Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917

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Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917 Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917 Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917 Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917 Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917 Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917

Illinois' 3rd deadliest tornado disaster on record occurred on May 26, 1917.  On that date, 101 people were killed across central Illinois, most of them in the Mattoon/Charleston area.  Injuries totaled approximately 638.

Originally, this was believed to be a single tornado with a path 293 miles long, extending from the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, MO, all the way across central portions of Illinois and Indiana, ending near Mount Vernon, IN, over a total time span of 7 hours 20 minutes.  This was later determined to be 4 to 8 separate tornadoes; the Illinois portion was approximately 155 miles (including times it was aloft), over a time of approximately 4 hours.  The strongest part of the tornado, through Mattoon/Charleston, was later determined to be F4 intensity on the original Fujita scale.  - The Mattoon/Charleston Tornado of May 26, 1917 at weather.gov

Read articles about the deadly tornado (below):