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.
April 1956 tornado outbreak
The April 1956 tornado outbreak was a large, deadly tornado outbreak that affected the Great Plains, parts of the South, and the upper Midwest in the contiguous United States. Occurring from April 2–3, 1956, the outbreak produced 47 tornadoes, including an F5 tornado that devastated the Hudsonville and Standale, Michigan areas in the U.S. state of Michigan on April 3. It was one of three tornadoes to move across southwest Lower Michigan on that day. A fourth tornado struck north of the Manistee area. The Hudsonville-Standale tornado killed 18 and injured 340. In addition to confirmed tornadoes, there were several unconfirmed but possible tornadoes. An F2 may have hit east of Ogdensburg, Wisconsin, destroying a general store and a rural school. Nine barns were damaged or destroyed as well. A tornado may have also overturned two buildings and uprooted trees near Pana, Illinois. In addition to a confirmed F2 tornado near Topeka, Indiana, two other unconfirmed tornadoes may have hit northwest of LaGrange and at Emma, destroying or damaging numerous buildings, including a home and a barn that were blown down, and throwing (but not injuring) two people from a horse and buggy.