The Tri-State Tornado: The Story of America's Greatest Tornado Disaster [Paperback]

Peter S. Felknor (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813806232 | ISBN-13: 978-0813806235 | Publication Date: March 30, 1992 | Edition: 1

The Tri-State Tornado is a gripping account of the worst tornado disaster in American history. Claiming 689 lives during a three-hour rampage across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925, the storm had one of the longest uninterrupted paths (219 miles) and one of the widest (up to one mile) of any recorded tornado. Its continuous energy was so extreme that it completely obliterated several small towns in its path. Although the fatality count was nearly that of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, with the exception of meteorologists and residents of the affected area, few had ever heard of this catastrophe until this book's initial release in 1992.

The Tri-State Tornado reconstructs the tragedy, using vivid eyewitness accounts of fourteen survivors who lived along the tornado's path from the Missouri Ozarks to southwestern Indiana. The clarity with which they recall that day in their lives over sixty years earlier will give readers the unsettling feeling that the tornado struck days, not decades, ago.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter S. Felknor is a native of Missouri, where he first heard stories of the Tri-State Tornado as a young boy. Accounts of that tornado, and others, helped to develop his early interest in violent storms.Felknor is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied meteorology and environmental risk assessment. He lives in southern Wisconsin. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Iowa State Pr; 1 edition (March 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813806232
• ISBN-13: 978-0813806235
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,721,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for severe weather freaks., September 22, 1999

By 

Paul Primrose (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tri-State Tornado: The Story of America's Greatest Tornado Disaster (Paperback)

I first read this book while taking a class in severe & unusual weather at the University of Illinois a few years ago. If you're into jaw-dropping weather phenomena, you really need to get this book. There are great interviews with survivors, a few astounding pictures, and some good basic science to back it all up.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and highly informative, November 21, 2005

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tri-State Tornado: The Story of America's Greatest Tornado Disaster (Paperback)

At around 1:00 p.m., March 18, 1925, a tornado touched down in Reynolds Country, Missouri. But, this was no ordinary tornado. This was an F5 multivortex tornado that proceeded east-northeast across 219 miles, 13 counties and three states (Missouri, Illinois and Indiana). By the time the tornado dissipated, it had destroyed a number of small towns, erased a number of farms, and killed some 689 people. This was one of the worst tornadoes in U.S. history, and this book tells its story.

This is quite a fascinating book. The author does an excellent job of telling the story of the Tri-State Tornado with factual reporting, but yet brining alive the horror of what happened. The book is an interesting mixture of Mr. Felknor's narration and accounts from some fourteen survivors of the tornado.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating and highly informative book about a little known subject. If you are interested in tornadoes, then you simply must get this book about the granddaddy of them all! I highly recommend this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most intense storm on Earth, March 21, 2006

By 

Mike (New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tri-State Tornado: The Story of America's Greatest Tornado Disaster (Paperback)

Tornadoes are the most powerful storms on Earth. They may not be the biggest in size, but the destruction they can cause is insurmountable.

The Tri-State Tornado gives the readers the perfect example of how devestating these storms can be. Even in this day in age with our advanced technology, meteorologists have a difficult time understanding the true nature of these storms.

This was evident back in 1925 when that fateful day came when one single tornado had struck three states, killed 689 people, and traveled 219 miles at a rapid pace anywhere between 60-73 miles per hour. No one saw it touch ground or disappear.

The author does a great job of interweaving interviews from the actual survivors. Who better to explain that day than the people who saw this mile plus wide tornado barreling down in front of them.

The Tri-State Tornado remains one of the most bizarre and deadliest tornado to have ever hit the United States.