How much damage did the Joplin tornado cause?
Missouri
Located in Tornado Alley, Missouri also receives extreme weather in the form of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. The most recent tornado in the state to cause damage and casualties was the 2011 Joplin tornado, which destroyed roughly one-third of the city of Joplin. The tornado caused an estimated $1–3 billion in damages, killed 159 (+1 non-tornadic), and injured over 1,000 people. It was the first EF5 to hit the state since 1957 and the deadliest in the U.S. since 1947, making it the seventh deadliest tornado in American history and 27th deadliest in the world. St. Louis and its suburbs also have a history of experiencing particularly severe tornadoes, the most recent memorable one being an EF4 tornado that damaged Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on April 22, 2011. One of the worst tornadoes in American history struck St. Louis on May 27, 1896, killing at least 255 and causing $10 mil. damage ($3.9 bil. damage in 2009) or $ in today's dollars.
1990 Plainfield tornado
The Plainfield Tornado caused over $140 million worth of damage. As the storm tore through Plainfield, nine people were killed (one additional victim would die afterward, from carbon monoxide poisoning, while guarding his home after the storm). The remaining victims were from Joliet and Crest Hill, in North Eastern Illinois. In all a total of 29 people would die because of the tornado. A total of 350 people were also injured in storm. This was the deadliest tornado event in the region since the Belvidere - Oak Lawn tornado outbreak of April 1967.
Joplin Public Library
In 2013,the federal Economic Development Administration announced a $20 million grant for the development and construction of a new library on 20th Street, in the heart of the area destroyed by the 2011 Joplin tornado.
2011 Joplin tornado
On June 10, 2011, it was announced that a rare fungal infection, zygomycosis, had been noted to cause at least eight serious cases of wound infection among the injured survivors, confirmed by reports to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Erica Tremblay
In 2012, she released "Heartland: A Portrait of Survival." The film documents the effects of the 2011 Joplin tornado which destroyed a quarter of the city and caused about $2.8 billion worth of damage. Tremblay, who was living in Los Angeles at the time but had previously lived in Joplin, had relatives still living in her hometown. She traveled to the town with a film crew and documented the aftermath for a four-week period. The film, which features several stories like the Joplin Found Photos project, was shown at the Omaha Film Festival, and at St. Louis International Film Festival.
Harrisburg, Illinois
Spawned by a weather system that had originated in Kansas, an EF-4 tornado slammed into Harrisburg early on the morning of February 29, 2012. The tornado touched down just north of Carrier Mills at 4:51 a.m., destroyed a church and damaged houses along Town Park Road, and then traveled ENE through the Harrisburg Coal Field just north of Ledford, and then went through Liberty, where it damaged Harrisburg Middle School. The tornado then reached the south-western edge of the city at 4:56 a.m., specifically Dorrisville, which suffered significant property damage, and then churned eastward to Gaskins City which was nearly leveled; 7 people were confirmed dead in that area, most killed in an apartment complex that was crushed by another residence, and 110 were injured overall. On June 3, another victim died in the hospital from their injuries, raising the death toll to 8. Harrisburg Medical Center was also significantly damaged in Gaskins City. Peak winds were estimated to have been about 180 mph, and the width of the tornado path was 275 yards, traveling 26.5 miles. In Harrisburg, more than 200 houses, and about 25 businesses were destroyed or damaged heavily. At least 10 houses and other buildings were leveled completely, and several structures were displaced from their foundations. Early estimates indicated nearly 40% of the city was damaged or destroyed. The following night, a mandatory curfew was enforced in the effected areas, from 6 p.m. through 6 a.m. Counting the damage and death toll, it was reported to be the worst storm since the Joplin, Missouri tornado. Harrisburg Unit 3 schools were closed until March 5, 2012, and later they offered trauma counseling to students after reopening.
Buffalo Ridge
On the weekend of June 13, 1992 a large storm developed over the Northern Great Plains, resulting in severe weather in western South Dakota. On June 16, another storm struck eastern South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota destroying over one hundred homes and businesses. These supercells created many large damaging tornadoes. The first tornado formed in Charles Mix County and moved toward Mitchell, South Dakota. The second formed in Miner County, South Dakota and the third formed south of Pierre, South Dakota both causing considerable property damage. The fourth tornado formed near the unincorporated town of Leota in southwest Minnesota, spawning a "maxi" tornado that stayed on the ground for almost an hour and a half and did substantial damage to the cities of Chandler and Lake Wilson, Minnesota. In Chandler, the property damage was estimated at over fifteen million dollars. This tornado was classified as an F5 tornado on the Fujita Scale and turned out to be the only F5 tornado documented in the United States in 1992. Another tornado formed in South Dakota later in the day and made its way to Minnesota where it struck the town of Chandler for the second time, along with Colton and Dell Rapids.
1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado
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 $10,000,000 in damage in 1896 ($ 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.
Tornado outbreak of November 17, 2013
The tornado initially touched down at 16:59 UTC roughly southeast of East Peoria in Tazewell County before moving directly into town. Damage was considerable in East Peoria, where the tornado accrued $110 million in damage costs. Thousands of trees and power poles were destroyed, along with 20 houses. Major damage was sustained by 75 houses, seven businesses, and five apartment buildings, while 137 other houses and three other businesses sustained minor damage. Over 400 vehicles were damaged in East Peoria. The tornado then strengthened and broadened to its peak intensity as a high-end EF4 with winds estimated at and a damage width extending in diameter as it moved into the nearby town of Washington. A debris ball was detected on weather radar in association with the tornado as it moved over the city. Entire neighborhoods in Washington were leveled, and some homes were swept clean from their foundations. The Georgetown Common Apartments were severely damaged, and a pickup truck in the parking lot was found wrapped around a tree. Trees in Washington were denuded and partially debarked, vehicles were thrown, and an auto parts store was completely leveled. A total of 633 homes, seven more businesses and apartment buildings, and 2,500 vehicles were destroyed in Washington, while minor to significant damage was sustained by numerous other structures. Though 5,000 people were in the path of the tornado, only one person was killed during the storm's initial passage, while two others died of injuries sustained during the tornado in the days following November 17. The low fatality count was attributed to people successfully seeking shelter. Damage costs in Washington amounted to $800 million. Alongside the three fatalities were 121 injuries throughout Tazewell County.
Tornado outbreak of January 21–23, 2017
The tornado outbreak of January 21–23, 2017 was a prolific and deadly winter tornado outbreak that occurred across the Southeast United States. Lasting just under two days, the outbreak produced a total of 81 tornadoes, cementing its status as the second-largest January tornado outbreak and the third-largest winter tornado outbreak since 1950. Furthermore, it was the largest outbreak on record in Georgia with 42 tornadoes confirmed in the state. The most significant tornadoes were three EF3s that heavily damaged or destroyed portions of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Albany and Adel, Georgia. A total of 20 people were killed by tornadoes—mainly during the pre-dawn hours of the outbreak—making it the second-deadliest outbreak in January since 1950, behind the 1969 Hazlehurst, Mississippi tornado outbreak that killed 32 people. In the aftermath of the outbreak, relief organizations assisted in clean-up and aid distribution. Total economic losses from the event reached at least $1.3 billion (2017 USD).
Duquesne, Missouri
Sixty to seventy percent of the structures of Duquesne were destroyed by the May 22, 2011 tornado with thirty percent of Joplin being destroyed.
Joplin, Missouri
On May 22, 2011, an EF5 tornado touched down near the western edge of the city among large, newer homes, about 5:21 pm CDT (22:34 UTC) and tracked eastward across the city and across Interstate 44 into rural portions of Lawrence County. Its track was reported to have been about in width and long. About 2,400 houses, 1,000 cars, and businesses were flattened or blown away in Joplin, particularly in the section between 13th and 32nd Streets across the southern part of the city. The tornado narrowly missed the downtown area.
Tornado outbreak of April 14–16, 2011
After the outbreak was over, many communities were left devastated, with severe destruction and no electricity. Several major cities were impacted by the outbreak, such as Raleigh, Little Rock, and Jackson. In the wake of the destruction as a result of the storms and tornadoes Alabama governor Robert J. Bentley declared a state of emergency for the entire state. North Carolina governor Bev Perdue did likewise as a result. 26 counties in Oklahoma and 14 counties in Mississippi were also placed under a state of emergency. In total, the tornadoes killed 38 people, injured many more, and caused at least 600 million dollars in damage.
Upper Great Lakes severe weather outbreak of August 23, 1998
The Door County Tornado is the 8th most costly tornado in Wisconsin history, casing an estimated $6.5 million in damages. The tornado first touched down over water as a waterspout but moved onshore in Door County, causing significant property and crop damage. Murphy County Park was the very first place on land to be impacted by the tornado. The southern part of the park received the most substantial damage with 99%+ of all trees and shrubs in the area being uprooted or destroyed. As the tornado moved across the peninsula it caused F2 and F3 damage to structures. In total 20 residential buildings, two businesses and multiple barns were destroyed by the tornado. A campground known as the Door County Kamping Resort saw some of the tornadoes worst impacts. 40 campers hid in a brick shower building while the F3 tornado moved over the camp, because of this only two injuries were reported. A nearby hotel and antique shop known as Cornerstone Suites was also completely destroyed by the tornado. Although there were very few injuries with the tornado, the storm knocked out power to most of the peninsula. Due to the lack of power most tourist attractions in the area were not able to provide for their customers. Chief deputy Gary Bies of the Door County Sheriff's Department said of the event, "People are sitting in motels with nothing to do. No restaurants; everything is closed." By late on the Monday after the storm most power was returned to the area.
Tornado preparedness
There were no building codes requiring tornado shelters nor specifically designed to prevent tornado damage until the 2011 Joplin tornado prompted a local ordinance requiring hurricane ties or similar fasteners. The state of Oklahoma adopted the minimum U.S. standard that year for the first time, but did not add high-wind protections like those in Florida designed to protect against hurricanes. Other states in Tornado Alley have no statewide building codes. The chance of any given location in Tornado Alley getting hit by an F-2 tornado (strong enough to do major structural damage and exceeding the 90 mph guideline for straightline winds) is about 1 every 4,000-5,000 years; in other areas the annual probability is one in several million. The most stringent building codes only require earthquake strengthening for a 1 in every 500-1,000 year probability.
