Herrin, Illinois

Murphysboro, Illinois, March 18, 1925. The deadliest tornado in American history was already on the ground, and almost nobody knew it was coming. It started that afternoon in southeastern Missouri, then plowed across southern Illinois and into Indiana, carving a path roughly 219 miles long. That single track is the longest ever confirmed for a tornado. By the time it lifted, about 695 people were dead, a toll no U.S. tornado has come close to since. Murphysboro took the worst of it, losing 234 people, the largest death count any American town has ever suffered from one tornado. There was essentially no warning. Forecasters of that era avoided the very word 'tornado,' and there was no radar, no sirens, no broadcast alerts. People simply looked up and ran. Out here in storm country, that day is still the reason warnings exist.