Deadliest Tornadoes in Missouri History - The tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., May 22, 2011, is one of the worst in Missouri history in terms of death toll from a single funnel cloud. As many as 116 people have been confirmed dead, and officials believe the death toll will rise once more destroyed homes are searched.
The National Weather Service reports the death toll is the worst since 1947 from just one lone tornado. Missouri is on the edge of traditional tornado alley that includes the plains states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Still, some of the single deadliest storms have fallen in the Show-Me State.
St. Louis, 1896
As many as 255 confirmed deaths occurred in St. Louis in 1896. A huge tornado leaped over the Mississippi River and devastated East St. Louis, Ill., as well. Around 1,000 people were injured. Both numbers were likely greater as many people simply weren't accounted for. Some bodies were washed away as steamboats capsized in the river. In 1896 dollars, the storm caused $10 million in damage, including some to the Eads Bridge that actually survived the humongous F4 twister.
Marshfield, 1880
The Marshfield tornado struck April 18, 1880, and killed 99 people in the town itself. Located about 20 miles northeast of Springfield, the tornado outbreak killed 151 Missourians statewide, but the single tornado in Marshfield stands as the second deadliest in the state's history. Photographs of the damage are available from the State Historical Society.
Poplar Bluff, 1927
A tornado in Poplar Bluff touched down May 9, 1927. It was estimated to have killed 98 people in its wake as it tore through the small southeast Missouri city. Damage was widespread in this logging community as wooden houses and brick buildings were equally destroyed.
The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 didn't make this list for Missouri because only 11 people were killed in the southeast part of the state before the huge tornado jumped the Mississippi River and killed 540 people in Illinois.
In terms of Missouri tornadoes, the Joplin event is the second-deadliest at this point with 116 confirmed casualties. Nationwide, only eight twisters have caused more deaths than the Joplin twister. Not counting the EF5 that killed more than 200 people in Alabama in April 2011, it's the deadliest tornado in America in nearly 65 years. That was when a tornado struck Woodward, Okla., and killed 181 people in one single event.
No matter how historians rate the tornado, it will go down as one of the most catastrophic in terms of how quickly entire neighborhoods were decimated. The preliminary rating is an EF4 with wind speeds of around 190 mph, just 10 mph short of an EF5 rating. ( yahoo.com )
The National Weather Service reports the death toll is the worst since 1947 from just one lone tornado. Missouri is on the edge of traditional tornado alley that includes the plains states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Still, some of the single deadliest storms have fallen in the Show-Me State.
St. Louis, 1896
As many as 255 confirmed deaths occurred in St. Louis in 1896. A huge tornado leaped over the Mississippi River and devastated East St. Louis, Ill., as well. Around 1,000 people were injured. Both numbers were likely greater as many people simply weren't accounted for. Some bodies were washed away as steamboats capsized in the river. In 1896 dollars, the storm caused $10 million in damage, including some to the Eads Bridge that actually survived the humongous F4 twister.
Marshfield, 1880
The Marshfield tornado struck April 18, 1880, and killed 99 people in the town itself. Located about 20 miles northeast of Springfield, the tornado outbreak killed 151 Missourians statewide, but the single tornado in Marshfield stands as the second deadliest in the state's history. Photographs of the damage are available from the State Historical Society.
Poplar Bluff, 1927
A tornado in Poplar Bluff touched down May 9, 1927. It was estimated to have killed 98 people in its wake as it tore through the small southeast Missouri city. Damage was widespread in this logging community as wooden houses and brick buildings were equally destroyed.
The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 didn't make this list for Missouri because only 11 people were killed in the southeast part of the state before the huge tornado jumped the Mississippi River and killed 540 people in Illinois.
In terms of Missouri tornadoes, the Joplin event is the second-deadliest at this point with 116 confirmed casualties. Nationwide, only eight twisters have caused more deaths than the Joplin twister. Not counting the EF5 that killed more than 200 people in Alabama in April 2011, it's the deadliest tornado in America in nearly 65 years. That was when a tornado struck Woodward, Okla., and killed 181 people in one single event.
No matter how historians rate the tornado, it will go down as one of the most catastrophic in terms of how quickly entire neighborhoods were decimated. The preliminary rating is an EF4 with wind speeds of around 190 mph, just 10 mph short of an EF5 rating. ( yahoo.com )
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