2011 New England tornado outbreak
Continuing eastward, the tornado tracked through Wilbraham, causing near-total deforestation and extensive structural damage. The storm then moved through the center of Monson, damaging nearly every structure in the area. Many homes were badly damaged, some of which were completely flattened. A total of 77 buildings were destroyed, some completely. In some locations, trees were debarked and had most of their branches removed. Some unanchored homes in town slid from their foundations and collapsed. The roof of the old Monson High School, which is now the town's police building, was also completely destroyed. In Natick, roughly from Monson, a picture from the town was found.
Shortly before 5:00 p.m., the tornado moved through Brimfield State Forest where it reached its maximum width of . Thousands of trees were snapped and uprooted in this area. Near Brimfield, the Village Green campground, a trailer park, was almost completely destroyed with 95 out of 96 trailers destroyed. Here, one person was killed after her RV was overturned by the tornado. Several homes were completely swept from their foundation in the Brimfield area as well. Losses in this area exceeded $1 million. Around 5:09 p.m., another tornado warning was issued to include portions of Norfolk County, Massachusetts and Providence County, Rhode Island. The tornado then struck the Sturbridge area, where thousands of trees were downed and multiple homes were damaged. Significant damage took place to both buildings and trees for several miles before the storm moved into Southbridge. There, the Southbridge Airport sustained some damage and aircraft were picked up and thrown into the nearby woods. Once through the airport, the tornado ripped through the Rosemeade Apartments and devastated the neighborhood of Brookside Road, Charlton Street and Harrington Road at 5:18pm before it dissipated in southwestern Charlton at 5:27 p.m.
List of tornadoes causing 100 or more deaths
Most of the rest occurred in the United States in 1953 or earlier, before tornado prediction efforts began. The only tornado on this list to occur during the 21st century is the 2011 Joplin tornado, which occurred on May 22, 2011.
History of the United States (1991–2008)
On May 3, 1999, a violent tornado outbreak struck the Southern Great Plains, predominantly Oklahoma. The most destructive tornado was an F5 tornado that struck Oklahoma City and the suburb of Moore. The tornado is one of the most prominent examples of a tornado striking a major urban area and became the first tornado to incur over $1 billion in damages. In all, the outbreak resulted in 50 deaths and over 600 injuries.
Tornadoes of 2004
Vigorous tornado activity continued on the 24th, mainly across Mississippi and Alabama. However, an F2 tornado tore though the northwest side of Slidell, Louisiana, damaging 152 homes in a single subdivision and injuring 4 people. Numerous tornadoes touched down in Mississippi, with the strongest being an F3 that passed near Noxapater. The Noxapater tornado downed hundreds of trees, tossed vehicles, and destroyed chicken houses. A house was completely destroyed, resulting in a fatality and two injuries. In Alabama, a large F2 tracked across Autauga, Chilton, and Coosa counties. The tornado struck the Cooper community, resulting in major structural damage. Another F2 touched down and struck the Talladega Superspeedway, where two concession stands within the infield area of the race track had their roofs blown off. The Bush Garage area received building damage and the garage doors were bowed out. Debris was scattered between the garage area and Victory Lane. One digital leader board was completely destroyed and another one sustained major damage. The Talladega tornado continued east through Eastaboga and Bynum. In Eastaboga, two homes suffered major roof damage, two porches were destroyed and many trees were blown down. In Bynum, two mobile homes were heavily damaged by fallen trees. One of the trees smashed a mobile home, killing a 75-year-old woman. The tornado caused roof and structural damage in southern Anniston before dissipating. No tornadoes occurred on the 25th. Overall, the outbreak produced 104 tornadoes and killed four people.
Tornado outbreak of April 27–28, 2002
3 tornadoes were reported later in the day in Missouri. An F2 tornado produced damage in Willow Springs, Missouri, and a large F3 tornado struck the Marble Hill, Missouri area in Bollinger County, Missouri shortly before midnight. This storm caused the first fatality of the outbreak, and produced $4 million in property damage.
Williamson County, Texas
On May 27, 1997, Williamson County was hit by the worst tornado outbreak in county history. The 1997 Central Texas Tornado Outbreak caused 20 tornadoes including an F-5 (the strongest rating used for tornadoes on the Fujita scale), which remains the only F-5 to strike Williamson County. The F-5 tornado killed 27 people and completely destroyed the Double Creek Estates neighborhood in the city of Jarrell, Texas, located in far northern Williamson County. Another strong tornado, an F-3, struck the Cedar Park, killing one person. Two F-2 tornadoes also struck Williamson County. The outbreak cost the county over $190 million in damages and a total of 30 fatalities.
2011 Joplin tornado
In May 2012, the Missouri National Guard released documents showing that four soldiers looted video game equipment and a digital camera from a ruined Walmart during cleanup efforts. According to the investigative memo, they believed the merchandise was going to be destroyed. All the soldiers were demoted and had a letter of reprimand placed in their personnel file, but were never prosecuted, even though many civilian looters were prosecuted.
Tornadoes of 2008
An isolated supercell developed in west-central Georgia in the evening of March 14. An EF2 tornado was reported in downtown Atlanta, which caused damage to several buildings, including the Georgia Dome (while a SEC Tournament basketball game was underway), the World Congress Center, Philips Arena (during an Atlanta Hawks game), and CNN Center. Many windows were blown out of the Omni Hotel, which was evacuated. Nine people were injured and there was one death from the tornado. The tornado was later confirmed as an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale and had a path length of about long and wide. The Georgia insurance commissioner's office made a final cost tally of a half-billion dollars (100 million at the GWCC alone), making it one of the most expensive tornadoes in history.
Tornado outbreak of June 13, 1998
In the afternoon and evening of June 13, four supercells which had formed near the dryline over Western Oklahoma entered the central part of the state, two of which produced tornadoes, and two of which only produced strong winds and hail. The first of the two tornado-producing storms produced two tornadoes; the former, which touched down near Longdale, injured a child and caused tree damage, ultimately causing F0 damage. The latter tornado, which was ultimately rated F1, caused roof, window, siding, and porch damage to three houses. It also took off the roof of a barn, destroyed an outbuilding, caused fence damage, and took off the hood of a pickup truck.
The second tornadic supercell produced seven tornadoes. The first two tornadoes touched down near El Reno and caused no damage, earning ratings of F0. The third tornado touched down near Yukon but, as with the other two, caused no damage and was rated F0. A fourth tornado touched down over Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City, eventually causing damage to boats in a dry dock at the Oklahoma City Boat Club. Damage to club facilities and nearby boats was estimated at $250,000. The tornado went on to destroy a storage shed and cause minor roof damage to homes east of Lake Hefner Parkway before it dissipated, having caused only F1 damage. The fifth tornado (rated F1) materialized near NW 84th Street and Walker, going on to displace much of a house's roof decking and uproot street signs. The tornado also damaged vehicles and caused roof damage to houses on 84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, and 88th Streets. The tornado destroyed the western half of a church in this area after it knocked down its walls on three sides and threw part of its roof at a house which resultantly suffered major damage. The sixth tornado, which was anticyclonic, affected the Northwest Oklahoma City/Nichols Hills area. It caused "considerable" damage to a strip mall, unroofed numerous houses, shattered windows, and damaged signs and powerlines. One building saw an exterior wall collapse. An RV was thrown into a house, a car flipped, trees were knocked down, and pieces of shingles and roof decking were blown away. The tornado's ultimate rating of F2 was based on damage limited to a small area, and most damage was actually consistent with that of an F1 tornado.
The seventh tornado produced by the second tornadic storm (rated F2), which affected Northeast Oklahoma City in the Frontier City area, was also the most destructive. The tornado touched down near the Hefner Road/Bryant Avenue intersection before going on to cause major structural damage to numerous businesses. At Frontier City, the tornado damaged vehicles in the parking lot and caused the exterior of a concrete-block building to partly collapse while simultaneously taking its roof off. Inflow into the tornado caused additional damage to nearby areas, and seventeen injuries occurred at the park. East of Interstate 35, a Texaco suffered significant damage, and the tornado lifted and rolled empty semi-truck trailers in the parking lot. A nearby portable building was completely blown away. In the Nottingham and Quail Ridge Run subdivisions, extensive damage was caused to homes' windows, roofs, and garage doors. Some of these homes suffered a significant degree of roof failure despite having still-standing exterior walls. Anchoring between the roofs of these homes and their walls was missing, and it is possible that the intensity of the tornado was near the F3 range in these areas. The tornado caused $1 million worth of damage in North Oklahoma City throughout its track.
1998 Eastern tornado outbreak
Hardest hit areas from the June 2 tornado outbreak included Pennsylvania, which reported 22 tornadoes on June 2 (and a total of 45 tornadoes from May 31 to June 2), western Maryland, where 5 tornadoes occurred, and West Virginia, where some counties in the Potomac Highlands reported their first tornado in recent history. Tornadoes were also observed in New York, Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. The most damaging tornado hit Carnegie, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at 5:55 PM EDT. There, 50 injuries and $13 million in damage were reported. The deadliest tornado, an F3 on the Fujita Scale, hit near Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, in Wyoming County, around 10:30 PM EDT. This tornado caused 2 fatalities, 15 injuries and $2.2 million in damage. The most violent tornado hit Frostburg, Maryland, in Allegany County, at 9:43 PM EDT. 5 persons were injured, and $5 million in property damage was reported. It was the first F4 tornado to have hit the state of Maryland since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1950. The Frostburg Tornado had moved southeast from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where it was rated F3.
