The Forgotten Storm: The Great Tri-state Tornado of 1925 [Hardcover]

Wallace E. Akin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

Wallace Akin was two years old when the Tri-State Tornado picked up his house-with him and his mother inside-and dropped it atop two other collapsed buildings. Across town, his father lay unconscious near his auto shop, close to death, and Akin's brother managed to crawl from beneath the collapsed shop. All survived. Many others were not as fortunate: Earlier that afternoon, a supercell thunderstorm had spawned a tornado so deadly that it set records against which we still measure all other twisters. The storm ripped through southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana, killing 695 people and wounding 2,000, in a record-breaking 219-mile, three-and-a-half-hour path of destruction. Akin's hometown was the worst hit, losing 243 people to the tornado.

Using first-person accounts from his family and neighbors, newspaper stories, and diaries, Akin offers a blow-by-blow account of the storm from its first sighting to its final minutes. He also attempts to explain how it began-and how it changed his life.

As a young adult, Akin realized that the weather service could have warned its victims; research on tornado prediction had ceased for no apparent reason. This, combined with his upbringing in a town traumatized by weather, led him to choose a career in geography, specializing in climate. In The Forgotten Storm he explains in clear language why tornadoes happen and how we may now be making these storms more severe and more frequent. The result is a book both thrilling and horrific, one that adds to our understanding of the battle between humans and nature. (6 x 9, 224 pages, photos)

Wallace Akin was for many years a professor of geography at Drake University. He received a research Fulbright in 1961 at the University of Copenhagen and has traveled widely studying climate and related human activities. He is the author of several academic books that include material on weather and climate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wallace Akin, his mother, and their house were lifted by a tornado that was among the world's most violent. Since that day 77 years ago, when he landed safely with a jolt, that storm has lived within him."--The Des Moines Register

"Akin's brush with tragedy inspired a lifetime of writing and teaching about weather. His respect for the greatest of all Plains storms is a familiar feeling to all who have lived in this tornado alley."--Midwest Living

"A gripping story. This book will help us more fully understand these horrific tornadoes by examining one of the worst storms of the last century."-- The Tuscun Citizen

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Wallace Akin was two years old when the Tri-State Tornado picked up his house-with him and his mother inside-and dropped it atop two other collapsed buildings. Across town, his father lay unconscious near his auto shop, close to death, and Akin's brother managed to crawl from beneath the collapsed shop. All survived. Many others were not as fortunate: Earlier that afternoon, a supercell thunderstorm had spawned a tornado so deadly that it set records against which we still measure all other twisters. The storm ripped through southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana, killing 695 people and wounding 2,000, in a record-breaking 219-mile, three-and-a-half-hour path of destruction. Akin's hometown was the worst hit, losing 243 people to the tornado.Using first-person accounts from his family and neighbors, newspaper stor-ies, and diaries, Akin offers a blow-by-blow account of the storm from its first sighting to its final minutes. He also attempts to explain how it began-and how it changed his life.As a young adult, Akin realized that the weather service could have warned its victims; research on tornado prediction had ceased for no apparent reason. This, combined with his upbringing in a town traumatized by weather, led him to choose a career in geography, specializing in climate. In The Forgotten Storm he explains in clear language why tornadoes happen and how we may now be making these storms more severe and more frequent. The result is a book both thrilling and horrific, one that adds to our understanding of the battle between humans and nature. (6 x 9, 224 pages, photos)Wallace Akin was for many years a professor of geography at Drake University. He received a research Fulbright in 1961 at the University of Copenhagen and has traveled widely studying climate and related human activities. He is the author of several academic books that include material on weather and climate.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158574607X
• ISBN-13: 978-1585746071
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,894,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Truly the Perfect Storm, March 30, 2003

By 

Susan Paxton - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forgotten Storm: The Great Tri-state Tornado of 1925 (Hardcover)

Although author Wallace Akin describes the Tri-State Tornado as "the forgotten storm," that title is a bit of a misnomer. Meteorologists and those like myself who are interested in severe weather have never forgotten this tremendous, seemingly unique convulsion of nature. And, having happened in 1925, the Tri-State Tornado is still just within living memory.

Akin does a workmanlike job of tracing the path of this enormous tornado and telling the stories of the people and towns affected along the way. He himself is a survivor of the storm although, being two years old at the time, he has no conscious memories of the disaster. His recollections of the aftermath and growing up in the area in the 1920s and 30s are a useful and often moving addition to the book.

One place the book is thin is in covering the scientific mystery of this storm. Was it truly one tornado or a family? What caused it to remain so powerful for such a long period? Why does it appear that the tornado was near the front of the storm - a very unusual position? Akin does not discuss these questions in depth, unfortunately, for the Tri-State Tornado is a meteorological puzzle that continues to inspire research and debate (and, of course, the inevitable, if usually unspoken question - was this a "hundred year" storm? A "thousand year" storm? Could it happen again this year, or next?).

Another reviewer has argued that Akin has recycled material previously available. This is true (and what author does not recycle material? That is, after all, what research involves), but most of the books that have been published on the Tri-State Tornado have been out of print and hard to obtain for some time. Akin's book is a very readable addition to the literature on this horrible storm.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Giant tornado, great heroism, enormous tragedy., October 31, 2002

By 

Orionfarms (Linden, VA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forgotten Storm: The Great Tri-state Tornado of 1925 (Hardcover)

Although I fear the wrath of nature, I have found myself wanting to read another book on weather since I devoured Isaac's Storm two or three years ago. Although not as comprehensive as I would have liked it to be, this book still drew enough of my attention that I finished it in only two days.

The Forgotten Storm details the path of an F5 tornado that devasted a 219 mile stretch of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in 1925. It contains general information on tornados in general, and on what kind of weather forces created such a monstrously huge storm. Although the author's family lived in one the towns demolished in the tornado, he admirably manages to avoid an egocentric viewpoint by telling not only his own story, but that of a myriad of people in the towns and rural areas whose lives were also affected.

This book is not only an exploration in weather, but effectively and gently unfurls stories of heroism, bravery, and tragedy.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An appalling disaster remembered, August 18, 2003

By 

Jerald R Lovell (Clinton Township, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Forgotten Storm: The Great Tri-state Tornado of 1925 (Hardcover)

It has been extremely difficult to obtain a quality book on this massive weather event, and the present text solves that dilemma. I would have preferred a few more pictures from areas other than Murphysboro, Illinois, and the discussion of meteorological factors was somewhat attenuated. These quibbles aside, the book is a feeling, sensitive chronology of the most terrible tornadic event ever to strike the United States. The stories of human suffering and courage in the face of this awesome convulsion of nature will sometimes reach to your marrow.

I liked the organization of the book, beginning with a few general introductory remarks, and then tracing the course of the tornado during its three and one half hour passage from Missouri to Indiana, narrating the horror of its fury at each point. The author's own experiences in the storm. and its effects on his family and town, added flesh to the book, but did not overwhelm it. I liked that.

I note that some reviewers have complained that the author has simply recycled old news accounts, but what better way to show how the neighboring towns, and the outside world, viewed this stupendous catastrophe? I believe any readers interested in regional history of the Midwest in the early part of the last century, weather buffs, and many persons who simply enjoy a gripping account of man being outmatched by the elements will enjoy this book.