Portal:Tornadoes/Anniversaries/May 18

May 18

• 1883 – A tornado outbreak killed 64 people across the Central United States with the worst impacts in Illinois. Eight people died in Racine, Wisconsin where homes were "ground to pieces" by an F4 tornado. Eight more were killed when another F4 tornado destroyed Greasy Prairie, Illinois. A "balloon-shaped" F4 tornado carved a path through Springfield, Illinois and leveled numerous farms, killing 11 people. Another 12 were killed by a tornado that damaged or destroyed all of Literberry, Illinois.
• 1898 – A tornado outbreak left 55 people dead in the Midwestern United States. An F4 tornado or tornado family killed 28 people across western Iowa and eastern Illinois along with hundreds of livestock. A massive F5 tornado killed 12 people in Marathon County, Wisconsin.
• 1902 – An F4 tornado cut a devastating path through Goliad, Texas, obliterating 100 buildings and killing 114 people. More than a quarter of the town's population was killed or injured. Many of the deaths in the aftermath were due to tetanus.