traversed the core of the city leaving a mile wide (1.6 km) continuous swath of destroyed homes, schools, saloons, factories, mills, churches, parks, and railroad yards. More people probably died on boats on the Mississippi River as the bodies may have gone downriver. When the tornado crossed the river and hit East Saint Louis, Illinois, it was smaller but more intense. An additional 118 people were killed. The confirmed death toll is 255, with some estimates above 400. More than 1,000 were injured. The tornado was later rated F4 on the Fujita scale. Adjusted for wealth and inflation (1997 USD), it is the costliest tornado in U.S. history at an estimated $2.9 billion.^[2] Enough damage was done to the city that there was some question that St. Louis might not be able to host the 1896 Republican National Convention in June.

In perspective

St. Louis tornado history

It is somewhat rare for the core of a large city to be hit directly by a tornado (due to their relatively small area and the relative lack of large cities in the highest tornado threat region)—especially a large intense tornado—yet several other tornadoes have tracked through the City of St. Louis and several of these tornadoes were also very deadly and destructive. Among these events are: 1871 (9 killed), 1890 (4 killed), 1904 (3 killed, 100 injured), 1927 (79 killed, 550 injured, 2nd costliest in US history)^[2], and 1959 (21 killed, 345 injured).^[3] This makes St. Louis the worst tornado afflicted urban area in the U.S.^[4] Additionally, the Greater St. Louis area is the scene of even more historically destructive and deadly tornadoes.

Other May 1896 tornadoes

In what was apparently an intense tornado outbreak sequence, other major tornado outbreaks occurred on May 15, May 17, and May 24 - 25, with other smaller outbreaks during the month as well. The middle to end of May was extremely active but sparse records preclude knowing much detail. Tom Grazulis has stated that the week of May 24 - 28 was "perhaps the most violent single week of tornado activity in US history".^[5]

1896 tornado season

The 1896 tornado season has the distinction of being the deadliest in United States history. There were at least 40 killer tornadoes spanning from April 11 to November 26; including this one, the only one to kill more than 100 people in two separate cities.^[5]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 1896 St. Louis – East St. Louis tornado

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• List of tornadoes striking downtown areas
• List of tornado-related deaths at schools

References

• Beatty, Kyle A. (August 2002). "What would be the monetary loss if the 1896 St. Louis/East St. Louis tornado happened today?". 21st Conference on Severe Local Storms. San Antonio, TX: American Meteorological Society. http://ams.confex.com/ams/SLS_WAF_NWP/techprogram/paper_47015.htm. 

Further reading

• Curzon, Julian (1997). The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, May 27, 1896. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0809321246. 

External links

• St. Louis/East St. Louis Tornado of 1896 (Tornado Project)
• St. Louis, Missouri Tornado (National Weather Service St. Louis)
• Great Cyclone at St. Louis, May 27, 1896 (NOAA) Photos
• The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, May 27, 1896 (St. Louis Public Library)
• The 1896 Tornado! (Illinois Genealogy Trails History and Genealogy)
• The St. Louis Cyclone of 1896 (US Genealogy Network)
• St. Louis, Missouri Tornado May 28, 1896