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MISSOURI
COUNTIES: REYNOLDS - IRON –
MADISON – BOLLINGER - CAPE GIRARDEAU - PERRY
ILLINOIS
COUNTIES: JACKSON - WILLIAMSON - FRANKLIN - HAMILTON - WHITE
INDIANA
COUNTIES: POSEY - GIBSON - PIKE
At About 1:01 PM on March 18, 1925,
trees began to snap north-northwest of Ellington, Missouri, and
for the next three and a half hours more people would die, more
schools would be destroyed, more students and farm owners would
be killed, and more deaths would occur in a single city than
from any other tornado in U.S. history. Records would be set for
speed, path length, and probably for other categories that can't
be measured so far in the past. The tornado maintained an exact
heading, N 69 degrees E, for 183 of the 219 miles, at an average
62mph, following a slight topographic ridge on which a series of
mining towns were built. These
towns were the main targets of the devastating winds. Between
Gorham and Murphysboro, the forward speed was a record setting
73mph. No distinct funnel was visible through much of its path,
yet for over 100 miles, the path width held uniformly at about
three-quarters of a mile.
After touching down 3 miles
north-northwest of Ellington, Missouri, it killed a farmer. The
funnel was very wide, a double tornado, or accompanied by
downbursts as it enveloped Annapolis and a mining town called
"Leadanna" 2 miles south of Annapolis. Two people were
killed and 75 more were injured in that area. Losses in both
towns totaled about $500,000.
There were no injuries across most of
Iron, and all of Madison Counties. The damage track was very
wide; damage was F2 in intensity, and this may reflect a break
in the tornado path, but with downburst damage connecting the
tornado damage tracks, 5 miles south of Fredericktown. Only once
more, near Princeton, Indiana, would there even be a minor hint
that this event was a tornado or tornado/downburst family. Once
out of the Ozark hills and onto the farmland of Bollinger and
Perry Counties, the death toll quickly mounted near Lixville,
Biehle, and Frohna. One child was killed in a rural wooden
school, 5 miles North of
Altenburg, Perry County. At least 32
children were injured in two Bollinger County schools. The event
was probably a double tornado for three miles near Biehle.
Eleven probably died in Missouri, although some lists have 13
deaths.
In Illinois, the devastation was at its
worst. At Gorham, 34 people died as virtually all of the town
was destroyed. Over half of the town's population was either
killed or injured. Seven of the deaths were at the school. At
Murphysboro, there was the largest death toll, within a single
city, in US history. The 234 deaths included at least 25 in
three different schools. All of these schools were brick and
stone structures, built with little or no reinforcement, and
students were crushed under falling walls.
Murphysboro losses totaled about
$10,000,000. Another 69 people died in and near Desoto, and the
33 deaths at the school was the worst in US tornado history.
Parrish was devastated, with 22 deaths, as was the northwest
part of West Frankfort, with $800,000 damage. About 800 miners
were 500 feet down in a mine when the tornado struck. They knew
there had been a storm, but they had lost electrical power. The
only way to get out, and find out how their families had fared,
was to go up a narrow escapement. Most of the demolished homes
were miner's cottages, and many of the 127 dead and 450 injured
were women and children.
Also unprecedented was the rural death
toll of 65 in Hamilton and White County. There were single
deaths in three different rural White County schools. The
normally weather wise farmers were apparently unaware of what
was bearing down on them. With such a great forward speed, and
appearing as a boiling mass of clouds rolling along, rather than
a widely visible funnel, the tornado gave these people too
little time to react. Massive amounts of dust and debris also
served to obscure the storm.
In Indiana, multiple funnels were
occasionally visible, as the 3/4-mile-wide path of destruction
continued with no letup. At least 71 people died in Indiana. The
town of Griffin lost 150 homes, and children were killed on
their way home from school. Two deaths were in a bus. Another
stretch of rural devastation occurred between Griffin and
Princeton, passing just northwest of Owensville. About 85 farms
were devastated in that area. About half of Princeton was
destroyed, and losses there totaled $1,800,000. The funnel
dissipated about 10 miles northeast of Princeton. |
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Chicago, IL:
Late figures Show 2,916 Maimed; Murphysboro Death Toll
Rises to
201. (Complete article not copied)
The storm swept territory of the Ohio
Valley continued the tragic task of burying its dead
while relief workers completed bringing order out of chaos and
plans for rehabilitation were
advanced.... In towns where loss of life was heaviest community
funerals were planned with
burial in one long grave... Today aid continued to pour in for
sufferers in the greatest
tornado in America's history, which snuffed out more than 800
lives and injured 3,000
persons.
A few isolated cases of looting came to
light, but generally there was no disorder. At West
Frankfort a man caught taking a ring from a woman's finger was
slain by a police officer.
Additions to the lists of dead left the
figures at 809. The toll at Murphysboro rose to 201
with the finding of 11 additional bodies, and in other districts
original estimates were
reduced as final checks were made.
The Red Cross at St. Louis issued an
appeal for sightseers to remain away from the area as
every available building is already taxed to capacity in caring
for the injured and homeless.
At DeSoto, while virtually wiped out,
plans were made to bury thirty dead in one grave. Of
this village of 500, fewer than 200 were left uninjured. Most of
the casualties were among
children, who perished when the school house was destroyed.
Funeral at Parrish, Illinois, victims
were held in adjacent towns as nearly all of the towns
250 inhabitants were killed or injured and the handful of
survivors moved to homes of
neighbors outside the tornado district.
At Gorham 12 funerals were held
yesterday.
In the wilderness at Murphysboro, where
1,000 residences had stood, a search for
additional bodies were continued. Of 700 injured, 300 are said
to be in a serious condition.
Parrish and Gorham, Illinois, and
Griffin, Indiana were virtually annihilated. The present
outlook is such that no effort will be made to rebuild the
Illinois towns but State Senator
SNEED refuses to give up on DeSoto,
saying, "My father is buried there."
Not copied verbatim... All sorts of aid
was being rushed into Carbondale by train and truck,
including food, money, clothing, shelter, medical assistance,
and even caskets. Sanitation had
became a big concern, especially as many had returned to
whatever kind of a home that remained, and a supply of tetanus
serum was brought in. Federal, State, Military, Red Cross and
Civic organizations all helped. The First Methodist Church was
turned into a Red Cross and relief headquarters and was stacked
high with items. To help with medical aid, Chicago
organizations offered half a million dollars. St. Louis had
already raised over half of a
$100,000 subscription fund to be turned
over to the Red Cross.
Taken from History of Illinois, pub. 1927
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