On this day: 1896 - F4 Tornado

On this day in 1896 a major tornado struck St. Louis, Missouri. The tornado, part of a supercell system, touched down in central St. Louis destroying property over a long track which included most of the built infrastructure in its path such as homes, saloons, schools, churches and a rail yard among others. The tornado crossed the Mississippi River where it intensified, continuing into East St. Louis, Illinois where it left a path of similar destruction. In later years the tornado was rated as an F4 on the Fujita Scale. Damage was estimated at ~$10 Million in 1896 dollars. The death toll in St. Louis, MO was 137. In East St. Louis, IL the storm resulted in 118 fatalities. The combined casualty count was ~1,000 for both cities.  

Source: http://goo.gl/cPiMf

Death Toll
137 - St. Louis, MO
118 - E. St. Louis, IL

Sources
http://goo.gl/sq5NV
http://goo.gl/W2whT

--

Steven Kuhr

Emergency Management Nexus
Disaster History

skuhr.blogspot.com
disasterhx.blogspot.com
facebook.com/emnexus
twitter.com/steven_kuhr
#EMNexus
#DisasterHX

On this day: 1962 - In Flight Bombing

On this day in 1962, Continental Flight 11, a Boeing 707 traveling from Chicago to Kansas City with 37 passengers and eight crew, crashed near Unionville, MO. While in flight an explosive decompression occurred secondary to the detonation of a dynamite based IED in a rear lavatory. Shortly after the explosion the tail section separated causing the aircraft to descend uncontrollably. All 45 souls were killed. The FBI determined that the bomb was placed by an individual hoping to provide a newly upgraded life insurance pay-out to his family. The mid air explosion was witnessed by people on the ground as well as the commander of a US Air Force B-47 Stratojet Bomber traveling out of Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka, Kansas. The subplot for the 1968 novel "Airport", which was produced as a movie by the same name in 1970, was somewhat based on this incident. 

Source http://goo.gl/Uz4si

Sources
http://goo.gl/SjJTM
http://goo.gl/Lfnki

--

Steven Kuhr

Emergency Management Nexus
Disaster History

skuhr.blogspot.com
disasterhx.blogspot.com
facebook.com/emnexus
twitter.com/steven_kuhr
#EMNexus
#DisasterHX