History of the United States (2008–present)
In the spring of 2011, several major tornado outbreaks affected the Central and Southern United States. 43 people were killed in a tornado outbreak from April 14–16. Approximately 350+ people were killed in a tornado outbreak from April 25–28, the deadliest US tornado outbreak in 75 years (since the 1936 Tupelo-Gainesville tornado outbreak). States particularly hit hard by the outbreaks included Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and most especially, Alabama, which sustained over 250 fatalities alone. The latter outbreak produced $10 billion in damage, making it the costliest tornado outbreak in history. On May 22, an EF5 tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri, killing 154, injuring over 1,000 people, and causing $1–3 billion in damage, making it the deadliest single US tornado in 64 years and the costliest single tornado of all time.
Tornado outbreak sequence of May 21–26, 2011
The tornado outbreak sequence of May 21–26, 2011 was one of the largest tornado outbreaks on record which affected the Midwestern and Southern regions of the United States. Most of the tornadoes developed in a corridor from Lake Superior southwest to central Texas; isolated tornadoes occurred in other areas. An especially destructive tornado destroyed one-third of Joplin, Missouri, resulting in 158 deaths and over 1,000 injuries. The Joplin tornado is the deadliest in the U.S. since April 9, 1947, when an intense tornado killed 181 in the Woodward, Oklahoma area. Tornado-related deaths also occurred in Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. Overall, the tornado outbreak resulted in 184 deaths, 6 of those non-tornadic, making it second only to the 2011 Super Outbreak as the deadliest since 1974, and the second costliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history behind that same April 2011 outbreak, with insured damage estimated at $4–7 billion.
Chip Gubera
In 2011, Gubera's home town of Joplin, Missouri, was destroyed by a massive tornado. He documented the event with a feature documentary called "Joplin, Missouri - A Tornado Story". The film was narrated by Cost to Cost AM radio host George Noory. The film picked up a number of honors including winning Best Feature Documentary at the 2012 St. Louis Filmmaker's Showcase and being nominated for a 2013 Mid-America Emmy.
Joplin School District
The Joplin School District is located in Jasper and Newton Counties in the City of Joplin, Missouri. It serves more than 7,700 students in the school district.On May 22, 2011, an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. In the path of the tornado, Joplin High School, Franklin Technical Center, East Middle School, Irving Elementary, and Emerson Elementary were destroyed; Cecil Floyd Elementary, Duquesne Elementary, Eastmorland Elementary, and Kelsey Norman were damaged as well. In the months after the tornado, plans have been made to rebuild all schools that were destroyed in the tornado. The school district re-opened its Middle and Elementary schools on January 9, 2014; and Joplin High School and Franklin Technical Center re-opened in August 2014.
Barry Manilow
On October 27, 2011, Manilow visited Joplin, Missouri, a little more than five months after a tornado destroyed one-third of that city, including its only high school. His "Manilow Music Project" made a contribution of $300,000 to restore the musical program and instruments that were lost.
Tornadoes of 2001
An outbreak of eleven tornadoes hit central Kansas. While mainly most were weak, one was violent enough to be rated F4, and struck without a tornado warning being issued. Touching down just outside Hoisington, it tore a two-block-wide path through the north and west sides of town, completely destroying almost 200 homes and businesses and damaging another 230. The roof of the local hospital was partially torn off, and vehicles were tossed and mangled. The tornado caused $43 million in damage. Twenty-eight people were injured, and one man was killed by a flying vehicle.
April 1977 Birmingham tornado
Beginning just a few miles north of Birmingham near Tarrant, the tornado proceeded north through northern Jefferson County producing F5 damage in Smithfield, northeast of Ensley. The tornado, which was at times wide, was blamed for 22 deaths, more than 125 injuries, and $25 million in damage. Hundreds of homes were completely destroyed, many of which were completely swept away, despite being well-built. Some of the homes built into hillsides even had their cinder-block basement walls swept away. Many trees in the area were snapped and debarked and vehicles were thrown and destroyed. Two dump-trucks were thrown through the air near I-65 as well. Daniel Payne College suffered extensive damage, forcing it to permanently close due to the extent of the destruction. Dr. Ted Fujita followed the tornado and supercell from an airplane and while surveying damage he rated the Smithfield tornado an F5.
2011 Joplin tornado
The tornado then continued on an east to east-southeast trajectory towards Interstate 44 where it weakened; nonetheless, vehicles were blown off the highway and mangled near the U.S. Route 71 (Exit 11) interchange. The damage at and around the interchange was rated EF2 to EF3. The weakening tornado continued to track into the rural areas of southeastern Jasper County and northeastern Newton County where damage was generally minor to moderate, with trees, mobile homes, outbuildings, and frame homes damaged mainly at EF0 to EF1 strength. The tornado lifted east of Diamond at 6:12 pm CDT (23:12 UTC) according to aerial surveys. The tornado's total track length was at least long. Overall, 6,954 homes were destroyed, 359 homes had major damage and 516 had minor damage, 158 people were killed, and 1,150 others were injured along the path. A separate EF2 tornado touched down near Wentworth from the same supercell about east-southeast of Joplin.
Beecher, Michigan
The slow-moving tornado wrecked 340 houses, severely damaged many others, and injured 844 persons. The major damage was concentrated between Clio Road and N. Dort Highway. This area contained mostly small homes with some businesses and a high school. It is ranked the 10th deadliest tornado in U. S. history, being displaced from 9th position in spring 2011 by the Joplin, Missouri tornado.
Tornadoes of 1974
The 1974 Super Outbreak was one of the destructive tornado outbreaks ever known in United States history. Many notable tornadoes occurred, such as the Xenia, Ohio tornado which was an F5 tornado that killed 34 people and destroyed a large portion of the town. The Xenia tornado was so strong and the damage so severe, that Dr. Fujita considered rating it an F-6, although the scale only went to F-5. He decided not to since some of the damage that would indicate that it could be the mythical F-6, might have been due to the structure not being as strong as it should in the first place. One of the 30 violent tornadoes, and F4 striking Monticello, Indiana, produced the longest damage path recorded during the 1974 Super Outbreak, on a southwest to northeast path that nearly crossed the entire state of Indiana. According to most records, this tornado formed near Otterbein in Benton County in west central Indiana to Noble County just northwest of Fort Wayne - a total distance of about 121 miles (195 km). Much of the town was destroyed including the courthouse, some churches and cemeteries, 40 businesses and numerous homes as well as three schools. It also heavily damaged the Penn Central bridge over the Tippecanoe River. Overall damage according to the NOAA was estimated at about US$250 million with US$100 million damage in Monticello alone. The Monticello tornado caused 18 deaths. One of the seven F5 tornadoes, the Huntsville, Alabama tornado, took a similar path of the tornado that struck Huntsville on April 1. A large, F4 tornado struck Louisville, killing 3 people and demolished most of Audubon Elementary School and affected the neighborhoods of Audubon, Cherokee Triangle, Cherokee-Seneca, Crescent Hill, Indian Hills, Northfield, Rolling Fields, and Tyler Park. The fast-moving nighttime tornado that devastated the town of Guin, was the longest-duration F5 tornado recorded in the outbreak and considered to be one of the most violent ever recorded. The Guin Tornado traveled over to just west of Huntsville before lifting just after 10:30 pm CDT. It formed at around 8:50 pm CDT near the Mississippi-Alabama border, striking the Monterey Trailer Park, resulting in major damage at that location. The tornado then became extremely violent as it approached and entered Guin, with multiple areas of F5 damage noted in and around town. The tornado first struck the Guin Mobile Home Plant as it entered the town, completely obliterating the structure. Nothing was left of the plant but a pile of mangled steel beams. The town's downtown area was also heavily damaged, with many businesses and two churches completely destroyed. Residential areas in Guin suffered total devastation, with many homes swept completely away and scattered across fields. There were at least 148 tornadoes in the tornado outbreak and 318 fatalities, a record that was beat by the 2011 Super Outbreak.
Marion, Illinois
On May 29, 1982, one of the larger tornadoes in Illinois history, an F-4, hit the city of Marion, Illinois and Williamson County. Ten people died and 200 people were injured after this tornado ripped across a stretch. The Shawnee Village apartment complex was destroyed, and the Marion Ford-Mercury dealership sustained heavy damage. This tornado caused between $85 million and $100 million in damages. A memorial to the ten people who perished that day was later erected on the Tower Square.
2011 Joplin tornado
Along with the Tri-State Tornado and the 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado, it ranks as one of Missouri's and America's deadliest tornadoes and is also the costliest single tornado in U.S. history ($2.8 billion). It was the first F5/EF5 tornado in Missouri since May 20, 1957, when an F5 destroyed several suburbs of Kansas City. It was only the second F5/EF5 tornado in Missouri history dating back to 1950. It was the deadliest U.S. tornado since the April 9, 1947 tornado in Woodward, Oklahoma, the seventh-deadliest in U.S. history. It was also the first single tornado since the June 8, 1953 F5 tornado in Flint, Michigan, to have 100 or more associated fatalities.
2011 Joplin tornado
The now heavily rain-wrapped tornado continued at EF5 intensity as it crossed Range Line Road. In that corridor between about 13th and 32nd Streets, the tornado continued producing catastrophic damage as it was at its widest at this point, being nearly wide. As the tornado hit the Pizza Hut at 1901 South Range Line Road, store manager Christopher Lucas herded four employees and 15 customers into a walk-in freezer. With difficulty closing the door, he wrapped a bungee cable holding the door shut around his arm until he was sucked out and killed by the tornado. The tornado completely destroyed Walmart Supercenter No. 59, a Home Depot, and numerous other businesses and restaurants in this area, many of which were flattened. Numerous metal roof trusses were torn from the Home Depot building and were found broken and mangled in nearby fields. Cars that originated at the Home Depot parking lot were found hundreds of yards away. Asphalt was scoured from parking lots at Walmart and a nearby pizza restaurant, and large tractor-trailers were thrown up to 200 yards away. An Academy Sports + Outdoors store along Range Line sustained major structural damage, and a chair was found impaled legs-first through an exterior stucco wall at that location. A nearby three-story apartment complex was also devastated, and two cell phone towers were found collapsed onto the remains of the apartments. Numerous cars were thrown and piled on top of each other, 100-pound manhole covers were removed from roads and thrown, ground scouring occurred, and a Pepsi distribution plant was completely leveled in this area as well. Additional calculations of the manhole covers in Joplin by Parka Sarkar revealed that winds had to have exceeded 200 mph for the manhole covers to be removed. Many fatalities occurred in this area, and damage was rated as EF5.
