Almost eight years ago (has it really been eight years?) after the Joplin tornado we were curious about how it stacked up compared to other disastrous events in Missouri and we put together a list on the old Missourinet Blog that we knew was incomplete.  We’ve found some other tragic events to add to that list and have decided it’s time for an update. In fact, the number of deaths from the Joplin tornado was a premature total so we’ve updated that. Some accounts vary in the number of deaths for some of these incidents and some are only estimated numbers.

It is difficult to pin down the exact number of deaths caused by heat waves throughout Missouri. The National Weather Service has extensive records of the heat but we haven’t been able to find comprehensive numbers of deaths for  Missouri during heat waves. We’ve been able to find numbers for St. Louis in three of them but it’s quite likely the statewide totals were much higher. We’ve listed the fatalities in St. Louis to make note of the tragedies and will update the figures if we find better numbers.

Few deaths were recorded in the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes.  The areas hit hardest were thinly-populated in those days and while records were kept of the violence of the shocks it appears no effort was made to compile a comprehensive death total.

Just for the record or a record of some kind, here’s the list of disasters that have taken twenty or more lives in Missouri.

• 4,317—St. Louis cholera epidemic, Summer, 1849 (Some accounts put the number closer to 6,000.)
• 4,000 plus—Kansas City and St. Louis Spanish Influenza 1918-1919
• 479—St. Louis only, Heat wave of 1936.
• 255–St. Louis tornado May 27, 1896
• 209-300 (est.) Steamboat Stonewall fire, Neely’s Landing, Cape Girardeau County, October 27, 1869 (accounts vary)
• 158–Joplin tornado May 22, 2011 (plus three “indirect” deaths)
• 118—St. Louis tornado  May 27, 1896 (118 more in East St. Louis)
• 114–Hyatt Regency Hotel Skywalks collapse, Kansas City July 17, 1981
• 100-plus–Steamship Saluda explosion, Lexington, Apr. 9, 1852
• 87–Poplar Bluff tornado May 9, 1927
• 72–St. Louis tornado Sept. 29, 1927
• 72–Katie Jane Memorial Home for the Aged, Warrenton, February 17, 1957
• 70 (est.) Steamboat Shepherdess sinking, St. Louis, January 3,1844
• 65–Marshfield tornado Apr. 18, 1880
• 55–Six County tornado (southeast Missouri) May 30, 1917
• 42–Tipton Ford train collision, (near Neosho) Aug. 5, 1914
• 39—West Plains Dance Hall Explosion, April 13, 1928 (various accounts put the total at 33 or 37. But 39 seems to be the most commonly cited)
• 38–Ozark Airlines FH-227 crash, St. Louis July 23, 1973
• 37–Kansas City (Ruskin Heights) tornado May 10, 1957
• 34–Kirksville tornado Apr. 27, 1889
• 34—St. Louis only, Heat wave, 2007
• 30 (est.)—Steamboat LaMascot explosion, Neely’s Landing, October 5, 1886
• 30—St. Louis Athletic Club fire, March 9, 1914
• 31–Gasconade River railroad bridge collapse Nov. 1, 1855
• 28–Kansas City (Lathrop School) May 11, 1886
• 26–Fire at Wayside Inn Nursing Home, Farmington, 1979
• 24—Rich Hill Coal Mine Explosion, March 29, 1888
• 24—St. Louis only, heat wave, 1980
• 23–Cape Girardeau tornado May 21, 1949
• 21–St. Louis tornado  Feb. 10, 1959
• 21–Coates House Hotel fire, Kansas City, January 28, 1978

There have been other plane crashes, train wrecks, fires and tornadoes that have taken lives. We put the cutoff point at more than 20 deaths.