stLouISTSunday Marks 75th Anniversary Of Deadly Bunker Hill Tornado In 1948
BUNKER HILL/FOSTERBURG/GILLESPIE - Seven decades later, Herman Landreth still remembered how his ears popped when the worst of the storm passed nearby. He also remembers the massive damage and pain left behind. “Our house was the only one on our street that wasn’t destroyed,” said Landreth, a Bunker Hill resident who died at age 95 in 2019. “Two of my sisters-in-law died in that storm. My brother, Albert, and all three of his sons had broken legs, and they had to amputate my brother’s leg.” His brother’s home and grocery store were also lost. Sunday marks the 75th anniversary of the deadly Bunker Hill tornado, which ripped through the heart of town around breakfast time on March 19, 1948, killing nineteen. Minutes before, the tornado leveled most of Fosterburg, north of Alton, where nine died. Another five were killed in Gillespie, bringing the death toll to 33, though some sources report even more. In between, the tornado inflicted serious
