Matthew K. Manning - Can You Survive the 1925 Tri-State Tornado?: An Interactive History Adventure

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YOU are in the path of the deadliest tornado to ever touch down in the United States. The giant twister struck Tornado Alley on March 18, 1925. Whether you are living in Missouri, Illinois, or Indiana, theres no avoiding the Tri-State Tornado. Will you and your family survive this monster storm? Or will you fall victim to its deadly winds as it races across three states?

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

There are no warnings. You have no time to prepare. It is March 18, 1925, and the deadliest tornado in history is heading your way.

Tornadoes are something of a mystery in 1925. Today, we know the storms form when cold, dry air moving in one direction meets wet, warmer air going in the opposite direction. The warm air rises rapidly as the cool air sinks, causing the winds to spin.

As they reach the ground, these funnel-shaped storms officially become tornadoes. With winds that can spin up to 300 miles (483 kilometers) per hour, they are terrifying forces of nature.

Even in the 1920s, people know that most tornadoes fade away soon after they contact the ground. So when a tornado touches down briefly in Ellington, Missouri, and returns to the sky, most people think the worst is over. But the truth is, the storm is just getting started.

The storm quickly touches down again and stays on the ground for an three and a half hours. It will travel more than 200 miles (320 km) across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.

The monster twister will kill hundreds of people and injure thousands of others along the way. Eventually, it will become known as the Tri-State Tornado.

The morning of March 18 begins as any day in the Midwest. Farmers tend to their fields. School teachers go through lessons with their students in class. Store owners open up their shops to serve customers.

Elsewhere, coal miners descend into dark tunnels. Even a bank robbery is being planned. None of these people realize that everything they know is about to change.

As the tornado rages through your town, you must use your wits and quick thinking to stay alive. Every choice you make will determine if you survive, or if you are another casualty of the deadliest tornado in history.

You sit down on the bench and open your lunch pail. Youre hot and dirty, and your stomach hurts. You sigh. Youre definitely coming down with the same sickness your daughter has. You knew you shouldnt have come to work at the mine today.

Even so, you figure you should try to eat something. As you take a bite of your sandwich, you notice a small piece of paper under your apple. You take it out and unfold the little note. Its a stick figure drawing of a man.

The drawing is labeled with a few messy words. Daddy by Ellie it says. One of the Ds is backward. Even though shes sick, your little girl packed you a pick-me-up note.

You smile. If she can manage that, you can probably manage another day in the mine.

A raindrop hits your forehead. You look up, and another lands squarely between your eyes.

Told you, says the man sitting next to you. Youve known Buddy Samuels for most of your life. You both grew up in the small town of Annapolis, Missouri. These days, you and Buddy both work here at the lead mine in the outpost of Leadanna.

Told me what? you ask.

Told you that we were due for a storm, says Buddy through a mouthful of bread.

You should take that show on the road, you say. Come see Buddy Samuels and his amazing weather predictions! you shout in your best carnival barker voice. Buddy, however, is not amused.

Hey, I havent been wrong yet, says Buddy.

He takes another bite of his sandwich. You put yours down as a sudden wave of nausea hits you.

You look a little pale, there, Buddy says.

Yeah, you say. I think Ive got whatever the stomach bug is going around.

If I were you, Id head home, says Buddy. A bad rains coming.

Im good, you say. I think.

Well, better make up your mind. Its almost 12:30. Time to get back to it, Buddy nods toward the mine entrance. That stuffs not gonna dig itself outta the ground.

You take a swig of water from your metal cup. Then you stand up and stretch. Ill be fine, you think to yourself. You cant really afford to miss work anyway. Your wife and daughter depend on the 80 cents an hour you bring home. You trudge back toward the mine.

Soon, youre lowered down into the mine on a elevator. Its not often you think about electricity, but today youre glad the mine has it. Feeling as sick as you do, the thought of walking down a long, unstable staircase sounds awful.

At the bottom, you head down a dark tunnel. You carry a small electric lamp to light the way. You trudge by dozens of wooden supports that look like large door frames. Soon you enter a huge chamber. The clanging sounds of pickaxes hitting rock and a screaming drill echo around you.

There are columns of rocks here and there. Theyre meant to keep the ceiling from collapsing. But they make the large chamber look like some ancient Greek temple. Although crude, the pillars make this space feel manmade.

You walk by the men using the drill, then wait until another man pushes a metal cart full of lead ore down a track. You carefully step over the track and place your lamp on the ground.

Then you pick up your pickaxe and begin chipping away at the lead deposits hiding in the chambers wall. After a few minutes, youre feeling even weaker than before. You must truly be sick.

Then you hear a call from across the chamber. Hey! The lift is out! Youre a bit grateful for the interruption. You put your pickaxe down and follow the other miners back to the elevator.

On your way, you see the electric lights strung up on the ceiling arent working. Something has happened above ground.

Despite feeling like you might not make it, you turn and head toward a different tunnel. You start to climb a tall wooden staircase to the surface.

However, youre not prepared for what you see once you reach the top. Or rather, youre not prepared for what you