1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960
Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

2
00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,280
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,

3
00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,680
Speaker 1: a show that charts the storms of history one day

4
00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:18,360
Speaker 1: at a time. I'm Gabe Louzier, and today we're remembering

5
00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,320
Speaker 1: a devastating storm that ravaged parts of the American Midwest

6
00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,200
Speaker 1: and Tennessee River Valley and left a lasting impact on

7
00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:38,879
Speaker 1: how the nation tracks and reports tornadoes. The day was

8
00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:45,839
Speaker 1: March eighteenth, nineteen. The deadliest tornado in US history claimed

9
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,800
Speaker 1: the lives of six hundred and ninety five people. In

10
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,120
Speaker 1: addition to its catastrophic death count, the tornado also holds

11
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,640
Speaker 1: the US records for the most injuries in a single tornado,

12
00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,680
Speaker 1: more than two thousand, and for the longest tornado track,

13
00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,160
Speaker 1: with its range covering a staggering two hundred and nineteen miles.

14
00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,959
Speaker 1: At times, the tornado itself was a mile wide, and

15
00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:14,720
Speaker 1: its winds reached upwards of three hundred miles per hour.

16
00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,240
Speaker 1: Although the storm occurred before the development of the Fujita

17
00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,160
Speaker 1: tornado damage scale, its intensity would have placed it at

18
00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,520
Speaker 1: the very top of that scale among the worst storms

19
00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,840
Speaker 1: in recorded history. To put things in perspective, a typical

20
00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,160
Speaker 1: tornado travels at an average speed of twenty to forty

21
00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,320
Speaker 1: miles per hour and covers a range of anywhere from

22
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,720
Speaker 1: one to one hundred miles or sometimes a little more. However,

23
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,680
Speaker 1: the Tri State Tornado traveled between sixty and seventy three

24
00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,680
Speaker 1: miles per hour, meaning that over the course of its

25
00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 1: three and a half hours on the ground, it was

26
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,840
Speaker 1: able to carve a continuous path of destruction for over

27
00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,240
Speaker 1: two hundred miles. Having a continuous path is no doable

28
00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,800
Speaker 1: in itself, as most of the damage sustained in tornado

29
00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,320
Speaker 1: outbreaks is usually caused by a family of multiple tornadoes

30
00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,000
Speaker 1: that spawned one after another. But according to the U.

31
00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,919
Speaker 1: S Weather Bureau, the forerunner of the National Weather Service,

32
00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:20,680
Speaker 1: the Tri State Tornado was a single, long lasting storm

33
00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,880
Speaker 1: with no breaks or gaps in its destructive path. As

34
00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,640
Speaker 1: a result, the tornado destroyed fifteen thousand homes and caused

35
00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,720
Speaker 1: roughly seventeen million dollars in property damage. The deadly twister

36
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,400
Speaker 1: was dubbed the Tri State Tornado because it traveled across

37
00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,120
Speaker 1: eastern Missouri, up through southern Illinois, and then over to

38
00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:47,360
Speaker 1: southern Indiana before finally dissipating it around four thirty pm

39
00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,200
Speaker 1: at the same time, other smaller tornadoes reeked havoc in

40
00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:56,000
Speaker 1: surrounding states, such as Tennessee and Kentucky. The Tri State

41
00:02:56,040 --> 00:03:00,600
Speaker 1: Tornado first formed in Ellington, Missouri, at about one p m.

42
00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:04,800
Speaker 1: On March eighteenth. From there, it quickly moved to the northeast,

43
00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,760
Speaker 1: crossing the Mississippi River into southern Illinois, the region that

44
00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,160
Speaker 1: would be hit hardest by the storm. In fact, within

45
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,920
Speaker 1: forty minutes of reaching Illinois, the tornado had leveled at

46
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,480
Speaker 1: least five towns, destroying nine or more of all man

47
00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:25,800
Speaker 1: made structures within. In Murphysboro, twelve hundred buildings were destroyed

48
00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,360
Speaker 1: and two hundred and thirty four residents were killed. In

49
00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,639
Speaker 1: West Frankfurt, a hundred and twenty seven people were killed,

50
00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,680
Speaker 1: and as for the town of Gorham, almost every building

51
00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,040
Speaker 1: within city limits was either severely damaged or completely destroyed.

52
00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:46,040
Speaker 1: The storm reached Gorham at just before two thirty PM,

53
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:50,120
Speaker 1: and one resident, Judith Cox, described its grim arrival in

54
00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,520
Speaker 1: the St. Louis Post dispatched two days later. She said, quote,

55
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:58,240
Speaker 1: there was a great roar, like a train, but many,

56
00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,960
Speaker 1: many times louder. My God, I cried, it's a cyclone

57
00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,880
Speaker 1: and it's here. The air was full of everything, boards,

58
00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:13,080
Speaker 1: branches of trees, garments, pans, stoves, all churning around together.

59
00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,599
Speaker 1: I saw whole sides of houses rolling along near the ground.

