WSIL -- March 18, 1925 is a day that forever changed parts of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana.
Logan School - Murphysboro
The Tri-State Tornado touched down around 1 p.m. on March 18, 1925 near Ellington, Missouri. It was the start of the most horrific tornado to ever occur.
Longfellow School - Murphysboro
The tornado would cut a 219 mile path from southeast Missouri to southwest Indiana, a record for the longest tracking tornado in history. At one point, between Gorham and Murphysboro, the tornado was moving at a speed of 73 miles per hour, a record speed for a tornado.
DeSoto School
In total, 695 people lost their lives, a record for a tornado in the United States. 234 people died in Murphysboro alone, a record for the most deaths in a single community from a tornado.
Tri-State Tornado Damage - West Frankfort
In De Soto, the school took a direct hit from the tornado. 33 deaths occurred at the school, a record for a storm (only bombings and gas explosions have taken more lives in a school).
Communities hit by the tornado:
Missouri: Ellington, Redford, Leadanna, Annapolis, Cornwall, Biehle, Frohna
Illinois: Gorham, Murphysboro, De Soto, Hurst-Bush, Zeigler, West Frankfort, Eighteen, Parrish, Crossville
Indiana: Griffin, Owensville, Princeton
In total, 2,027 people were injured. 15,000 homes were destroyed.
For near a century the Tri-State Tornado has left meteorologists wondering if it could happen again. That question was nearly answered on December 10, 2021 with a two long tracking tornadoes that hit multiple communities in northeast Arkansas, southeast Missouri, northwest Tennessee, and western Kentucky.
