One of our Disaster Specialists here at the Chapter was reading Across our Wide Missouri by Bob Priddy when he came across a pretty interesting entry from May 27, 1896.

 

Story has it that back in 1895 a St. Louis minister by the name of Irl Hicks predicted that a monstrous tornado would hit the St. Louis Area and destroy the city. Although the odds were against him, Irl Hicks (not to be confused with Earl Hickey-he’s all about karma, not telepathy) firmly believed it would happen. He was wrong. So when Hicks was so bold as to make a second prediction for May 17, 1896, no one listened. And boy was that a mistake.

 

On May 27, 1896, around 6 p.m., Hicks was about to say “I told you so.”

 

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The seemingly normal humid spring day was interrupted by a strong storm, out of which formed a massive funnel-cloud. The tornado hit the southwest corner of the city and traveled northeast destroying just about everything in its path. From Lafeyette Park and the St. Louis City Hospital to the city jail, fairgrounds, river levees, homes, and even Eads Bridge, nothing came out unscathed. Power was lost, fires erupted, and St. Louisans were buried under the rubble. The tornado’s destruction covered a seven mile path that was at times a mile wide and hidden under a ten foot high pile of debris.

 

While at least 140 people were killed, hundreds more were injured and displaced. It was such a catastrophe that over 140,000 gawkers arrived the next day just to catch a glimpse of the historic destruction. According to Priddy, “it was the worst tornado in American history up to that time.”

 

Volunteers, military, and police also flocked to the city to shelter and feed displaced residents (sound familiar?). Relief funds totaled $140,000 which went to help more than 8,000 families.   

I’m not making any tornado predictions here (and I’m going to bet Hicks retired from that profession too) but weather men are great at predicting severe weather. So next time they do…well, listening is a great start… but even before that, make sure you know what to do to be prepared.

Lindsey Weber is the Marketing/ Communication Intern for the St. Louis Area Chapter.