This Missouri Bridge Was No Match for 1896 Twister

It was known as the Great Cyclone and the results of its power were horrifying. More than 255 lives lost, more than 1,000 injured and a bridge that was built to be tornado-proof left in ruins.

It was May 27, 1896 when a monster tornado, which would have been rated at least an EF-4 had the Fujita Scale existed back then, carved a wide path of destruction through St. Louis and over the river into East St. Louis, too. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information has many details of that day.

It was warm and muggy and then around 5pm, the rain began to come down in torrents accompanied by thunder and lightning

Eyewitnesses said the sky turned green and started to spin. Shortly after, a huge twister touched down 6 miles away from the Eads Bridge which was built by engineers with the belief that it would be tornado-proof. This storm would prove it wasn't. 

The bridge didn't fully collapse, but 300 feet of its span was ripped to shreds right before the tornado began tossing around steamboats. Later, parts of the bridge that weighed tons would be found thrown hundreds of feet. By the time it completed its damage path through East St. Louis, almost no buildings would remain standing.

At its peak, the Great Cyclone would be 3 miles wide with maximum winds of nearly 200 mph

The death toll of 255 is likely very conservative. It was nearly impossible to count the amount of lives that were either crushed under rubble or drowned in the river. It remains one of the most tragic tornadoes in history and proves that nature can sometimes ignore what appears to be invincible man-made engineering. St. Louis would survive and eventually thrive, but the scars remain for many Missouri and Illinois families who lost loved ones that horrific day.