Extreme damage continued in the area of Duquesne Road in southeast Joplin. Many houses and industrial and commercial buildings were flattened in this area as well. The industrial park near the corner of 20th and Duquesne was especially hard hit with nearly every building flattened. Several large metal warehouse structures were swept cleanly from their foundations, and several heavy industrial vehicles were thrown up to 400 yards away in this area. One of the many warehouses affected was a Cummins warehouse, a concrete block and steel building which was destroyed. The last area of EF5 damage occurred in the industrial park, and a nearby Fastrip gas station and convenience store was completely destroyed. Many homes were destroyed further to the east at EF3 to EF4 strength in a nearby subdivision, and East Middle School sustained major damage.
2011 Joplin tornado
The "Joplin Globe" reported that 54 percent of the people died in their residences, 32 percent died in non-residential areas and 14 percent died in vehicles or outdoors. Joplin officials after the tornado announced plans to require hurricane ties or other fasteners between the houses and their foundations (devices add about $600 US to the construction costs). Officials rejected a proposal to require concrete basements in new houses. Officials noted that only 28 percent of Joplin's new homes had basements as of 2009 compared with 38 percent two decades before.
2011 Joplin tornado
President Barack Obama toured the community on May 29, flying into Joplin Regional Airport and speaking at a memorial at the Taylor Performing Arts Center at Missouri Southern State University about two miles (3 km) north of the worst of the devastation. Obama had been on a state visit to Europe at the time of the storm. Members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church were also scheduled to protest the same day in Joplin, but they did not show up. There was a massive counter protest that was organized in response to the Westboro protest, in which thousands of protesters showed up holding signs saying, "God Loves Joplin" and "We Support You Joplin."
Tornadoes of 2002
On September 2, 2002 at approximately 4:20 PM CDT, an F3 tornado tore through the town of Ladysmith, Wisconsin, causing $25 million in damage. Twenty-seven people were injured but nobody was killed. The twister had a path of 16 miles, and was one of six to touchdown in Wisconsin that day.
There were 58 tornadoes confirmed in the US in October.
Tornado outbreak of May 1968
The same city was hit by another destructive tornado five years later killing at least three and injuring 250 others while leaving much more destruction throughout the city than the 1968 event. The damage figures were about $62 million in 1973 dollars. Another F4 tornado just to the west of Jonesboro killed 7 in Oil Trough in Independence County and 3 others were killed in Baxter County.
Tornado outbreak of April 10–11, 2001
Additionally, it produced the largest (in area) and longest (in distance and duration) recorded swaths of very large hail, up to baseball size, and also incurred the most expensive damages of any hailstorm in U.S. history. At $2 billion in insured losses, it was more damaging than the most damaging tornado, in real dollars, the Oklahoma City Tornado of May 3, 1999.
Tornado outbreak of November 17, 2013
With damage estimated at approximately $1.6 billion, the tornado outbreak became the seventh weather event and fifth tornado outbreak in the U.S. to accrue over $1 billion in damage that year. Tornadoes alone were responsible for $1.067 billion in damage, with the EF4 tornado that struck Washington, Illinois accounting for $935 million of the total. In addition to structural damage, widespread power outages affected thousands of electricity customers across the same regions impacted by the tornado outbreak and subsequent squall line. Non-tornadic deaths and injured include one killed in Jackson County, Michigan, when a tree fell on a car, one killed by live wires in Shiawassee County, Michigan, one killed after touching a downed wire in Detroit, and two minor injuries in a home damaged by wind in Ohio.
Tornadoes of 2008
On June 8, two tornadoes touched down in Millard, Nebraska at about 2:15 am CDT (0715 UTC) before merging into one. The EF1 and EF2 tornado caused damage to about one hundred homes and businesses. The Heartland Center for Reproductive Medicine had its lobby blown off, and a Carquest store also sustained major damage. In Florida, a tornado struck North Fort Myers, causing minor damage to 44 homes, moderate damage to 12 homes, and destroying one home. One person suffered a minor injury.
In Michigan, three people were killed by non-tornadic winds.
On June 9, a tornado swept through the southern Perth suburb of Rockingham. The tornado had reached wind speeds of . The State Emergency Service responded to more than 200 calls for help and the tornado damaged more than 130 homes.
A severe weather event developed on June 11 across the central and northern Plains. A moderate risk of severe weather was issued for the region. Four people were killed and 48 people were injured when a tornado struck the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Little Sioux, Iowa. In Kansas, one person was killed in Chapman when an EF3 tornado damaged 80 percent of the town, including the downtown area. The tornado destroyed 69 homes in Chapman. Another person was killed in the small town of Soldier, where a tornado damaged 32 homes. In Manhattan, an EF4 tornado caused significant damage to the southwest side. It also caused damage to Kansas State University, where Cardwell Hall, Ward Hall, Burt Hall and the engineering complex suffered damage and the Wind Erosion Laboratory was destroyed. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house was also damaged. A tornado also destroyed nine homes and a cabinet manufacturing company in Salina. On June 12, a total of 24 tornadoes were reported, with four confirmed tornadoes (three EF0 and one EF1) hitting Wisconsin, causing tree damage in Columbia, Green, and Dane Counties. An EF0 tornado was also confirmed in Manistee, Michigan, which tracked through forested land. On June 13, 18 homes suffered damage after an EF0 tornado hit Cape Coral, Florida. In Missouri, an EF1 tornado hit Grandin. Two houses were damaged and a large barn had one wall and door blown off and large sections of roof missing.
Tropical Storm Bill (2003)
Tropical Storm Bill dropped light rainfall of around in northeastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri, and over in isolated parts of eastern Tennessee. The storm also produced moderate rainfall in northwestern Georgia, which peaked at in Monroe. Areas in southeastern Georgia received generally around ; some coastal areas did not receive any precipitation from the storm. Rainfall resulted in flooding in numerous locations around the Atlanta metropolitan area, leaving some roads impassable or closed. The combination of moist air from the south, cool temperatures from a cold front to the north, and low pressures led to the development of supercells throughout Georgia and South Carolina, several of which produced tornadoes. An F1 tornado touched down north-northeast of Pennington; first it passed through a farm, causing severe damage to two dairy sheds, a John Deere tractor, and three metal storage buildings. The tornado destroyed a hay barn, a carport, and a car inside the carport as well, while also causing a tree to fall and kill one cow. The tornado passed through a forested area, where it toppled or sheared off hundreds of trees. As it entered a more urban area, it downed 30 isolated trees, some of which fell on a portion of Interstate 20, temporarily closing the roadway. The tornado damaged seven houses, primarily to roof damage, although one experienced damage to several windows, while another had a utility trailer and a car damaged by fallen trees; a commercial building was damaged as well. An F2 tornado was reported in Clito, which knocked down trees and damaged mobile homes. Severe thunderstorms from the remnants of Bill caused considerable damage to a house near Louisville and knocked down several trees. Moreover, a tornado was briefly associated with the storms. Bill also caused thunderstorms in Kite which uprooted several trees onto a car and a house. One man in Atlanta died due to a falling tree. Damage in Georgia totaled to $244,500 (2003 USD, $  USD).
The tornado outbreak spawned by Bill was the greatest in the Charleston, South Carolina National Weather Service area since the outbreak provoked by Hurricane Earl in 1998. One such tornado was an F1 that struck Hampton, which uprooted trees and downed power lines. The tornado severely damaged a Dollar General store, while several houses were damaged from fallen trees. An F1 tornado also touched down near Smoaks, which uprooted several trees, resulted in a crush car due to a fallen tree, caused severe roof damage to a mobile home, and killed one dog. The storm produced heavy rainfall in the northern portion of the state, with some locations reporting over . The rainfall resulted in flash flooding in areas, which caused some damage.
The Home Depot
In the wake of the 2011 Joplin tornado in which the walls of a Home Depot collapsed after being hit by an EF5 tornado, "The Kansas City Star", citing engineers, criticized Home Depot's practice of using tilt-up construction in hundreds of its big-box stores (other nearby big-box stores in Joplin, including a Walmart and Academy Sports, which had concrete block construction, lost their roofs but the walls remained intact). In tilt-up construction the concrete is poured onsite, lifted into place, and then attached to the roof. The engineers told the "Star" that the practice, while normally safe and efficient, is dangerous in major storms because once the roof is lifted (as happened in Joplin) the walls collapse in a domino effect. Seven people were killed in the front of the store when the 100,000-pound walls collapsed on them, while 28 people in the back of the store survived when those walls collapsed outward. Only two of the slab walls in the Home Depot survived. In contrast, 3 people died in the Walmart but 200 survived. Engineers noted that when concrete block construction fails, structural elements break in pieces and usually not in huge slabs. Home Depot said it fundamentally disagreed with the engineers quoted by the "Star" and said it would use tilt-up construction when it rebuilds the Joplin store.
Freeman Health System
Freeman's role in the aftermath of the 2011 Joplin tornado was crucial to the community, treating more than 1700 injured patients, more than half within the first day. The hospital only narrowly escaped the almost mile-wide path of complete destruction across the southern half of the city, being just six blocks south of the storm-ravaged St. John's Regional Medical Center (now known as Mercy Hospital Joplin). Freeman itself sustained some damage to its facilities, losing a portion of its roof. Following its competitor's relocation and reconstruction, the two hospitals are now more than a mile apart.
Tornado outbreak of January 2, 2006
Another storm moving across the Ohio River and into Louisville, Kentucky spawned a tornado that damaged several houses before dissipating. As the supercell thunderstorm crossed over Louisville, National Weather Service NEXRAD doppler capability detected rotation at the mid-levels of the thunderstorm as it crossed the city producing hail and heavy rain. In Adair County, two tornadoes were reported. One was an F2 tornado which touched down south of Columbia destroying a mobile home and damaging several houses. Another tornado, an F1 touched down near Pellytown causing damage to several homes. In Lincoln County, another thunderstorm spawned a tornado that touched down 3 miles south of McKinney and moved northeast peaking at F2 strength before dissipating. The tornado damaged or destroyed several mobile homes and injured two people person. Damage from the tornado amounted to $350,000 dollars (2006 USD).
