I’m told (by my little sister when I moved here) that Overland Park is in the heart of Tornado Alley. Aside from the fact that she is 12, it is worth noting that the Tri-State Tornado, the nation’s worst tornado disaster, occurred in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. In your face, 12 year-old!
In all seriousness, Tri-State Tornado: The Story of America’s Greatest Tornado Disaster recaps and examines the night in 1925 that claimed nearly 700 Midwestern lives in just 3 hours. That is absolutely crazy. The author, Peter Felknor, was able to secure interviews with 14 survivors. As a native Missourian, Felknor had heard stories of the tornado and went on to get college degrees in the field of atmospheric sciences. The book is available today at the library, as indicated by our New Books RSS feed (to your right in the blog, folks: subscribe!)