The 9 Most Horrifying Disasters That Ever Happened In Mississippi

Taking place in Vaughan in 1900, this is the train wreck in which Engineer Casey Jones lost his life. The trip from Memphis to Canton seemed to be doomed from the start as a number of things had went wrong, including leaving the station about an hour and a half late. Known for being punctual, Jones was intent on making up as much time as he could. By the time the train pulled into Vaughan it was only a couple of minutes behind schedule – which made it seem as if things were looking up but unfortunately that was not the case. Another train was still on the tracks as Jones arrived, causing his train to collide with the other. Moments before impact, Jones instructed his fireman, Sim Webb, to jump from the train. Webb did just that, and, because of such, survived the crash along with all the other passengers. Sadly, Jones was pronounced dead at the scene.

In April of 1979, much of central Mississippi experienced severe thunderstorms that continued for about 36 hours and caused some areas to receive as much as 20 inches of rain. On Friday the 13th, the rain finally stopped but as the date suggests, the bad luck was just beginning. The massive flooding forced about 17,000 people from their homes with damage totaling approximately $500 million!

Pretty much everyone has heard of Hurricane Camille, but if you live in Mississippi then you definitely know about it. The powerful category 5 storm struck the area in August of 1969, hitting Mississippi’s Gulf Coast in the early morning hours. Reaching wind speeds estimated at over 200 mph, the storm was frightening to say the least. After all was said and done, Hurricane Camille claimed more than 200 victims and caused over $1 billion in damages (that’s a little over $9 million in today’s money).

Often referred to as "the greatest flood in history," the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was several months in the making. During the end 1926 and the beginning of 1927, record rainfall caused the Mississippi River to overflow onto the banks in several areas. By April of 1927, the levee at Mounds Landing gave way causing the flooding river to flow with the force of Niagara Falls. After all was said and done, more than 23,000 square miles of land flooded, hundreds of thousands of people were left without homes and over 200 people had lost their lives.

During this time period, trade was booming due to the railroads becoming more widely used as a means of transportation which allowed for people – and disease - to travel more easily. And that’s just what happened. By the summer of 1878, a yellow fever epidemic viciously spread across much of the United States with the southeastern part of the country being severely affected. At the time, not much was known about the viral infection, which was also known as "yellow jack" or "black vomit." In 1881, after much research, it was learned that mosquitoes were the primary transmitters of the disease. All in all, yellow fever claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people.

In February of 2013, a total of eight tornadoes touched down in Mississippi and Alabama. One of these was an extremely large, violent multiple-vortex wedge tornado with winds up to 170 mph. This one tornado in particular caused extensive damage to the Hattiesburg and Petal areas. Several campuses, including the University of Southern Mississippi, suffered structural damages in addition to widespread damage across four counties. Due to the severity of the storm, Mississippi was declared a federal disaster area by President Barack Obama.

Many remember the August 2005 storm as if it were yesterday. One of the deadliest storms in the history of the United States, Hurricane Katrina claimed over 1,800 lives. Initially, Katrina was viewed as just another hurricane. She passed over Florida and weakened to a tropical storm allowing for many to feel a sense of relief. The relief was short lived, however, because after Katrina was over water again she gained strength – a lot of it and quickly. By the time she made landfall, Hurricane Katrina was a deadly storm with winds up to 175 mph.