Carl Junction, Missouri
Carl Junction was struck by a tornado on May 4, 2003. In 2011, some Carl Junction residents survived the Joplin tornado by huddling in the freezer of a convenience store.
Tornadoes of 2006
Damages from the tornadoes totaled $40,000.
On the evening of January 12, a squall line began to organize over eastern parts of Oklahoma and Texas. A rotating supercell embedded within the squall line produced an F2 tornado in Yell County, Arkansas. The next day, several tornadoes developed from supercells that evolved from the remnants of the squall line across the southeastern states, with the first tornado-inflicted death of 2006 in an F1 tornado near Belleville, Alabama as well as about a dozen students injured at a damaged school in Baker, Florida. Damages from the tornadoes totaled $8.395 million
Tornado outbreak of April 27–28, 2002
Generally, tornado reports were widely scattered in each state, but significant to severe damage was noted in multiple states. Overall, the outbreak was responsible for 7 deaths, 256 injuries and a total in excess of $224 million in tornado damage, with wind and hail adding to the damage total.
2011 Joplin tornado
The catastrophe and risk modeling firm Eqecat, Inc. has estimated the damage at one billion to three billion USD, but noted that the true damage is not yet known, since the firm does not have access to data on uninsured losses. More than 19,000 insurance claims had been filed by mid-June. The impact on the insurance industry is not so much the number of claims, but the cumulative effect of such a large number of total losses. More than 2500 local people employed in insurance have been involved in some capacity. It is assumed that State Farm will assume the largest share of these losses, having market share of 27% for homeowners insurance and 21% for automobile insurance.
Tornadoes of 2003
The final day of the outbreak was the most devastating. On the evening of the 20th, a supercell thunderstorm developed in the Florida Panhandle, producing an F2 tornado that struck Cypress. Two mobile homes and a single-family home were destroyed. 15 single-family and mobile homes were damaged. Numerous trees and power lines were downed. One person was seriously injured and two sustained minor injuries in the Cypress area. The supercell continued into Georgia and produced an F3. The tornado tore through Mitchell County, impacting subdivisions on the south side of Camilla. Unbelievably, another F3 tornado followed nearly this same track back in February 2000. Some residents in Camilla rebuilt homes destroyed by the tornado three years ago, only to find their new homes damaged or destroyed by this tornado. The tornado destroyed a total 66 homes, and damaged 200 homes and businesses, with the hardest hit area being the Goodson Road area of Camilla. Four people were killed and over 200 were injured.
2011 Joplin tornado
However, the EF5 rating stood as the National Weather Service in Springfield, Missouri stated that their survey teams found only a very small area of EF5 structural damage and that it could have easily been missed in the survey (at and around St. John's Medical Center). Bill Davis, head of the NWS station in Springfield, said that the results of the study "do not surprise me at all," adding that "there was only a very small area of EF5 damage in Joplin...we knew right off the bat there was EF4 damage. It took us longer to identify the EF5 damage and that it would take winds of over 200 miles per hour to do that damage." Additionally, the basis for the EF5 rating in Joplin was mainly contextual rather than structural, with non-conventional damage indicators such as removal of concrete parking stops, manhole covers, reinforced concrete porches, driveways, and asphalt were used to arrive at a final rating of EF5, as it was concluded that these specific instances of damage were indicative of winds exceeding 200 miles per hour. The presence of windowed structural debris, instances of very large vehicles such as buses, vans, and semi-trucks being thrown hundreds of yards to several blocks from their points of origin, the fact that some homeowners never located their vehicles, and the overwhelming extent and totality of the destruction in Joplin were also taken into consideration to conclude EF5 intensity.
Mercy (healthcare organization)
On May 22, 2011, one of Mercy's larger hospitals, St. John's Regional Medical Center (now rebuilt and called Mercy Hospital Joplin) was seriously damaged by a tornado from the May 2011 tornado outbreak. At least four people were killed inside the hospital and its grounds, and surviving patients were evacuated from the health facility, which sustained major structural damage. One of the hospital's towers took a direct hit by the storm and was rotated four inches on its foundation.
Webster County, Missouri
On April 18, 1880, an intense tornado measuring F4 on the Fujita scale struck Marshfield. Its damage path was wide and long. The tornado killed 99 people and injured 100, and it is said that 10% of Marshfield's residents were killed and all but 15 of its buildings were destroyed. The composition “Marshfield Cyclone” by the African-American musician John W. (Blind) Boone gave wide publicity to the cyclone, which is still listed as one of the top ten natural disasters in the history of the nation.
Early-May 1965 tornado outbreak sequence
Two tornadoes touched down in Fridley, just over an hour apart. In all, six people were killed in the Fridley tornadoes and over 180 were injured. Over 450 homes were destroyed in Fridley, and neighboring Mounds View also sustained heavy damage. A man who called WCCO radio after the first Fridley tornado claimed on air that he had been in his car when the tornado hit and that the tornado blew out his car windows. Although he is widely believed to have been killed by the second Fridley twister later that night (which did kill a 26-year-old man with a similar name), the caller was actually a teacher at Fridley Junior High School who survived. The tornado also damaged the sign adorning the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. In all, both Fridley tornadoes damaged 1,100 homes and destroyed about 425; total losses reached $14.5 million, $5 million of which was to the Fridley school system. Photographs for the earlier Deephaven and second Fridley tornado were published in the "Minneapolis Tribune" (now Star Tribune) newspaper. Early radar images showed the supercells as they moved through the area.
History of Louisville, Kentucky
Interrupting these developments, on March 27, 1890, a major tornado measuring F4 on the Fujita scale visited Louisville. The "whirling tiger of the air" carved a path from the Parkland neighborhood all the way to Crescent Hill, destroying 766 buildings ($2½ million worth of property) and killing an estimated 74 to 120 people. At least 55 of those deaths occurred when the Falls City Hall collapsed. This is one of the highest death tolls due to a single building collapse from a tornado in U.S. history.
Missouri Southern State University
The school is about 30 blocks northeast of the worst of the devastation of the 2011 Joplin tornado which destroyed much of southern Joplin on May 22, 2011—one day after the school's graduation. Joplin High School had just completed its school graduation on the campus shortly before the tornado. The Leggett and Platt Athletic Center was used as an emergency shelter for victims. Billingsly Student Center was the headquarters for volunteer efforts run by Americorps St. Louis and was the coordination area for identifying victims and survivors. On May 29, 2011, Barack Obama, who was inspecting the damage, spoke at the Taylor Performing Arts Center.
Tropical Storm Bill (2003)
The tornado outbreak associated with the storm began with an F0 in St. Bernard Parish that destroyed a boat house. A short-lived F1 tornado touched down in Reserve, striking a private high school, where it destroyed half of one classroom and damaged several others. Later, the F1 tornado passed through a trailer park and severely damaged or destroyed 20 trailers. One trailer with a woman and three children was lifted into the air and dropped away; four occupants were injured, none of them seriously. Damage from the tornado amounted to $2 million (2003 USD, $  USD). A third tornado, rated an F0, struck Orleans Parish, damaging a car and a portion of a roof.
2011 Joplin tornado
In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers published a study disputing the tornado's initial EF5 rating, based on surveying damage on over 150 structures within a six mile segment of the storm's path. According to the report, over 83 percent of the damage was caused by wind speeds of 135 miles per hour or less, the maximum wind speed of an EF2 tornado. An additional 13 percent was caused by EF3 wind speeds, and 3 percent was consistent with EF4 winds. The study found no damage consistent with wind speeds over 200 miles per hour, the minimum threshold of an EF5 tornado. Researchers concluded that the inability to find EF5 damage was due to the absence of construction standards that were able to determine the necessary wind speeds. Bill Colbourne, a member of the engineering team that surveyed the damage, declared that "a relatively large number of buildings could have survived in Joplin if they had been built to sustain hurricane winds."
1958 Colfax, Wisconsin, tornado outbreak
The F5 tornado itself killed at least 21 and injured 74, making it the deadliest tornado since 1950 and one of the deadliest of all-time in Wisconsin. 12 of the fatalities were in Colfax alone where damage was estimated at $2 million including about half of the buildings in that town flattened.
About 432 farms were damaged or destroyed while another 1032 buildings were also damaged or destroyed. 24 of the 25 homes in Cedar Falls were completely demolished as well. Debris was found as far as away in Sheldon. The same area was also hit by a deadly tornado in 1930 which however struck the center of Menomonie slightly to the south of the 1958 tornado track. That tornado killed at least six. An F3 tornado on May 24 also affected the immediate region causing heavy damage but no fatalities.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
On April 27, 2011, Tuscaloosa was hit by a wide EF4 tornado that resulted in 64 deaths, more than 1500 injuries, and massive devastation. 44 of the deaths were in Tuscaloosa alone, with the rest being in Birmingham and surrounding suburbs. The tornado's top winds were estimated by the US National Weather Service at . Officials at DCH Regional Medical alone reported treating more than 1,000 injured people in the tornado aftermath. Officials reported dozens of unaccompanied minors being admitted for treatment at the hospital, raising questions about the possible loss of their parents. Several were taken to pediatric trauma wards, indicating serious injuries. Referring to the extent and severity of the damage, Mayor Walter Maddox stated that "we have neighborhoods that have been basically removed from the map." The same tornado later went on to cause major damage in the Birmingham area. In all, the cost of damage from the tornado amounted to $2.45 billion, making it, at the time, the costliest tornado in U.S. history, though it would be surpassed less than a month later by the devastating Joplin, Missouri tornado of May 22.
