THE 12 WORST TORNADOES OF ALL TIME by Marcia Amidon Lusted 12 story libary
1 Tornado Twists Its Way through Mississippi City It was after noon on May 7 1840 in Natchez Mississippi A thunderstorm had just passed through the city People sat on their porches enjoying a cooling rain No one could know a tornado was coming Their first warning was a huge roar It came from the nearby Mississippi River The approaching tornado churned the water into giant waves Steamboats were scattered and smashed People on board were thrown into the air Most drowned upon falling into the water Some boats sank to the river bottom The tornado’s path was one mile 1.6 km wide The twister carried debris as it traveled Uprooted trees and fragments of boats swirled through the air In the city houses Only four men survived when the steamboat Hinds was sunk by the tornado
The Liberty Advocate reported the details of the tornado on June 18 1840 were blown apart Businesses were flattened In just half an hour the tornado left the city in ruins The official fatality count was 317 people Most were merchants and passengers in boats The actual 60 Number of flat-bottomed steamboats destroyed No one had warning of the approaching tornado The twister’s path was one mile 1 6 km wide The official death count did not include enslaved people number of dead was much higher At this time in the American South enslaved black people were not included in death counts Newspapers estimated that hundreds died So the Great Natchez Tornado probably killed more than 500 people It is still the second deadliest tornado in US history THINK ABOUT IT Why do you think enslaved black people weren’t included in the death toll How does this reflect on the culture of the American South at this time
