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The 1896 St. Louis – East St. Louis tornado was a historic tornado that occurred on Wednesday, May 27, 1896, as part of a major tornado outbreak across the Central United States that day, continuing across the Eastern United States on the 28th. One of the deadliest and most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history, this large and violent tornado was the most notable of an outbreak which produced other large, long-track, violent, killer tornadoes. It caused over $10,000,000 in damage in 1896 ($4.55 billion in today's dollars). 255 people died, and over a thousand were injured. More than 5000 people were homeless and lost all of their possessions. The hardest hit areas of the city where the fashionable Lafayette Square and Compton Heights neighborhoods, as well as the poorer Mill Creek Valley.