Few St. Louisans know about deadly tornado more than 110 years ago

By Anthony Slaughter

St. Louis, MO (KSDK) -- We've been dealing with unusually hot temperatures this summer, but it can also be a time for violent storms. More than 110 years ago, St. Louis had one of its most deadly disasters few people know about.

May 27, 1896 started out just as any other normal day in St. Louis, but this was no normal day. By that evening, 400 people were killed and 1,200 injured in one of the most devastating natural disasters St. Louis has known.

"It started shortly after 4 p.m. The sky became dark, there was a thunderstorm, the winds picked up, it hit the southwest part of the city first, tore through Tower Grove Park, snapping many of the trees, it hit the Compton Heights area, very badly damaging 300 beautiful mansions," said Janice Meyer, whose great grandfather lived through the disaster.

"He had a sausage shop on South Broadway and his shop was not completely damaged, I mean it was still standing," Meyer said.

But many shops, buildings and homes were not so fortunate. The tornado even traveled over the Mississippi River, damaging the Eads Bridge. A train was going across the bridge at the time.

"And one night I was listening to the Emmit McCallaugh Show on KMOX, he had a show on Friday evening, and a man called in and said that one of his relatives had been the engineer on that train and that his relative was able to see the bottom of the Mississippi as the water parted," Meyer said.

Since outdoor warning systems were not introduced until the 1950s, this tornado caught many off guard. The estimated wind speeds were only thought to be between 80 and 90 miles per hour, which would have been a weak tornado. But now experts believe looking at the damage, wind speeds of up to 200 miles per hour seem more likely. And in 1896, there was little knowledge on tornados and their destructive power.

Now, 114 years later, there are warning systems in place, along with local television stations, that have been keeping the public safe and out of harm's way.

"The people that lived in St. Louis, thought that the buildings in the city would serve as a barrier against the wind, but where they ever wrong," Meyer said.