New Richmond tornado: The eighth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200.
The 1899 New Richmond Tornado was an estimated F5 tornado which formed on the early evening of Monday, June 12, 1899 and tore a 45-mile long path of destruction through St. Croix, Polk and Barron counties in west-central Wisconsin, leaving 117 people dead, twice as many injured and hundreds homeless. The worst devastation wrought by the tornado was at the city of New Richmond, Wisconsin, which took a direct hit from the storm. Over half the town was left in ruins by the tornado, which also caused lesser damage to several other communities in the area. More than $300,000 (USD) ($9,332,000 in today's dollars) in damage was reported. Today, it ranks as the ninth deadliest tornado in United States history, as well as the deadliest ever recorded in Wisconsin.