2011 Joplin tornado
The tornado initially touched down just east of the Missouri-Kansas state line near the end of 32nd Street at 5:34 pm CDT (22:34 UTC) and tracked due east, downing a few trees at EF0 intensity. Eyewitnesses and storm chasers reported multiple vortices rotating around the parent circulation in that area. Civil defense sirens sounded in Joplin 20 minutes before the tornado struck in response to a tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service, but many Joplin residents didn't heed them. The tornado strengthened to EF1 intensity as it continued through rural areas towards Joplin, snapping trees and power poles and damaging outbuildings. Widening, the tornado then tracked into the more densely populated southwest corner of the city near the Twin Hills Country Club. It heavily damaged several homes at a subdivision in this area at EF1 to EF2 strength. The tornado continued to strengthen as it ripped through another subdivision just east of Iron Gates Rd. Numerous homes were destroyed at EF2 to EF3 strength at that location, and multiple vehicles were tossed around, some of which were thrown on or rolled into homes.
The now massive wedge tornado then crossed S. Schifferdecker Ave., producing its first area of EF4 damage as several small but well-built commercial buildings were flattened. Consistent EF4 to EF5 damage was noted east of S Schifferdecker Ave and continued through most of southern Joplin. Numerous homes, businesses, and medical buildings were flattened in this area, with concrete walls collapsed and crushed into the foundations. A large steel-reinforced step and floor structure leading to a completely destroyed medical building was "deflected upward several inches and cracked". Steel trusses from some of the buildings were "rolled up like paper", and deformation/twisting of the main support beams was noted. Multiple vehicles were thrown and mangled or wrapped around trees nearby. Several 300-pound concrete parking stops anchored with rebar were torn from a parking lot in this area and were thrown up to 60 yards away. Iowa State University wind engineer Parka Sarkar was able to calculate the force needed to remove the parking stops and found that winds exceeding 200 mph were needed to tear them from the parking lot.
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.