19-03-2025
Remembering the 1925 Tri-State Tornado
GRIFFIN, Ind. (WEHT) — 100 years ago, communities across the Midwest were dealing with the immediate aftermath of the deadliest tornado in American history.
Tucked away in the northwest corner of Posey County sits the small community of Griffin, the epicenter of one of America's darkest days. March 18, 1925, what would be known as the Tri-State Tornado, leveled communities in its path including Griffin.
Angela Mason grew up in Southern Illinois, just north of the path of the storm. A conversation with her grandfather in 1981 sparked an interest to dig a little deeper.
'We had some severe weather that Summer and he was talking about it and said it reminded him of 1925,' says Mason.
According to the National Weather Service, conditions on that day in 1925 were ripe for severe weather.
'You probably would have had a Moderate or High Risk out if it was in today's terms,' says Meteorologist Christine Wielgos. 'They had no idea there was a threat for tornadoes. I think the forecast, if I remember correctly, was 'rains and shifting winds', was the official forecast that came out for the area. So the only time, the only real sense that people had about the impending danger was seeing this big, black cloud coming toward them.'
The tornado stretched from Southeast Missouri to Southern Indiana, lifting just northeast of Princeton after staying on the ground for three and a half hours.
Mason decided to do her own research, taking a 2-year journey in 1999 along the tornado's path to interview survivors for her book, 'Death Rides The Sky.'
'One of the things that created the biggest impression on me was how vivid this memory remained in the minds of these people who were, on the average, 8 years old, when this happened,' says Mason. 'These people, one after another, would tell me, 'It was like this: it was dark and it was light then it was over.''
In total, 695 people lost their lives. The town of Griffin, among others, was destroyed but rebuilt. A Main Street building is believed to have survived the tornado. The school, destroyed, but later rebuilt as well. What's left of that school stills stands today, along with memories of the town's resilient spirit.
'Their school mascots were the Griffin Tornadoes…it's like, this is our tornado,' says Mason. 'They don't even call it the Tri-State tornado here, they call it the Griffin tornado.'
Although rare, Wielgos says recent storms prove the atmosphere is still capable of extraordinary storms.
'December 10, 2021, was pretty much the modern day Tri-State tornado,' says Wielgos. 'Even though it didn't go 219 miles, it was very close to it, because if it had not cycled across portions of northwest Tennessee, it would have been on the ground for longer than the Tri-State tornado.'
Few, if any, scars remain from that storm. While the school building no longer stands, the solemn records, however, still do. To this day, 100 years later, the Tri-State Tornado still holds the top spot for longest path, and for being the deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
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