Lubbock tornado
In addition to damage to buildings, there was damage to other property. Over 10,000 vehicles were damaged or destroyed, and at Lubbock Municipal Airport, one hundred private aircraft and 19 military planes were destroyed. Many utilities were damaged or destroyed and 220 light poles were toppled, leaving the city's two utility companies scrambling to restore power in the days immediately following the storm. The Southwestern Bell Company reported that 25,000 telephones were knocked out of service and 600 long distance lines were ruined. There was extensive ecological damages as well; many trees were damaged or destroyed, including the city's aged Chinese elm trees. Mackenzie State Park, Pioneer Park, Guadalupe Park and the Texas Tech campus lost almost all of their trees. Damage totaled $250 million, ($820,000,000 in 2015 dollars), making it the costliest U.S. tornado until it was surpassed by the Omaha Tornado of 1975.
Hurricane Pauline (1968)
The remnants of Pauline were responsible for scattered showers in an area ranging from southern California to Utah and New Mexico. In Arizona, Tucson, Phoenix, and Gila Bend all reported rain on October 3 even though Pauline was centered southeast of Douglas. The remnants also caused an F2 tornado on the Fujita Scale. The tornado touched down near Glendale and followed an erratic path to the west, injuring three people due to flying glass, one of which was hospitalized due to their injuries, and causing severe damage to two apartment buildings. Automobiles were damaged by falling concrete blocks and various buildings and trailers were also damaged. In total, the tornado was responsible for $50,000 to $500,000 in damages.
Tri-State Tornado
In all, at least 695 people died and 2,027 were injured, the majority in southern Illinois. Three states, 13 counties, and more than 19 communities, four of which were effectively effaced (several of these and other rural areas never recovered), were in the path of the record 3.5 hour duration tornado. Approximately 15,000 homes were destroyed by the Tri-State Tornado. Total damage was estimated at $16.5 million; adjusted for increases population/wealth and inflation the toll is approximately $1.4 billion (1997 USD), surpassed in history (through 2010) only by two extremely destructive tornadoes in the City of St. Louis in 1896 and 1927.
Tornadoes of 1997
The 1997 Benton, Arkansas tornado outbreak was a major tornado outbreak that struck portions of the central and southern United States mostly on March 1, 1997, with initial activity on February 28. Affecting areas mostly from Arkansas to Kentucky, the two-day outbreak produced 39 tornadoes and killed at least 27 people including 25 in Arkansas alone with one death in each Mississippi and Tennessee.[2] This was Arkansas' deadliest tornado outbreak since May 15, 1968, where 34 were killed in Jonesboro.[3] Over 400 others were injured during this event which was about 45% of the yearly average of tornado-related injuries in the United States.
2011 Joplin tornado
Six people were killed when St. John's was struck by the tornado. Five of those deaths were patients on ventilators who died after the building lost power and a backup generator did not work. The sixth fatality was a hospital visitor.
Hurricane Earl (1998)
Ahead of Earl, an onshore flow related to the storm produced swells along the Georgia coast, causing significant damage to marinas. The Mar Lin Marina sustained the most damage from this event; all the docks were destroyed, 30 boats were damaged and six were destroyed. Damages to the marina and boats amounted to $1.3 million. Heavy rains fell throughout central areas of the state, with the highest amounts nearing . Because Earl rapidly weakened upon landfall, the highest winds in Georgia only reached . Numerous trees and power lines were downed, resulting in scattered power outages. Throughout Georgia, an estimated 10,400 people lost power due to Earl. Several streets were flooded due to the rains, resulting in traffic accidents. One tornado was spawned by Earl in Georgia; rated F2 on the Fujita scale, the tornado tracked for in Screven County. Estimated at in width, the tornado destroyed five mobile homes and a business, severely damaged 15 additional mobile homes and caused some damage to five others. Seven people were injured by the tornado and damages amounted to $435,000. Several major highways were temporarily closed due to high water or debris covering the road. Numerous homes sustained damage from fallen trees in several counties. In all, damages from Earl amounted to $2.3 million in Georgia.
The extratropical remnants continued through the Southern United States, tracking through the Carolinas late on September 3. Sustained winds in South Carolina reached 50 mph (85 km/h) and gusted up to 70 mph (110 km/h). Widespread rainfall, generally amounting between , fell in areas previously saturated by Hurricane Bonnie, this triggered minor flooding along roads. Inland, isolated amounts of of rain fell. The first tornado related to Earl touched down in Choppee, located in Georgetown County. The tornado was rated F0 and was only briefly on the ground before it dissipated. The second tornado to touch down in the state was also the strongest in relation to Earl. Rated F2, the tornado tracked for through Beaufort and Colleton Counties, destroying 13 homes and damaging 13 others. One mobile home was flipped in the air and was completely destroyed once it hit the ground, instantly killing the occupant of the home. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped along its path. In all, the tornado killed one person, injured four others and caused $360,000 in damages. A brief F1 tornado touched down several hours later, damaging the roof of a barn and uprooting several trees before dissipating. The most damaging tornado spawned by Earl was a wide, F2 tornado that struck the Fairlawn subdivision near Moncks Corner. Along the tornado's track, 21 homes were destroyed and 73 others were damaged. Nine people sustained injuries due to the tornado and damages amounted to $2.8 million.
Still recovering from Hurricane Bonnie, the remnants of Earl produced widespread rain over North Carolina, triggering flooding. Upwards of fell in localized areas, causing small streams to overflow their banks. In Union County, up to 15 roads were shut down due to flooding, a few cars were also washed off roads at the height of the floods. In Charlotte, several roads were flooded. The Carteret Community College, which was severely damaged by Bonnie, was again damaged by Earl. High winds from the storm damaged temporary protective measures, allowing rain to flood the interior of the building, causing water damage to the structure and materials inside. In front of the Crystal Coast Civic Center, fabriform, installed to stabilize the beach, was damaged by the storm, resulting in significant beach erosion. Two short lived tornadoes touched down in North Carolina from Earl. The first, an F0, damaged at least 15 mobile homes, overturned sheds, destroyed a porch and two campers. No injuries resulted from the tornado and damage amounted to $50,000. The second and stronger of the two tornadoes, rated F1, only touched down for a few seconds; however, it destroyed one home and severely damaged a neighboring home. According to eye-witness reports, the tornado lifted the home off the ground before the home broke apart and fell to the ground.
Multiple-vortex tornado
The destructive May 2011 EF5 Joplin tornado was an example of a multiple-vortex tornado.
Tornado outbreak sequence of May 21–26, 2011
On May 22, a large, devastating EF5 tornado tracked through Joplin, Missouri, leaving behind catastrophic damage. It was a multiple-vortex tornado in excess of wide. Mainly the southern part of the city was affected with most structures in the area either damaged or destroyed. 162 people were killed along the path through Jasper and Newton counties in Missouri, making it the deadliest U.S. tornado since 1947, and one of the deadliest single tornadoes ever recorded. Among the most heavily damaged structures was St. John's Hospital (pictured right), which later was torn down due to the severity of the structural damage. Damages were estimated at around $2.8 billion (2011 USD).
Enigma tornado outbreak
According to an article appearing in the Statesville (NC) "Landmark" three days later, the damage tally in Georgia alone was estimated to be $1 million, in 1884 dollars. Tabulations from 1884 estimate a total of $3–4 million in tornado damage (with an unknown amount of flood and other damage), with 10,000 structures destroyed.This was the first of a number of destructive North Carolina storms. Detailed coverage in a newspaper in Wadesboro, North Carolina provides an unusually (by 19th century standards) precise survey of the movement and damage produced by three of those storms in the southern Piedmont region of NC.
1932 Deep South tornado outbreak
An event likely consisting of two or three tornadoes, it killed two people upon touching down and went on to hit many rural communities, particularly in Jackson County, Alabama, where it destroyed 125 homes. Two fatalities were at Lacey's Spring, south of Huntsville, and four at Paint Rock. 32 of the 38 fatalities were in Jackson County, with two or more near eight small communities each. In Tennessee, a couple died as 15 homes were struck east of Jasper. The tornado produced 500 injuries, the most done by any tornado this date. However, this total may have not been produced by a single tornado, for of the 38 total fatalities, many were north or south of a straight path, suggesting the event was in fact a tornado family. One check from a community in Northeast Alabama, where four people died, was carried to Athens, Tennessee. Additionally, a live chicken was found in a dresser drawer one week after the tornado hit Jackson County. The tornado family moved from south of Huntsville to northwest of Bridgeport and thence into Tennessee.
As the outbreak progressed, eight other F4 tornadoes struck Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. In Alabama, within four hours of the first F4 tornado, 18 people were killed near the Cullman area in Cullman County; 14 in the Columbiana area in Shelby County; 41 in Coosa and Talladega counties near Sylacauga; and 38 people in small communities, mostly in (Jackson County), in Northeastern Alabama. One of the tornadoes followed the deadly Jemison event by one hour and passed just to the southeast, killing 31 people in and around the Clanton area in Chilton County.
1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak
The final death toll could not be calculated because many of the buildings that were hit collapsed and caught fire. A death toll of 203 persons was posted, though at the time 40 people were yet missing. Letters from Gainesville were blown about away to Anderson, South Carolina. The Gainesville tornado has been rated as an F4 on the Fujita scale and was the fifth deadliest tornado in U.S. history. It caused nearly $13 million in damage, equivalent to over $200 million in 2011. Gainesville was also the site of another deadly F4 on June 1, 1903, which killed 98 people. No other small town of similar size (population 17,000 in 1936) in the United States has experienced such devastation twice in its history.
1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak
Henceforth, the tornado continued to weaken to F2 intensity and contracted to wide as it passed into Pickens County, severely damaging 10–15 chicken coops along with 20–25 homes of brick and wood construction. It killed one more person in a trailer before lifting from the ground about east-southeast of Jasper. Ultimately, it caused almost $7 million (1994 USD) in losses to properties and businesses in Bartow County alone, with another $1.5 million in losses in adjourning Pickens County. The tornado killed three people and over 500,000 chickens along its track and leveled "thousands" of trees, with over $10 million in losses to agricultural interests. 
