At 1:01pm on March 18th 1925, the Great Tri-State tornado started out from the Ozarks in southeastern Missouri, headed eastward through southern Illinois and lifted in southwestern Indiana after a duration of three and a half hours. The tornado traveled at an average speed of 62mph which is approximately double the speed of an average tornado. The wind speeds of the funnel were 261 to 318 mph.
The tornado was rated as a F5 on the Fujita Scale and the criteria for this rating is:
In total, there were 652 deaths and over 2000 people injured. The number of deaths was double the number in the 2nd worst tornado in US history. The distance of 219 miles is the longest recorded in history. It destroyed 15,000 homes, and damaged more than 164 square miles (almost 50 times more than the average tornado). Property damage was $16.5 million (at that time) and would be almost $2 billion at today’s prices.
Missouri (where the tornado touched down)
Illinois: (highest damage and deaths)
Indiana: (death toll 71 people)
Why the Great Tri-State Tornado Was the Worst