The Tri-State Tornado
"Something like this is not going to sneak up on us again. And I think that's the moral here. This showed us what needed to be done, and over 75 years, we've accomplished most of it." (Mary Bell Melvin, Survivor of 1925 Tornado)
March 18, 1925 was a normal day, calling for some rain and cool temperatures, or so the people had thought when the worst tornado in United States’ history ravaged eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and southern Indiana. The unassuming public had received no warning, and was thus left unprepared in facing history’s most monstrous tornado.
The Tornado's Deadly Plan
Defying All OddsThis storm system was so unusual that people, upon seeing the approaching system believed it to be a cloud of dust. However, this cloud of dust proved a weather catastrophe that defied all classifications commonly associated with tornadoes. For even farmers, who had come attuned to and skilled in determining the weather, were taken off guard and damaged by this unforeseen storm. Most tornadoes will travel at speeds between 20 to 40 miles per hour covering one to an excess of 100 miles. The Tri-State tornado, however, traveled an incredible 219 miles, was on the ground for three and a half hours, wrecked 164 square miles, had a diameter greater than a mile, and moved at an average speed of 62 miles per hour with a peak speed of 73 miles per hour between Gorham and Murphysboro. This tornado was appropriately classified as a F5 tornado on the Fujita Scale. This classification is the most serious category describing a storm that leaves severe damage including houses swept off their foundation, debris the size of cars being thrown 109 yards through the air, and trees being debarked. The Tri-State tornado remains the longest lasting, farthest reaching, and deadliest single tornado in recorded history.
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The AftermathThe tornado left 695 people dead, 13,000 injured, and damages totaling $16.5 million, a cost that, accounting for inflation, would equal $1.4 billion today. The economic damage of this event was so severe that survivor Wallace Akin of Murphysboro explains how the town’s economy was depressed for 20 years. The railroad repair center once in his town was moved to Alabama, the Great Depression further suppressed the town’s hope of recovery, and it was not until World War II that prosperity was again seen.
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Reasons for Ranking
Social Impact The public awareness raised by the Tri-State Tornado matched the magnitude of damage that remained. In 1925, weather forecasters were forbidden to speak of tornadoes, as the word “tornado” was not present in the vocabulary of the United States Weather Bureau. In fact, the word tornado was banned in 1887 when the U.S. Army Signal Corps was responsible for forecasting the weather. The logical behind this ban was that because tornados were highly unpredictable at the time, forecasting a tornado would cause unnecessary hysteria. However, it was not only forbidden in forecaster’s vocabulary, they were not permitted to study or acknowledge the existence of tornados.
After this enormous tornado, informal, local tornado-spotter networks began forming, though there were no known official programs, the newspapers of 1925 speak of such spotters. These spotter systems helped reduce the number of deaths caused by tornados. Furthermore, this storm inspired the public to support the start of what has evolved into modern tornado forecasting. On March 10, 1948, twenty-three years later, General Fred Borum asked Captain Robert Miller and Major Ernest Fawbush to attempt to predict tornados in Tinker, Oklahoma after a tornado had ravaged the Air Force Base. Five days later on March 20, noticing similar weather signs, they issued the first tornado forecast. Their prediction was correct and the warning saved the base from much damage. This led to the ultimate removal of the Weather Bureau’s ban on the word “tornado”. None of this would have been possible the awareness the Tri-State Tornado raised of the dangers of tornados and the even greater dangers of not being warned. For, many civilian deaths were caused by panic. When the people saw the advancing storm, they ran from their homes, putting themselves in more danger than they had been in while inside. Thus, the emergence of a formal warning program has helped save numerous lives and the 500 hundred deaths claimed per year in 1925 from tornado has now dropped to an average of fifty. |
Impact on Government PoliciesLack of sufficient communication, technology, and public awareness accounted for many of the deaths during the tornado, however, the slow, lacking government response displayed the need for the improvement of government’s response to natural disasters. Immediately after the disaster the government failed to send authorities, leaving people’s remaining possessions vulnerable to theft and looting. Additionally, people displaced by the storm were left with shelter and food while the government’s aid was stalled in bureaucratic limitations. The government failed to quickly provide the authorities and medical personnel necessary after a disaster of this magnitude, and thus, awareness was raised regarding the need to reform policies for dealing with such events.
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The Importance of Independent Agencies, such as the Red CrossThe Red Cross responded promptly with medical aid and emergency supplies displaying the importance of independent entities dedicated to storm relief . They organized thirteen relief centers, processed close to 7,000 cases in twelve months, and provided victims with food, medical aid, clothing, building supplies, building repairs, tools, household goods, transportation, and tetanus vaccines to protect against the infection of dirt wounds caused by flying debris. The nearly $400,000 dollars they were given by public donations is a further indicator of the newfound care and awareness the public felt toward the dire issue of natural disasters.
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