Missouri is no stranger to disasters that take lives. We compiled a list of tornadoes the other day that indicates the Joplin tornado is the second-worst tornado in Missouri history. It also appears to be the second-worst disaster of any kind. We’ve put together a list of Missouri disasters that is probably far from complete. You might know of others. Here’s the list, by number of fatalities.

• 255–St. Louis tornado May 27, 1896
• 116–Joplin tornado May 22, 2011 (figure incomplete as of this writing)
• 114–Hyatt Regency Hotel Skywalks collapse, Kansas City July 17, 1981
• 100-plus–Steamship Saluda explosion, Lexington, Apr. 9, 1852
• 87–Poplar Bluff tornado May 9, 1927
• 72–St. Louis tornado Sept. 29, 1927
• 72–Katie Jane Memorial Home for the Aged
• 65–Marshfield tornado Apr. 18, 1880
• 55–Six County tornado (southeast Missouri) May 30, 1917
• 42–Tipton Ford train collision, (near Neosho) Aug. 5, 1914
• 38–Ozark Airlines FH-227 crash, St. Louis July 23, 1973
• 37–West Plains dance hall explosion April 13, 1928
• 37–Kansas City (Ruskin Heights) tornado May 10, 1957
• 34–Kirksville tornado Apr. 27, 1889
• 31–Gasconade River railroad bridge collapse Nov. 1, 1855
• 28–Kansas City (Lathrop School) May 11, 1886
• 26–Fire at Wayside Inn Nursing Home, Farmington, 1979
• 23–Cape Girardeau tornado May 21, 1949
• 21–St. Louis tornado  Feb. 10, 1959
• 21–Coates House Hotel fire, Kansas City, January 28, 1978

There have been other plane crashes, train wrecks, fires and tornadoes that have taken lives. We put the cutoff point at more than 20 deaths.