 World—DisastersU.S. Tornadoes
- 1840
- May 6, Natchez, Miss.: tornado struck heart of the city, killing 317 and injuring over 1,000.
- 1880
- April 18, Marshfield, Mo.: series of 24 tornadoes demolished city, killing 99 people.
- 1884
- Feb. 19, Miss., Ala., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Ky., Ind.: series of 60 tornadoes caused estimated 800 deaths.
- 1890
- March 27, Louisville, Ky.: twister hit community and caused 76 deaths.
- 1896
- May 27, eastern Mo. and southern Ill.: series of 18 tornadoes; 1 tornado destroyed large section of St. Louis, Mo., killing 255.
- 1899
- June 12, New Richmond, Wis.: tornado struck while circus was in town, causing 117 deaths.
- 1902
- May 18, Goliad, Tex.: tornado killed 114.
- 1903
- June 1, Gainesville, Holland, Ga.: twister caused 98 deaths.
- 1905
- May 10, Snyder, Okla.: tornado killed 97.
- 1908
- April 24–25, La., Miss., Ala., Ga.: 18 tornadoes resulted in 310 deaths (143 of these caused by 1 tornado that moved from Amite, La., to Purvis, Miss.).
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- April 24, Natchez, Miss.: twister struck, causing 91 deaths.
- 1913
- March 23, eastern Nebr. and western Iowa: Easter Sunday, 8 tornadoes resulted in 181 deaths (94 in Omaha, Nebr.).
- 1917
- May 26, Mattoon, Ill.: tornado smashed area, causing 101 deaths.
- 1920
- April 20, Starkville, Miss.; Waco, Ala.: tornado killed 88.
- 1924
- June 28, Lorain, Sandusky, Ohio: tornado swept through cities, causing 85 deaths.
- 1925
- March 18, Mo., Ill., Ind.: the “Tri-State Tornado” was the most violent single twister in U.S. history. It caused the deaths of 689 people and injured over 2,000. Property damage was estimated at $16.5 million.
- 1927
- May 9, Poplar Bluff, Mo.: twister killed 98.
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- Sept. 29, St. Louis, Mo.: a five-minute tornado ripped through the city and caused 79 deaths.
- 1932
- March 21–22, Ala., Miss., Ga., Tenn.: outbreak of 33 tornadoes killed 334 (268 in Ala.).
- 1936
- April 5–6, Deep South: series of 17 tornadoes; 216 killed in Tupelo, Miss., and 203 killed in Gainesville, Ga., a small mill town that was obliterated.
- 1944
- June 23, W.Va., Pa., Md.: 4 tornadoes caused 153 deaths.
- 1947
- April 9, Woodward, Okla.: tornado demolished town, killing 181.
- 1952
- March 21–22, Ark. and Tenn.: 28 tornadoes caused 204 deaths.
- 1953
- May 11, Waco, Tex.: a single tornado killed 114.
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- June 8, Flint, Mich.: tornado killed 116.
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- June 9, Worcester, Mass.: tornado hit town, causing 90 deaths.
- 1955
- May 25, Udall, Kans.: tornado killed 80.
- 1965
- April 11–12, Midwest–Great Lakes region: tornadoes in Iowa, Ill., Ind., Ohio, Mich., and Wis. caused 256 deaths.
- 1967
- April 21, northern Ill., also Mo., Iowa, lower Mich.: series of 52 tornadoes caused 58 deaths.
- 1971
- Feb. 21, Miss., La., Ark., Tenn.: series of 10 tornadoes resulted in 121 deaths.
- 1974
- April 3–4: a series of 148 twisters within 16 hours comprised the deadly “Super Tornado Outbreak” that struck 13 states in the East, South, and Midwest. Before it was over, 330 died and 5,484 were injured in a damage path covering more than 2,500 mi.
- 1979
- April 10, northern Tex. and southern Okla.: 11 tornadoes caused 59 deaths.
- 1984
- March 28, N.C. and S.C.: 22 tornadoes caused 57 deaths.
- 1985
- May 31, Pa. and Ohio: 27 tornadoes resulted in 756 deaths. Estimated damages were $450 million.
- 1990
- Aug. 28, northern Ill.: fast-moving tornado struck the southwest suburbs of Chicago, killing 29 and injuring more than 300.
- 1992
- Nov. 21–23, southeast Tex. to Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley: total of 94 tornadoes caused 26 deaths and $291 million in damage.
- 1994
- March 27, Ala., Ga., and N.C.: Palm Sunday tornado outbreak resulted in 42 deaths, 320 injuries, and $107 million in property damage. Twenty people died and 90 were injured when a tornado caused the roof of a church near Piedmont, Ala., to collapse.
- 1997
- May 27, central Tex.: multiple tornadoes, including one particularly strong twister that devastated the town of Jarrell, caused 29 deaths and an estimated $20 million in damage.
- 1999
- Jan. 17–22, Tenn. and Ark.: a series of tornadoes left 17 dead. Damages were estimated at $1.3 billion.
- May 3, Okla. and Kans.: unusually large twister, thought to have been a mile wide at times, killed 44 people and injured at least 748 others in Okla. A separate tornado killed another 5 and injured about 150 in Kans. Damages totaled at least $1 billion.
- 2000
- Feb. 14, southwest Ga.: at least 5 tornadoes struck southwest Ga., killing 19 people and injuring over 100.
- 2002
- Nov. 9–11, central and southeast U.S.: series of more than 70 tornadoes across 9 states from Miss. to Pa. killed 36 people.
- 2003
- May 1–10: southern and midwestern U.S.: a record-breaking number of more than 400 tornadoes in the first 10 days of May killed 42.
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