The sixth and final F3–F4 tornado to hit Georgia on March 27 touched down northwest of Cedartown at about 7:00 p.m. EST. Though mainly impacting rural areas at first, it badly damaged four wood homes and blew down many trees with resultant F1 damage. The tornado appeared reddish to eyewitnesses as it passed through rugged terrain. As it crossed near Georgia State Route 100, the tornado produced major roof damage to a few homes and destroyed a pair of chicken coops. Widening to wide, the tornado acquired a multiple vortex structure as residents observed two or three funnels rotating around the main vortex. In southern Floyd County, about east of Cave Spring, the multiple-vortex tornado snapped trees in half and badly damaged five double-wide mobile homes along with three or four frail wood homes.
Northpark Mall (Missouri)
Following the 2011 Joplin tornado which destroyed Joplin High School, officials said juniors and seniors in the 2011-12 class (and possibly later) would attend classes in a section of the mall. Classes began in the renovated former Shopko location on August 17, 2011.
Joplin High School moved into their new building in August 2014.
Tornadoes of 2008
A moderate risk was also issued for southeastern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas on May 7. A possible tornado reported in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area produced some damage according to KFOR-TV and KOCO-TV including to the roof of a Sam's Club store but mostly to trees and some power lines cutting power to 16,000 customers including in Bethany and north Oklahoma City. A gas line in Bethany also ruptured causing a gas leak in the area. One report indicated a tornado near Wiley Post Airport and was previously filmed as a wall cloud and funnel near 164th Street in South Oklahoma City. KOCO reported a wind of up to 124 mph (200 km/h) at the station snapping a tree. Damage was also reported to trees near KFOR-TV's station. Near Yukon another tornado was reported causing localized roof damage. Widespread wind damage was also reported across eastern Oklahoma during the evening hours and one person was injured near Paoli A total of ten tornadoes were reported including one in Casper, Wyoming. Five tornadoes including four EF0 and an EF1 were confirmed.
On May 8, severe weather shifted east of the Mississippi River and produced a tornado in the Tupelo area causing some damage to some buildings including a Department of Transportation building at the Mall at Barnes Crossing. Damage was also reported near the Tupelo Regional Airport as well as at the Tupelo Furniture Market. Residential damage was minimal with only portions of roofs removed from several homes. A tornado near the Alabama-Tennessee state line also caused some structural damage. 21 tornadoes were reported across three different areas including Kansas and Ohio and at least eight have been confirmed and rated including the EF3 in Tupelo, three EF0, three EF1 and an EF2
Emergency communication system
161 people were killed and at least 990 injured when an EF5 multiple-vortex tornado hit Joplin, Missouri. Because Joplin is located in a tornado-heavy area of the country, many people considered the tornado sirens routine and ignored them. Instead, many residents waited until they received confirmation from another, non-routine, source, such as seeing the tornado, a radio or TV report, or hearing a second siren. In the aftermath, an assessment team recommended that emergency warnings take risk perception into account to convey a sense of urgency. NOAA Officials are considering ways to change the warning system to distinguish smaller tornadoes from more deadly ones.
Early-April 1957 tornado outbreak sequence
In all, the Dallas tornado killed 10 and injured at least 200 (some sources say 216) others. Damage was estimated at around $1.5–4 million (1957 USD). The tornado completely destroyed about 131 (some sources say 154) homes, badly damaged 111, and mildly damaged 287. Nearly 600 (some sources list 574) structures and more than 500 homes were damaged, including between nine and 28 permanent apartment buildings that were completely destroyed. Some businesses and schools were also damaged, but the Parkland Memorial Hospital was narrowly spared, as was Dallas Love Field. Another, though officially unconfirmed, tornado in Collin County, north of the city, may have briefly touched down just east of the dissipating Dallas tornado and caused damage.
The Dallas tornado was heavily documented, filmed, and photographed by several eyewitnesses as it passed through residential and commercial areas of Dallas. Visible for much of its path, the tornado, at the time, was the most observed in recorded history: 125 observers produced thousands of photographs and hours of high-quality, 16-mm film measuring in length. The tornado was highly visible due to its slow, forward speed, a lack of precipitation, and its coincidence with ideal, late-afternoon lighting. Occurring shortly before the end of the workday, the tornado passed just west of Downtown Dallas and was seen by many business and factory workers. Many TV studios had time to film the tornado from rooftops.
1969 Hazlehurst tornado outbreak
At 4:19 a.m. (CST), radar indicated a strong thunderstorm cell strengthening rapidly southeast of Jonesville, Louisiana in Concordia Parish. A tornado soon occurred in Jefferson County, Mississippi, south-southeast of Fayette, where some damage was reported. The tornado mainly traveled through sparsely populated areas, excluding the Hazlehurst area. Mainly trees were either debarked or uprooted, but structures in Hazlehurst sustained extensive damage. Several parts of the path were widened, with the widest part being about wide. At another point, the tornado caused ground scouring and downed trees in all directions. Most of the structural damage occurred to outbuildings and farm buildings. The tornado was first noted near the Hazlehurst area at 5:45 a.m. (CST). A number of families in Hazlehurst lived on a hill near a lumber pond. The tornado dumped 18 people into the pond, of which all became missing. Afterwards, the pond was drained to try recovering the missing bodies. In Shady Grove, several buildings were destroyed. In Copiah County, 11 people were killed and 140 people were injured. The tornado caused $900,000 (1969 USD) in Copiah County. A family in Simpson County lied down on the floor and were not injured. A bus was parked in front of the home, and its body was blown away. South of Harrisville, a log house was reduced to rubble. Throughout the rest of the path (until the city of Puckett), 12 people were found dead. A family near Puckett were trying to escape the tornado, but their car wouldn't start. Instead, they jumped into a ditch and survived as their three-bedroom home was lifted off of its foundation. One of the family members was seriously injured by a falling limb. The tornado also lifted a tenant house into the air. A hog barn was also destroyed, which resulted in the fatalities of four hogs, of which 800 were in there. The tornado caused minor damage to trees before dissipating near Newton. Overall, 32 people were killed and 241 were injured.
2011 Joplin tornado
Due to the severe damage caused by the tornado, the travelling Piccadilly Circus was unable to perform as scheduled. As a result, the circus employees brought their two adult elephants to help drag damaged automobiles and other heavy debris out of the roadway to make a path for first responders.
2011 Joplin tornado
The 2011 Joplin tornado was a catastrophic EF5-rated multiple-vortex tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, late in the afternoon of Sunday, May 22, 2011. It was part of a larger late-May tornado outbreak and reached a maximum width of nearly during its path through the southern part of the city. This particular tornado was unusual in that it intensified in strength and grew larger in size at a very fast rate. The tornado tracked eastward across the city, and then continued eastward across Interstate 44 into rural portions of Jasper County and Newton County. It was the third tornado to strike Joplin since May 1971.
Tornadoes of 2002
This tornado outbreak was a fairly large outbreak that killed 7 people and doing several hundred million dollars of damage to the states Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. It caused some hail damage to crops and houses as well.
Tornadoes of 2011
A moderate risk of severe weather was issued for much of the Midwest south to Oklahoma for May 22. The first tornadic supercell that day developed in the mid-afternoon hours over the western Twin Cities with a swath of damage, especially in and around Minneapolis, Minnesota. An intense tornado also tracked towards Harmony, Minnesota that afternoon and a tornado emergency was issued. Late that afternoon, at about 5:15 pm CDT (2215 UTC), a very large and intense multiple-vortex tornado resulted in catastrophic damage in Joplin, Missouri. Many houses and businesses were flattened and some even were blown away in Joplin, the main hospital was heavily damaged and many people were reported to have been trapped in destroyed houses. The Weather Channel video showed entire communities flattened. Early reports suggest there were at least 125 fatalities, but as of May 2012, the death toll was confirmed at exactly 158, and another 1,000+ injured. This tornado was given a rating of EF5.
2011 Joplin tornado
Immediately following the disaster, emergency responders were deployed within and to the city to undertake search and rescue efforts. Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency for the Joplin area shortly after the tornado hit, and ordered Missouri National Guard troops to the city. By May 23, Missouri Task Force One (consisting of 85 personnel, four dogs, and heavy equipment) arrived and began searching for missing persons. Five heavy rescue teams were also sent to the city a day later. Within two days, numerous agencies arrived to assist residents in the recovery process. The National Guard deployed 191 personnel and placed 2,000 more on standby to be deployed if needed. In addition, the Missouri State Highway Patrol provided 180 troopers to assist the Joplin Police Department and other local agencies with law enforcement, rescue, and recovery efforts which also included the deployment of five ambulance strike teams, and a total of 25 ambulances in the affected area on May 24 as well as well over 75 Marines from the Ft. Leonard Wood Army Base. Within two years the city's workers and community groups compiled and published "Joplin Pays it Forward" to give recovery advice to other places hurt by disaster.
1998 Gainesville–Stoneville tornado outbreak
Touching down at around 6:25 AM EST in northwestern Hall County, this powerful pre-dawn F3 tornado traveled into southern White County, leaving a 13-mile long damage path through rural areas outside of Gainesville, Georgia, before dissipating at around 6:40 EST. It heavily damaged Lanier Elementary School and unroofed North Hall High School, while damaging or destroying several businesses. The school system did not fully recover until the next fall. At North Hall, the gymnasium was used as a temporary classroom until the end of the school year, while students at Lanier were temporarily relocated in three other area schools that were not affected by the tornado. About 40 homes were completely destroyed and another 130 were damaged to varying degrees. 45 mobile homes were also damaged or destroyed, with 11 of the fatalities who were inside those structures. The other fatality occurred when a tractor-trailer was carried by the funnel and slammed into a school bus, killing the driver. Eight chicken houses were also destroyed and about 100,000 chickens were killed. 40 cattle were also killed by the storm. In addition to the 12 fatalities, over 150 people were injured. A police officer was also killed after being hit by a car while assisting a motorist who was involved in an accident during the storm. The fatality was not directly attributed to the tornado itself. Since recordkeeping began, this storm stands as the second deadliest Georgia tornado since 1950 and the deadliest since an F4 killed 18 on April 30, 1953, south of Macon. The damage figures were estimated at between $15 million and $20 million with the majority of the damage in Hall County.
