The storm descended on Poplar Bluff about mid-afternoon on May 9, 1927, with a "warning roar" and a "torrent of hail." The twister cut a swath about seven blocks wide and over forty blocks long through the city. Included in the storm's path was the downtown area, where almost all the buildings were either completely destroyed or heavily damaged. The town was also drenched with over two and a half inches of rain immediately after the tornado struck.
School was still in session at the time the tornado struck, and among the storm's victims were two or three children of the East Side School, which was in the direct path of the twister and was heavily damaged. A total of about 300 people sustained injuries of various degrees, in addition to the almost 100 fatalities.
One estimate placed the property damage of the tornado at 2.5 million dollars in the downtown area alone, but the twister also destroyed about twenty-five homes before reaching the downtown area and an unknown number beyond the downtown area. Total property damage was estimated as high as four million.
The tornado left Poplar Bluff with blocked roads, downed electric and telephone wires, and a shortage of food. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the local American Legion maintained a semblance of order in the town until the National Guard and relief agencies could reach the place.
5 comments:
I'm trying to put a book together on this particular tornado due to my inability to find any books. Do you have any sources that could help me out here? I would credit you in the book if I get it off the ground, of course.
RagingMoon, the only sources I used to write my blog entry about the Poplar Bluff tornado were a couple of newspaper articles that I found online. Didn't print them off and don't think I even recorded which newspapers they were. However, if you go to a newspaper database like Newspapers.com and put "Poplar Bluff" + "tornado" in the search box and narrow your search by time frame and location, you should be able to come up with some newspaper articles about the storm. Newspapers.com is a subscription service (about 8 dollars a month for basic service), as is NewspaperArchive.com. There are some free newspaper databases, notably Chronicling America and the digital newspaper project on the State Historical Society of Missouri's website, but they are not as complete or as user friendly as Newspapers.com (which, in my opinion, is also better than NewspaperArchive.com.) Other than newspaper articles, I don't know where else you might look. Haven't researched this subject enough to know.
Go to the Poplar Bluff museum on Main Street
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My Aunt, Wilma Christian was just 4 years old when she was killed in the Poplar Bluff tornado on May 9, 1927. Her cousin Pearl Brown also died that day. Pearl was only 4 months old. Such a tragic day in Poplar Bluff's history. 86 people died. My Aunt Eva and Uncle Murl Christian were at school when the Tornado ripped thru the Eastside school. I just found your blog and find it very interesting. Sue Nevatt tryingtoo@aol.com
Yes, the Poplar Bluff tornado was a tragic event in Ozarks history that a lot of people don't even know about. I didn't know about it myself until just a few years ago. Thanks for your post and I'm glad you like my blog.
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