F4 Tornado Hits St. Louis: 255 Dead in One of America's Worst Twisters
The tornado crossed the Mississippi River. Tornadoes don't do that—wide rivers disrupt their structure, meteorologists said. This one didn't care. It carved a path through both St. Louis and East St. Louis, destroying over 8,000 structures in under 20 minutes. The death toll of 255 made it America's third-deadliest tornado, and it happened in two states simultaneously. Rescuers found families separated by the river, searching for each other in identical rubble fields. The twister proved what forecasters feared: water isn't a barrier to F4 winds. Cities can't hide behind geography.
May 27, 1896
130 years ago
Key Figures & Places
United States dollar
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1997
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St. Louis, Missouri
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Fujita scale
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St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado
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East Saint Louis, Illinois
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Fujita scale
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1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado
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St. Louis
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East St. Louis, Illinois
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Tornado
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