Deadly Tornadoes: 10 Tornado Events We’ll Never Forget

by Joshua

Illinois, Missouri, tornadoes

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Tornadoes are probably the most-feared of all weather events.

killer-tornadoes

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.