Dear Tom,
I found a letter about a deadly and damaging tornado that hit the St. Louis area in May 1896. Do you have any details on that storm?
— Wayne Zalokar
Dear Wayne,
That storm was one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history. It was rated F4 and struck May 27, 1896, killing 255, injuring about 1,000 and causing more than $10 million damage. The storm first touched down west of the Eads Bridge in St. Louis then widened to a mile wide as it tracked east across the Mississippi River into East St. Louis, Ill.
Storm accounts tell of 36-acre Lafayette Park being turned into a wasteland of stripped trees and trunks. Buildings along the river were swept away, and about 25 percent of the city of East St. Louis was destroyed. At least 35 of the fatalities occurred at the Vandalia freight yards in East St. Louis, and many drownings occurred when shanty boats were sunk in the storm.
