Tornadoes are probably the most-feared of all weather events.
Why?
Let’s face it, there’s a lot of bad weather we just don’t like dealing with, but tornadoes:
- Are largely unpredictable
- Have killed scores of people in minutes
- Can occur at night while people are sleeping
- Often can’t be seen because of rain or hail
- Have strange damage paths that might destroy one house but spare the one next door
Plenty of bad tornadoes have occurred over history, and you may even have experienced 1 or 2 yourself that you’ll never forget.
Here’s a list of 10 tornado events known as the deadliest in United States history:
- May 11, 1953 Waco Tornado destroyed 200 homes and killed 114 people
- June 8, 1953 Flint Tornado killed 115 people
- June 12, 1899 New Richmond Tornado destroyed 300 buildings and killed 117 people
- April 24, 1908 Amite/Pine/Purvis Tornado caused the deaths of 143 people and was 2 miles wide
- April 9, 1947 Woodward Tornado obliterated a whole town and killed 181 people
- April 6, 1936 Gainesville Tornado event was actually 2 tornadoes that wiped away 750 homes and killed 203 people
- April 5, 1936 Tupelo Tornado brought the end to whole families, destroying homes by the hundreds and killing 216 people
- May 27, 1896 St. Louis Tornado killed over 250 people
- May 7, 1840 Natchez Tornado traveled partly along the Mississippi River and killed at least 317 people
- March 18, 1925 Tri-State Tornado traveled through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana over the course of 3 hours, killing nearly 700 people and going down on record as the deadliest tornado to hit the U.S.
I'm a weather geek from Florida who's been studying meteorology and watching weather patterns for years! I enjoy sharing little-known facts and fun stuff about the weather. I especially like sharing interesting details about weather events and conditions that can affect you… and how to prepare for Mother Nature's ever-changing weather patterns.
