Much remains unknown about the recent tornadoes including their strength, number and cause.

Bombing raids that you’d see in old footage, and that’s exactly what it looks like. “Someone described it as a scene from World War II. Whitney Westerfield (R) said Saturday on CNN. “There are just entire swaths of Mayfield that just aren’t there anymore at all,” Kentucky state Sen. The devastation overwhelmed Kentucky communities and officials unaccustomed to tornadoes.

Tornadoes are rarely more than 15 miles long and generally last less than 10 minutes. The length of the tornado outbreak astonished meteorologists, who measured one tornado stretching 227 miles as it blasted from Arkansas northeast into Missouri and Tennessee before cutting a swath of destruction through northwest Kentucky. The worst year for billion-dollar disasters was last year, when NOAA recorded 22 events. That means 2021 would rank second in the number of billion-dollar disasters since NOAA began in 1980 tracking weather-related events that cause more than $1 billion in property damage. The tornadoes likely will be the 19th “billion-dollar disaster” chronicled by NOAA this year. A February cold snap in Texas caused massive power outages, $21 billion in damage and 172 deaths. Hurricane Ida caused $65 billion in damage and killed 96 people as it swept from Louisiana to New York. The tornadoes come at the end of another year of huge destruction from natural disasters. “It’s going to be a long recovery,” Criswell told ABC’s “This Week.” “At this magnitude, I don’t think we have ever seen one this late in the year,” Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “The severity and the amount of time this tornado or these tornadoes spent on the ground is unprecedented.” The deadliest recorded December tornado occurred in 1953 in Mississippi and killed 38 people, NOAA records show.ĭecember and January are by far the least active months for tornadoes in the United States while April and May are the most active, NOAA records show. The outbreak is certainly the deadliest to have occurred in the United States during a winter month, according to an E&E News analysis of NOAA tornado records dating to 1950. Deaths also were reported in Arkansas-where the outbreak began late Friday afternoon-and in Missouri and Tennessee. Six people were killed early Friday night when a tornado blew down the walls of an Amazon warehouse in southwestern Illinois. history.īeshear said at least 80 people were killed in Kentucky and the state’s death toll “is going to exceed 100.” It’s likely to be one of the deadliest tornado events in U.S. “This sickens me to see what has happened.”Īlthough the exact death toll remains unknown, the outbreak is almost certain to be the deadliest since the devastating Joplin, Mo., tornadoes killed 158 people in May 2011. “The worst-case scenario happened-warm air in the cold season, middle of the night,” John Gordon, the National Weather Service chief meteorologist in Louisville, said at a briefing Saturday with Kentucky Gov. The outbreak hit during a month when tornadoes are least likely to occur.Īnd it struck at night, when tornadoes are unusual-and particularly deadly because people are asleep and unlikely to hear warnings. The deaths were concentrated in a state-Kentucky-that has been relatively unscathed by tornadoes and tornado fatalities. A total of 21 people died at the nursing home.The tornado outbreak that likely killed more than 100 people over the weekend was an anomaly in every way possible. Many buildings and businesses were also destroyed, including a large church, the Franklin Technology Center, Joplin High School, and the Greenbriar Nursing Home. The tornado continued to flatten neighbourhoods. John's Regional Medical Center, which later had to be torn down due to deformation of its foundation and underpinning system.' Courtesy of Intelati /Wikipedia/ CC0 Five people died due to the loss of backup power. The life flight helicopter was also blown away. The vortex damaged the windows, walls, and ceilings of St. The twister continued to grow stronger as it destroyed several homes and cars in another subdivision.Ĭlick here to subscribe to This Day in Weather History It revved up to an EF-2 strength, damaging homes in a subdivision.

The tornado quickly grew to EF-1 intensity, destroying trees and power lines in its path.

Joplin missouri tornado