Tornado Disaster in 1925

Tri-State tornado of 1925 is known to be one of the most lethal natural phenomena that has hit the U.S. especially because it found the residents of the three states that it affected totally unprepared and the path of the tornado was also long and wide in its coverage. It is estimated that the tornado took around only three and a half hours to cause the massive destruction that would dent the economy and livelihoods of the three states for decades.

It is known to be the deadliest twister to hit the heartland in history. The path of the tornado ripped through Illinois, Indiana and down to Missouri. It is estimated to have destroyed well above 15,000 homes leaving approximately 700 people dead with the largest casualty being in Illinois which saw 613 people dead and another 2,000 people with injuries (Nguyen T.C., 2007).

The reason behind such a massive death toll and from a tornado that in the contemporary society can be given a wide berth was due to the lack of study of tornadoes at the time and lack of warning systems from the meteorological department hence the people were caught unaware of the impending danger. The tornado was moving at speeds out 73 mph with winds that blew close to 300 mph hence the approach was fast and gave the residents little time to get out of the way of the approaching danger.

The destructions were estimated to $16.5 million by then, an equivalent of $1.5 billion at the present rates. The radars that could read the movements of the tornado were still not in existence and even the farmers who had experience in reading the storms missed the tornado since the vast size made them mistake it for a rolling cloud (Henley J, 2013).

The organization that was evidently hands in helping the victims of the tornado was the Red Cross which sent in nurses in a train and volunteers who helped in handling the injuries of the people, rescue and recovery efforts as well as the cleaning of the town that had been vastly destroyed like De Soto West Frankfort, Murphysboro among other cities and regions.

The Red Cross set up 13 relief centers where the victims of the disaster would go for food, medication as well as information on their loved ones who might have been missing (History by Zim, 2013). The Church was also instrumental in helping during the disaster with food and setting up their venues as rescue centers as was the case with the churches in Boston. One significant lesson that was derived from this disaster was the significance of having more investment directed towards studying of tornadoes.

However, it took well into 20 more years before a significant tornado studying system was established. It is important to highlight that the years after the tornado, the weather.