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The Deadliest Tornado in U.S. History

  

Category:  History & Sociology

Via:  kavika  •  5 years ago  •  9 comments

The Deadliest Tornado in U.S. History

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



Overturned trains. Timber found miles away from where it had been stored. Trees felled. Fires and close calls. A letter that flew almost 100 miles. On a normal day in the Midwest in 1925, any one of these stories would have been worthy of front-page coverage. But March 18, 1925 was a day like no other the region had ever seen.

That day, a huge outbreak of tornadoes marched across a swath of the Midwest and Southeast. The largest of them all—the deadliest tornado in United States history—laid waste to parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Now known as the Tri-State Tornado, it turned March 18 into a day of gruesome destruction and bizarre survival stories. 


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Kavika
Professor Principal
1  seeder  Kavika     5 years ago

Historic destruction in the mid west. 

300 MPH winds, that's almost impossible to compute. 

in a time when meteorologists were forbidden from forecasting tornados or even using the word “tornado.”

I had no idea that this existed.

 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Principal
2  Perrie Halpern R.A.    5 years ago
The ban on the word had been in effect since the 1880s, when weather forecasters first began developing methods of predicting tornadoes. At the time, forecasting was in its infancy, and officials worried that meteorologists could not provide adequate forecasts of how a tornado might behave. They also underestimated the public, writes weather historian Marlene Bradford, and felt that telephone operators might panic if they were required to relay news of upcoming storms. “Meteorologists appeared to have reached a consensus that forecasting tornadoes would do more harm than good,” Bradford writes, and the Weather Bureau had an outright ban on the word until 1950.

Holy Moly this went on till 1950? That's nuts.

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
3  Split Personality    5 years ago

tornado (n.)

1550s, ternado , navigator's word for violent windy thunderstorm in the tropical Atlantic, probably a mangled borrowing from Spanish tronada "thunderstorm," from tronar "to thunder," from Latin tonare "to thunder" (see thunder (n.)). Also in 17c. spelled tornatho , tornathe , turnado ; modern spelling by 1620s. Metathesis of -o- and -r- in modern spelling influenced by Spanish tornar "to twist, turn," from Latin tornare "to turn." Meaning "extremely violent whirlwind" is first found 1620s; specifically "destructive rotary funnel cloud" (especially in the U.S. Midwest) from 1849. Related: Tornadic .

 
 
 
Sparty On
Professor Principal
4  Sparty On    5 years ago

Wow 300 MPH ..... that is hard to imagine.

 
 
 
1stwarrior
Professor Participates
5  1stwarrior    5 years ago

A Terrifying, Deadly Storm Struck Mississippi In 1936… And No One Saw It Coming

On April 5, 1936, one of the deadliest spates of tornadoes in United States history struck several southern states, with Mississippi receiving some of the worst damage. The first of the deadly twisters touched down in Coffeeville then headed to Tupelo, devastating the town. By the time the unexpected twister arrived in Tupelo, it was an F5 that was three blocks wide, with wind speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour. According to some reports, the wind was so strong that it caused pine needles to become embedded in the trunks of trees.

When all was said and done, the tornado claimed the lives of 216 Tupelo residents; however, the number is actually much higher as the names of African-Americans were not reported. One notable survivor of the 1936 twister is Elvis Presley, who was just one-year-old at the time. Regardless of how much time has passed, this Tupelo twister remains one of the worst in the nation’s history.

The death toll, potentially including the Black death count, is said to exceed 400+.  Mom's family lived 2 miles from the Crossroads in East Tupelo when the storm came through.  They said it touched down about 1/2 mile from their house - three houses down from young Elvis - with half the roof being picked off and then the entire neighborhood heading East was just flattened.  Mom was 13 at the time.

Each time Dad got his orders to any Southern Post in Texas, Georgia, Alabama or Louisiana, Mom would start getting nervous.  Now I know why.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
5.1  seeder  Kavika   replied to  1stwarrior @5    5 years ago

Eleven years after the 1925 and the weather bureau didn't issue warnings....Can't wrap my head around that.  

The ban on the word had been in effect since the 1880s, when weather forecasters first began developing methods of predicting tornadoes. At the time, forecasting was in its infancy, and officials worried that meteorologists could not provide adequate forecasts of how a tornado might behave. They also underestimated the public, writes weather historian Marlene Bradford, and felt that telephone operators might panic if they were required to relay news of upcoming storms. “Meteorologists appeared to have reached a consensus that forecasting tornadoes would do more harm than good,” Bradford writes, and the Weather Bureau had an outright ban on the word until 1950.
 
 
 
Enoch
Masters Quiet
6  Enoch    5 years ago

When nature isn't being beautiful it can get really ugly.

E.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
6.1  seeder  Kavika   replied to  Enoch @6    5 years ago

Just when humans think that we are in control, mother nature gives us a awakening..Many times in the form of destruction that is near impossible to understand. 

 
 

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