My home town, Murphysboro, IL, was one of those hit by the 1925 tornado and I am here to tell you the destruction was extreme, ranking in scale for this small community on an equal basis as what Chicago views the Great Chicago Fire or San Francisco views the 1906 earthquake.
At the time of the Great Tri-State tornado civil defense warnings did not exist, and for what were primarily farming communities, no advance warning was known.
Stories of the 1925 Tornado have been handed down for generations, much as ancient man recounted the Iliad or Beowulf. When the area speaks of twisters and storms, the 1925 blow is always spoken of with a proper title . . . it is, and will remain THE Tornado. My grandparents, who lived through it spoke with solemn reverence and slowly shook heads as to what they had seen and to what they had survived. They also sadly told about the graves dug for those not as lucky.
One of the town's grade schools was hit and casualties ensued. For Murphysboro, it took decades for the scars to heal.
On the west side of town there was a tree (I do not know if it is still standing today) which about 7-8 feet up from the ground had a 2 x 4 board driven through the trunk as if one were to hammer a nail or spike into a wall. With the gallows-like boom of the board protruding, the tree stood as a reminder and a testimony to the raw brutal power of a tornado.
The $18 million in damages mentioned in this article does not seem substantial by today's standards, but in 1925, to the small rural communities affected, it was truly devastating.
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My home town, Murphysboro, IL, was one of those hit by the 1925 tornado and I am here to tell you the destruction was extreme, ranking in scale for this small community on an equal basis as what Chicago views the Great Chicago Fire or San Francisco views the 1906 earthquake.
At the time of the Great Tri-State tornado civil defense warnings did not exist, and for what were primarily farming communities, no advance warning was known.
Stories of the 1925 Tornado have been handed down for generations, much as ancient man recounted the Iliad or Beowulf. When the area speaks of twisters and storms, the 1925 blow is always spoken of with a proper title . . . it is, and will remain THE Tornado. My grandparents, who lived through it spoke with solemn reverence and slowly shook heads as to what they had seen and to what they had survived. They also sadly told about the graves dug for those not as lucky.
One of the town's grade schools was hit and casualties ensued. For Murphysboro, it took decades for the scars to heal.
On the west side of town there was a tree (I do not know if it is still standing today) which about 7-8 feet up from the ground had a 2 x 4 board driven through the trunk as if one were to hammer a nail or spike into a wall. With the gallows-like boom of the board protruding, the tree stood as a reminder and a testimony to the raw brutal power of a tornado.
The $18 million in damages mentioned in this article does not seem substantial by today's standards, but in 1925, to the small rural communities affected, it was truly devastating.
Tom Roberts
Black Dog Books
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