Rural Missouri - February 2025 - 26

capital taxi driver, a Senate page boy and a Chinese chef in
a downtown restaurant, " said the scientist.
The Great Flood
In a state blessed with so many rivers, it's no surprise
fl oods have been the most frequent natural disasters for
Missouri. The greatest of them all came in 1993 when the
Mississippi River crested at 49.58 feet in St. Louis, the
highest level ever recorded.
According to the National Weather Service, the 1993
fl ood was the worst fl ood ever for the United States: " The
size and impact of the Great Flood of 1993 was unprecedented
and has been considered the most costly and
devastating fl ood to ravage the U.S. in modern history. The
number of record river levels, the aerial extent, the number
of persons displaced, amount of crop and property damage
and its duration surpassed all earlier U.S. fl oods in
modern times. "
The stage was set for record fl ooding with wet 1992 fall
weather that saturated the soil in the upper Missouri and
Mississippi river basins. What followed was persistent rain
that continued to fall on the same areas. As much as 4 feet
of rain fell in some places. The fl ooding shattered records
set in the signifi cant 1973 Mississippi River and 1951 Missouri
River fl oods.
By July torrential rainfall caused the big rivers to
breach levees, with rainfall amounts of 5 to 7 inches in 24
hours common in the river basins. Rainfall amounts were
between 6 and 7 inches above normal at Columbia and
Kansas City.
The Mississippi River at St. Louis crested at 49.58 feet
on Aug. 1, the National Weather Service reported, nearly
20 feet above fl ood stage and with a peak fl ow rate of 1.08
million cubic feet per second. That amount of water would
fi ll the old Busch Stadium in 69 seconds.
The Mississippi wouldn't drop below fl ood stage at St.
Louis until Oct. 7, 103 days after the Great Flood began.
Damage from the fl ooding can still be seen today.
Tornado Alley
When someone mentions Tornado Alley, most Missourians
might think of Sedalia where an EF2 tornado struck
the Missouri State Fair in 1952, resulting in one fatality
and 13 injuries and extensively damaging the fairgrounds.
But a survey of Missouri counties by the National Weather
Service showed the area with the most tornadoes from
1950 to 2016 is southwest Missouri. In that study, Newton
County led the state with 46 twisters while nearby Jasper
County was second with 43.
Small wonder then that the most devastating tornado is
the one that struck Joplin on May 22, 2011. That tornado
ranks as the deadliest in history, claiming the lives of 161
people. It was also the costliest storm in state history,
causing $2.8 billion in damages.
On that Sunday afternoon, survivors reported the sky
turned a deep midnight blue before a mile-wide tornado
touched down in the city of 50,000. It struck a densely
populated section of Joplin and left a path of destruction
4 miles long. More than 2,000 buildings were damaged or
destroyed, including St. John's Regional Medical Center,
26 RURAL MISSOURI | FEBRUARY 2025
Missouri's record weather
Warmest temperature: 118 degrees, July 14, 1954, Warsaw & Union
Coldest temperature: Minus 40 degrees, Feb. 13, 1905, Warsaw
Driest year: 1953, average precipitation 25.53 inches
Wettest year: 1993, average precipitation 56.90 inches
Driest individual location: 1910, 14.37 inches, Conception
Wettest individual location: 1957, 92.77 inches, Portageville
World record rainfall intensity: 12 inches in 42 minutes, Holt
Latest heavy snowfall: May 3, 1907, 8 inches, Fairport
Deepest snow depth: March 19-20, 1960, 36 inches, Union
Highest wind speed: Jan. 7, 2008, 96.7 mph, Vichy/Rolla Airport
Source: University of Missouri Climate Center
President Barrack Obama greets Hugh Hills in front of his home in
Joplin during his visit to the city in the wake of the 2011 tornado. The
twister destroyed the second story and half of the fi rst fl oor of Hugh's
home while he took refuge in a closet. This tornado was the deadliest
and costliest in state history. White House photo by Pete Souza.
Joplin High School, a Walmart and a Home Depot.
The destruction was so severe U.S. Rep. Billy Long
stated: " The pictures on TV don't do it justice. It looks like
a nuclear bomb has hit. "
Missouri has been the site of many other devastating
tornadoes. The March 18, 1925, Tri-State Tornado
touched down near Ellington and stayed on the ground for
3 hours, traveling 219 miles through Illinois and Indiana.
On May 9, 1927, a tornado struck Poplar Bluff, killing
83 people in the southeast Missouri town. In September
of that year, St. Louis was hit by a tornado that caused 72
deaths and property losses of $22 million. This capped the
most disastrous year for tornadoes in Missouri when 176
persons lost their lives.
More recently, 2006 was the wildest year for wind, with
101 tornadoes reported. On March 12 alone, 38 tornadoes
struck Missouri.
Rural Missouri - February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - February 2025