60
00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,599
Speaker 1: Cox had been eating lunch at a restaurant when the

61
00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,320
Speaker 1: storm showed up, spitting hail the size of golf balls

62
00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,719
Speaker 1: as it made its way through town. She tried to run,

63
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,320
Speaker 1: but the powerful winds sent her flying back into the restaurant,

64
00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,240
Speaker 1: and the building quickly collapsed around her. She was later

65
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,839
Speaker 1: rescued from the rubble, along with a traumatized cow that

66
00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:44,200
Speaker 1: had been dropped on the building's roof. However, the restaurant's cook,

67
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,640
Speaker 1: along with thirty six others, weren't as lucky. Part of

68
00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,359
Speaker 1: the reason for the storms exceptionally high death toll was

69
00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,279
Speaker 1: that no one knew it was coming at the time.

70
00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,560
Speaker 1: Telephones were a luxury that most rural households couldn't afford,

71
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,480
Speaker 1: and there were no emergency sirens or broadcasts to speak of.

72
00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,760
Speaker 1: Even seeing the storm approaching in the distance wasn't as

73
00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,400
Speaker 1: clear a warning as you might think, because the tornado

74
00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,960
Speaker 1: was a mile wide. At times, it often appeared wider

75
00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,160
Speaker 1: than it was tall, and didn't look like most tornadoes.

76
00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:23,039
Speaker 1: In fact, Many witnesses described it as quote rolling fog

77
00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:28,840
Speaker 1: or boiling clouds that moved along the ground. This unusual

78
00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,760
Speaker 1: appearance led many people to discount the looming danger until

79
00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,800
Speaker 1: it was right on top of them. The most tragic

80
00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,880
Speaker 1: and frustrating part of this story is that there's a

81
00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,920
Speaker 1: lot that could have been done to lessen the storm's impact.

82
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,760
Speaker 1: Most notably, the U. S. Weather Bureau could have been

83
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,840
Speaker 1: more forthcoming about the severity of the storm. It's hard

84
00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,600
Speaker 1: to imagine, but in that era, the organization didn't issue

85
00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:58,040
Speaker 1: severe weather watches or warnings, and even the official forecast

86
00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:03,440
Speaker 1: for that day downplayed danger, only calling for quote rains

87
00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:07,320
Speaker 1: and strong shifting winds. If you're wondering why there was

88
00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,640
Speaker 1: no mention of a massive tornado, it's because of a

89
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,839
Speaker 1: misguided and some would say stupid policy that forbid the

90
00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:19,240
Speaker 1: use of the word tornado in weather forecasts. That term

91
00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,920
Speaker 1: had been banned since eighteen seven, back when the U. S.

92
00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,880
Speaker 1: Army Signal Corps was still in charge of the nation's

93
00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,400
Speaker 1: weather forecasting. At that time, tornadoes were viewed as too

94
00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,640
Speaker 1: difficult to predict with any degree of certainty, so to

95
00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,160
Speaker 1: avoid creating a public panic, forecasters weren't permitted to study

96
00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,839
Speaker 1: tornadoes or even to mention the likelihood of one occurring.

97
00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:48,039
Speaker 1: On March eighteenth, that culture of silence put tens of

98
00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,599
Speaker 1: thousands of citizens in harm's way, and because of the

99
00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,599
Speaker 1: resulting damage and loss of life, the country's backwards approach

100
00:06:55,640 --> 00:07:00,520
Speaker 1: to tornadoes finally began to change. That same year, an

101
00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:05,840
Speaker 1: informal network of amateur tornadoes spotters was organized. They took

102
00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:09,120
Speaker 1: matters into their own hands and began warning residents of

103
00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,520
Speaker 1: potential tornadoes so they would have adequate time to prepare

104
00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,880
Speaker 1: or seek shelter. Over the years, those storm spot or

105
00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,320
Speaker 1: programs led to a steady decline in tornado based fatalities,

106
00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:25,720
Speaker 1: and the government gradually began to take notice. It took

107
00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,720
Speaker 1: twenty long years, but eventually an official nationwide system was

108
00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:35,400
Speaker 1: put in place to inform and warn the public about tornadoes.

109
00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,920
Speaker 1: Many deaths in the tri state tornado likely could have

110
00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,880
Speaker 1: been avoided, but the six hundred and nine victims did

111
00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,680
Speaker 1: not die in vain. Their tragic end served as a

112
00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,800
Speaker 1: wake up call for a nation and led to countless

113
00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:56,040
Speaker 1: lives being saved in the years ahead. I'm Gay Bluzier,

114
00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,440
Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history

115
00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,240
Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more

116
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:07,640
Speaker 1: about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

117
00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,240
Speaker 1: at t d i HC Show, and if you have

118
00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,320
Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, you can send them my way

119
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,480
Speaker 1: at This Day at I heart media dot com. Also,

120
00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,920
Speaker 1: in case you missed the announcement last week, I wanted

121
00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,080
Speaker 1: to mention again that This Day in History Class is

122
00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,600
Speaker 1: now running on a five day schedule, with new episodes

123
00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:32,840
Speaker 1: every Monday through Friday. We've paused weekend shows for the

124
00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:35,360
Speaker 1: time being so the Chandler and I can have a

125
00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,439
Speaker 1: little more breathing room and even take a vacation now

126
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,240
Speaker 1: and then. The good news is that, with a more

127
00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,120
Speaker 1: forgiving schedule, will be able to keep bringing you new

128
00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,520
Speaker 1: episodes for a long time to come, So stay tuned,

129
00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,640
Speaker 1: history fans. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show,

130
00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,480
Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here

131
00:08:54,520 --> 00:09:01,320
Speaker 1: again soon for another Day in History Class. Sett