St. Louis Tornado of 1896 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

St. Louis Tornado of 1896 - Research Paper Example 17). The tornado razed the major part of the city to the ground, with the loss estimate of 2 million dollars (one agency said it was worth 50, 000, 000) (Dunn & Dunn, 2009, p.51). In just 20 minutes the St Louis tornado blasted a path to the Near South Side of the city which was about 10 miles. It was accountable for destroying as many as 311 buildings, damaging around 7, 200 houses, and harming 1, 300 still others (Curzon, 1896, p. xvi). The National Climatic Data Center ranks it the third deadliest documented tornado in the U.S. history after Tri Strike Tornado of 1925 (official death toll 695 people) and 1840 tornado that affected Nachez, MS (official death toll 317) (National Climatic Data Center, 2012, online). Before discussing the specifics of the St Louis tornado let us first explain what a tornado is. ... At the time when the St Louis Tornado struck at the turn of the 20th century, the news accounts referred to the tornado as merely a cyclone. As it is explained in the foreword to â€Å"The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, May 27, 1896: Being a Full History of the Most Terrifying and Destructive Tornado in the History of the World† by Tim O’Neil, this was not correct from the perspective of climatology since cyclone refers to any movement of the wind of the cyclonic nature. At the same time, a tornado is a funnel cloud particularly fast-twisting and leading to great damage (Curzon, 1896, p. xviii). Curzon (1896, p.28) provides enough evidence that the St Louis tornado was a typical tornado with all the features usually attributed to such phenomena. He, first of all, bases his view on the local news account which told of the detected presence of the upward and inward spiral motions, illustrated by trees having been torn up by their roots and scattered around in a mess. In addition, in certain places, it was reported, the debris was thrown around in each direction. The St Louis Tornado (also known as The St Louis-East St Louis Tornado) of 1896 reportedly touched down in southwest St Louis, which was at that time the city’s highest point. Specifically, at 6:30 PM on 27 May 1896 the landfall of two tornadoes (rated F4) was made at St Louis and near the city (Gunn & Gunn, 2009, p.50). Those tornadoes, which were a part of the overall outbreak on the territory of the United States , arrived in a simultaneous manner. One of the tornadoes passed over St Louis and headed for southeast. There it leveled farms in Richview and Irvington located 60 miles east. The other tornado, which was very powerful and excessively destructive,