The 1925 Tri-State Tornado’s Devastation in Franklin County, Hamilton County, and White County, Illinois

About the Book

When the tornado roared across southern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwestern Indiana for many hours during the afternoon on March 18th in 1925, there was now way that people along the tornado path would know it was occurring before they could see it. This was because there was no radar systems then and the National Weather Service was not able to let people know that a tornado was going to occur or that there was a tornado already occurring since they did not know much about tornadoes. So, the only way a person then was able to know that a tornado was occurring and it was going to hit them was when they were able to see it close to where they were and realize that it was a tornado. This story shows in Franklin, Hamilton, and White Counties in Illinois what some people saw and what they did, and what happened to them when the tornado hit them.

This story also has many detailed maps across the townships in Franklin, Hamilton, and White Counties in Illinois that show where many peoples homes, many schools and churches, and other things were located when they were hit by the tornado and damaged or destroyed. Some of the maps also show where some people landed after they were blown well away from there home. There are also some pictures in this story that shows what some homes, schools and other things looked like when they were damaged or damaged by the tornado. And a few of them show what they looked like before they were hit by the tornado. Some of the eyewitnesses of this tornado that I net with and went on driving surveys with are shown on pictures in this book.

About the Author

Bob Johns grew up in Terhune, Indiana and he became interested in weather since he lived in a rural area and talked with many farmers about weather. When he was in the sixth grade, teacher Mrs. Durr had him and the other students work on a science project and he decided to make daily records of the weather. Even though he was asked to work on the project for a few weeks, he kept doing his science project about weather until he graduated from the Sheridan High School 6 years later. He was so interested in weather because of this that he decided to go to a college and learn about meteorology. In 1962 he went to the University of Oklahoma to learn about meteorology. Just before he graduated in 1965, a major tornado event occurred on April 11th and 271 people were killed in the Indiana and nearby states. On the next day, Bob had heard about the tornado outbreak and when he read a local newspaper he found that one of the tornadoes had gone through Boone County, Indiana where his parents lived and the list of the people that were killed included people that Bob knew who were in the neighborhood where his parents lived. This really worried him. Some day later, he was able to find out that his family members had not been hit by the tornado even though it was very close to them. Because of this event, Bob wanted to learn about tornadoes so that he could let his parents and others know when they might have a tornado event that going to occur where they were. In 1971 Bob was able to get a job with the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (which is now called the Storm Prediction Center) and by the late 1970s was able to issue tornado watches where they were needed in the United States. He continued being a tornado forecaster until he retired in 2001. After retirement he and some other meteorologists decided to work on a science project about the 1925 Tri-State Tornado event which was the worst tornado disaster that had ever occurred in the United States. He started on this project in 2005 which was 80 years after this event had occurred. Since it occurred so long ago, he thought he would only be able to gather information about this event from local libraries and local genealogy society places in the counties where the tornado occurred. On his first visit, he was surprised to find that there were still eyewitnesses around that wanted to meet with him. He was really pleased to be able to meet with them and learn about their experience with this tornado event and also go on a driving survey with them to find out where homes, barns, and other things were damaged or destroyed by the tornado in their neighborhood. It was because of his meeting with these eyewitnesses and really being pleased to talk with them and learn about their experiences that he has decided to make this book.