Tornado outbreak of June 13, 1998
When a severe thunderstorm that formed in Phillips County moved eastward into Smith County, it produced Kansas' first tornado of the day. The short-lived tornado's maximum damage was assessed as F0. Shortly after the end of the tornado's two-minute life, its parent thunderstorm left Kansas and entered Nebraska. Later in the day, an F2 tornado that was the costliest tornado of the day struck the town of Sabetha in Nemaha County. The tornado, which touched down half a mile west of the Sabetha City Hall, caused serious damage to two blocks of the town, with 18 buildings in the downtown area being damaged, five (including the city hall building) to near "the point of loss". The tornado lifted about half a mile east of City Hall. Damage to the city hall building amounted to $2 million, and additional damage to homes and vehicles away from downtown occurred due to tornado-toppled trees and branches away from the tornado's center along with strong straight-line winds.
1972 Portland–Vancouver tornado
In east Vancouver, the tornado struck at 12:51 p.m. (PST), where it destroyed a grocery store, along with Peter S. Ogden Elementary School injuring 70 students. Nearby, the storm demolished a bowling alley, a drive-in theater screen and damaged around 100 homes, some severely. Trees and power lines were downed and vehicles were flipped as well. Overall, the tornado killed six people and left $3–5 million (1972 USD) in damage. Two F2 tornadoes and another F3 touched down in Coulee City, Kettle Falls and Creston in Washington state later that day, though these tornadoes caused no fatalities. The small weather outbreak was the deadliest and most significant tornado event to occur in the Pacific Northwest, with winds of up to .
Joplin, Missouri
Each June, Joplin hosts the Boomtown Run, a half marathon, 5K, and children's run. The event attracts runners from across the country, and features USTA certified courses which start and end in the historic downtown area. Celebrity runners featured at the prerace banquet have included Bart Yasso, Sarah Reinerston, Suzy Favor-Hamilton, and Jeff Galloway. In 2011, due to the devastating EF5 tornado that struck Joplin on May 22, just three weeks before the run, the event was transformed in the Boomtown Run Day of Service. About 270 individuals registered for the race after the tornado struck, knowing their proceeds would benefit tornado recovery. On June 11, about 270 registered runners and volunteers turned out to help clean debris and sort donations, contributing more than 1,200 hours of service. On August 7, 2012, the Village of Silver Creek and the City of Joplin voted to have Silver Creek annexed into Joplin City limits.
Tornadoes of 1973
A small but significant tornado outbreak on March 31 produced its most severe damage in Georgia and South Carolina, though other tornadoes struck Missouri and Illinois. An extremely destructive, long-tracked tornado caused the costliest natural disaster in Georgia history up to that time, though officially it only produced F2 damage. A survey by Ted Fujita concluded that the tornado produced F4 damage and was two distinct events in a family, not a single tornado. At least two people died and 100 were injured in Georgia, mainly near Conyers and Athens, though Grazulis mentioned a third death that is not officially documented. An F4 tornado killed seven people, mostly in a motel, in the Calhoun Falls–Abbeville area of South Carolina, where it affected well over 100 homes and injured 30 people. At the time, Fujita assigned an F5 rating to the tornado in South Carolina, but it was later downgraded to F4.
1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak
The 1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak was a deadly tornado outbreak that struck the southern and central U.S Great Plains States on May 25–26, 1955. It produced at least 46 tornadoes across seven states including two F5 tornadoes in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and Udall, Kansas that caused most of the casualties. The outbreak killed 102 from three tornadoes while injuring hundreds more. Unusual electromagnetic activity was observed, including St. Elmo's fire.The Blackwell tornado formed in Noble County at around 9:00 PM CDT before crossing through the eastern portions of the Kay County town of Blackwell as an F5 wedge tornado. Then about wide (Grazulis 1991), It claimed the lives of 20 people in Blackwell and injured over 200 before crossing into and dissipating over Cowley County, Kansas. Along with destroying nearly 200 homes, the tornado also demolished the town's main employers including the Acme Foundry and the Hazel Atlas Glass plant. 400 homes were destroyed or swept away, and 500 other homes were damaged. 60 businesses were also destroyed and the local hospital also sustained major damage. Most of the western half of the town was spared the worst of the damage.
Tornado outbreak of September 24, 2001
The same storm soon produced a powerful, multiple-vortex F3 tornado in College Park, Maryland. This storm moved at peak intensity through the University of Maryland, College Park campus, and then moved parallel to I-95 through the Beltsville, Maryland, area, where the tornado caused extensive damage to greenhouses and other facilities of the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The storm continued on to Laurel, Maryland, where F3 damage was also noted. The damage path from this storm was measured at 17.5 miles in length, and this tornado caused two deaths and 55 injuries, along with $101 million in property damage.
Tornadoes of 1997
The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak was an unusual tornado outbreak in Central Texas which occurred on May 27, 1997. The F5 tornado that struck the town of Jarrell, Texas killed 27 people out of 1319 residents[1]. The tornado was 3/4 of a mile (1.2 km) wide and tracked across the ground for 7.6 miles (12.2 km)[2]. Double Creek Estates, a subdivision of Jarrell, was literally wiped off the map with all 38 homes and several mobile homes destroyed.
Easter weekend 1999 tornado outbreak
The strongest tornadoes of the outbreak took place across the Arklatex region during the afternoon hours, where the strongest and lone killer tornado of the outbreak took place. At 3:52 PM, a supercell thunderstorm spawned a tornado over Cross Lake, north of Shreveport Regional Airport. The tornado moved northeast. In Caddo Parish the tornado damaged 66 buildings. In Caddo Parish, damages were estimated at near $1.6 million (2006 dollars). At 4:01 PM, the tornado entered Bossier Parish as an F4 tornado. In Bossier Parish, 227 buildings suffered major damage or were destroyed. An additional 162 buildings were damaged. Damages in Bossier Parish are estimated at near $6.7 million (2006 dollars). The tornado dissipated about eight miles northeast of Benton. In all, 7 people were killed and 102 were injured. The tornado was on the ground for about 20 miles. It reached a maximum width of 200 yards. It was Louisiana's deadliest tornado since February 21, 1971, when 10 people were killed east of Delhi.
Joplin, Missouri
St. John's Regional Medical Center was damaged, and demolished in 2012. The Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team temporarily replaced the demolished St. John's Regional Medical Center with a mobile hospital until the permanent hospital was rebuilt. The local high school, Joplin High School, was totally destroyed, as well. A total of 161 people died from tornado-related injuries as of the end of July 2011. Communications were lost and power was knocked out to many areas. An official statement from the National Weather Service has categorized the tornado as an EF5. On Sunday, May 29, President Barack Obama, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, and Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate visited and toured Joplin to see what the damage looked like and attended a memorial service for the deceased. Later that day, the city held a moment of silence at 5:41 pm, to mark the time the tornado struck. The area was declared a federal disaster area.
2011 Joplin tornado
A preliminary survey of the tornado damage by the National Weather Service office in Springfield, Missouri, began on May 23. The initial survey confirmed a violent tornado rated as a high-end EF4. Subsequent damage surveys, however, found evidence of more intense damage, and so the tornado was upgraded to an EF5 with estimated winds over , peaking at 225 to 250 mph (360 to 400 km/h).
Tornado outbreak of April 20, 2004
The only killer tornado of the outbreak touched down in Putnam County, Illinois north of Florid before moving east and striking Granville. Witnesses reported a multiple-vortex tornado just prior to its arrival in Granville. The town was bisected by the half-mile-wide tornado with 12 buildings destroyed, 45 with major damage, and 26 with minor damage (mainly residential). The Granville State National Bank lost its roof, and Hopkins Elementary School lost the roof over the old gymnasium with damage in nearly all the classrooms. Significant damage also occurred to Granville Drugs, the only drug store in town. In a strange twist of irony, the town had finally recovered from a major fire 4 years earlier that decimated much of the business district. In Granville, 5 people were injured by the tornado, including an elderly woman who suffered a heart attack during the tornado and was eventually evacuated via Life Flight to a Peoria hospital. Injuries were low due to the 32 minutes of lead time before the tornado struck Granville. Damage in Granville was estimated to be at least $8 million, with the school suffering at least $3.5 million in damage. Damage in town was rated high-end F2.
1953 Worcester tornado
However, the Worcester tornado's greatest effect on the nation was its being the principal catalyst for the Storm Prediction Center's reorganization on June 17, 1953, and subsequent implementation of a nationwide radar/storm spotter system. The results proved successful: since June 9, 1953, no single U.S. tornado had killed over 100 people until the Joplin, Missouri tornado of May 22, 2011.
1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak
A Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radar observed this tornado as it crossed Mulhall. The DOW documented the largest-ever-observed core flow circulation with a distance of between peak velocities on either side of the tornado, and a roughly width of peak wind gusts exceeding , making the Mulhall tornado the largest tornado ever measured quantitatively. The DOW measured a complex multi-vortex structure, with several vortices containing winds of up to rotating around the tornado. The 3D structure of the tornado has been analyzed in a 2005 article in the "Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences" by Wen-Chau Lee and Joshua Wurman. The tornado severely damaged or destroyed approximately 60–70% of the 130 homes in Mulhall, destroying the Mulhall/Orlando Elementary School and toppling the city's water tower.
Tri-State Tornado
Crossing the Wabash River into Indiana, the tornado struck and completely demolished all of Griffin, where most structures were leveled, and some were swept away. 26 people were killed there. The tornado then devastated rural areas, and clipped the town of Owensville, resulting in two fatalities in that town. The tornado then roared into Princeton, destroying half the town and killing 45 people. Large sections of neighborhoods in Princeton were leveled, and a Heinz factory was badly damaged. The tornado traveled more than to the northeast before finally dissipating at about 4:38 pm around south-southeast of Petersburg. In Indiana, at least 71 (and probably more) perished.