TORNADO RIPS THROUGH TOWN, LEAVING 22 DEAD

A devastating tornado tore through Cape Girardeau on May 21, 1949. It struck the city at 6:56 p.m., a Saturday, and cut a path from Gordonville Road to the Mississippi River, just south of Cape Rock. Hardest hit were the Marble City Heights and Red Star subdivisions. (SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN ARCHIVES)

It was a warm, muggy Saturday afternoon when disaster struck Cape Girardeau.

On May 21, 1949, a tornado ripped through the city, claiming 22 lives, hospitalizing 72 and injuring hundreds of others.

It came without warning. Victims recalled hearing the roar of a passing train.

It leveled more than 200 houses and 19 businesses. Another 231 homes and 14 businesses were damaged.

Unbelievably, the tornado was on the ground less than 10 minutes.

The total losses were estimated at between $3 million and $4 million. The tornado's trail ran from Gordonville Road hill to the Mississippi River south of Cape Rock.

The storm hit at 6:56 p.m. and was accompanied by heavy rains. The downed power lines and continued heavy rains made rescue efforts difficult.

Eight of the 22 deaths occurred in a 150-yard area -- the hardest hit was in the Red Star and Marble City Heights subdivisions. One entire block was blown away. No trees or structures were left when the twister passed. A dozen homes in the block simply vanished.

The late Gene Huckstep, a longtime community leader and businessman, well remembered the tornado. In an interview in 1994, he vividly recalled the day the twister hit, when he was just 21.

"It didn't look like a typical tornado," he recalled, shaping his hands in a funnel. "It just looked like a big black cloud. But you could hear it. It sounded like 10 freight trains. It had a three-block path."

Concern over his wife's elderly grandparents prompted Huckstep to take off on foot toward the north part of town. Huckstep passed the hill where his house had stood, seeing only rubble. He found his wife's grandparents, slightly injured.

"Then I saw this man -- I'll never forget this. He wore black trousers and a white shirt and was carrying a baby. I realized he was impaled by a 2-by-4, but he was awake and carrying this baby. He asked us to please take the baby, and then he knelt down in front of me, rolled over and died. It was pretty devastating."

Back at his house, he stepped through the rubble to try to rescue the family dog and slipped on the overturned refrigerator -- landing on his back in the cellar. He had fractured three vertebrae and his injuries required a body cast from his hip to his neck for eight weeks.