MURPHYSBORO, Ill. – Monday marks 99 years since an important, but grim day in weather history.
On March 18, 1925, hundreds of people died as a tornado raced across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana for several hours. Historians refer to this event as the Tri-State tornado outbreak.
A newspaper headline from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch initially read: “TORNADO DEATH LIST 800 OR MORE.” Officials eventually confirmed 695 deaths, which is still a U.S. record for one single tornado.
The tornado formed near Ellington, Missouri, and it didn’t dissipate until just southwest of Petersburg, Indiana. The path covered roughly 220 miles of land, while the twister tracked top speeds of 73 miles per hour and lasted nearly three and a half hours.
The worst of the damage came just south of the St. Louis metro. The village of Biehle, Missouri, was 100% destroyed. Around 230 people died from the tornado’s impacts in Murphysboro, Illinois.
Officials also confirmed around 2,000 injuries and 15,000 homes destroyed from the tornado.
