The Forgotten Storm - by Wallace Akin (Paperback)

About the Book

A gripping account of the most deadly tornado ever to hit the U.S.-695 people killed in its 219-mile path of destruction-including first person accounts, newspaper stories, and the author's own climate science expertise.

Book Synopsis

The amazing true story of the deadliest tornado in American history, as told by a survivor.

From the Back Cover

Wallace Akin was two years old when the Tri-State Tornado picked up his house--with him and his mother inside--and dropped it atop two other collapsed buildings. Across town, his father lay unconscious near his auto shop, close to death, and Akin's brother managed to crawl from beneath the collapsed shop. All survived. Many others were not as fortunate. Earlier in the afternoon, a supercell thunderstorm had spawned a tornado so deadly that it set records against which we still measure all other tornadoes. The storm ripped through southwest Missouri, southern Illinois and southwest Indiana, killing 695 people and wounding 2,000, in a record-breaking 219-mile, 3-hour path of destruction. Akin's hometown was the worst hit, losing 243 people to the tornado. Using first-person accounts from his family and neighbors, newspaper stories, and diaries, Akin offers a blow-by-blow account of the storm from its first sighting to its final minutes. He also attempts to explain how it began - and how it changed his life.

Review Quotes

"Wallace Akin, his mother, and their house were lifted by a tornado that was among the world's most violent. Since that day 77 years ago, when he landed safely with a jolt, that storm has lived within him."--The Des Moines Register

"Akin's brush with tragedy inspired a lifetime of writing and teaching about weather. His respect for the greatest of all Plains storms is a familiar feeling to all who have lived in this tornado alley."--Midwest Living


Akin's brush with tragedy inspired a lifetime of writing and teaching about weather. His respect for the greatest of all Plains storms is a familiar feeling to all who have lived in this tornado alley.

In The Forgotten Storm, Wallace Akin presents eyewitness accounts and a definitive analysis of the nearly one-mile-wide mega twister which ripped through no less than three Midwestern states. Akin's approach firmly reestablishes this disaster's solemn spirit as well as its identity as a standard-setting meteorological event.

Wallace Akin, his mother, and their house were lifted by a tornado that was among the world's most violent. Since that day 77 years ago, when he landed safely with a jolt, that storm has lived within him.

About the Author

Wallace E. Akin was for many years a professor of geography at Drake University. He received a research Fulbright in 1961 at the University of Copenhagen and has traveled widely, studying climate and related human activities. He is the author of several academic books that include material on weather and climate.