April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak
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An extremely large and violent tornado outbreak
, the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded, and popularly known as the 2011 Super Outbreak, occurred from April 25 to 28, 2011. The outbreak affected the Southern
, Midwestern, and Northeastern
United States, leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake, especially across the state of Alabama
. It produced destructive tornado
es in Alabama, Arkansas
, Georgia
, Mississippi
, Tennessee
, and Virginia
, and affected many other areas throughout the Southern and Eastern United States. In total, 353 tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service in 21 states from Texas
to New York and even isolated tornadoes in Canada
. Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak, with April 27 being among the most prolific and destructive tornado days in United States history with a record 207 tornadoes touching down that day. Four of the tornadoes were destructive enough to be rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale
, which is the highest ranking possible; typically these tornadoes are only recorded about once each year or less.
In total, 346 people were killed as a result of the outbreak. That death toll includes 322 tornado-related deaths across six states. In addition, 24 fatalities were not caused by tornadoes, but were confirmed to be as a result of other thunderstorm
-related impacts such as straight-line winds
, hail
, flash flood
ing or lightning
. 239 deaths in Alabama alone were confirmed by the SPC and the state's Emergency Management Agency
.
April 27 was the deadliest tornado day in the United States since the 1925 "Tri-State" outbreak, which produced the infamous Tri-State Tornado
. Although it has been classified by some news outlets as the second-deadliest tornado outbreak in United States history, the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak actually holds that distinction with at least 436 reported deaths split almost evenly over two days. Officially the outbreak is listed by NOAA as the fourth deadliest in United States history and the 24-hour-period from 8:00 a.m. April 27 to 8:00 a.m. April 28 as the fifth deadliest tornado day in United States history. Over 492 preliminary local storm report
s were received for tornadoes over four days, including 292 in 16 states on April 27. It was also the costliest tornado outbreak and one of the costliest natural disasters in United States history (even after adjustments for inflation
), with insured damage estimated as high as $6 billion, and total damages exceeding $10 billion (2011 USD).
developed ahead of this upper-level trough between northeast Oklahoma
and western Missouri
, which moved northeast. Conditions were similar on April 26, with a predicted likelihood of severe thunderstorms, including an extended threat of strong to violent long-track tornadoes during the afternoon and evening hours; mixed-layer CAPE
values were forecast to be around 3000-4000 J/kg, around east Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. The storm mode on April 26 was predicted to consist of mostly discrete supercells during the afternoon and early evening, shifting over to a mesoscale convective complex
, with more of a threat of damaging winds and hail during the nighttime hours.
As the storm system moved eastward toward the Ohio, Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys on April 27, a very powerful 80-100 knot mid-level jet stream moved into the Ohio and Tennessee Valley
s, behind the trough, creating strong wind shear
, with a low pressure center moving quickly northeastward across those areas on the 27th. On the afternoon of April 27, CAPE values were estimated to be in the range of 2000-3000 J/kg across Louisiana and southern Mississippi, with the moderate instability moving northeastward across the southern Tennessee Valley; in addition, temperatures across the southeastern United States ranged from the 70s °F (mid-20s °C) to the lower 90s °F (near 35 °C). Helicity levels ranged from 450–600 m/s2 supportive for significant tornadic activity and strong to violent long-track tornadoes.
In total, 56 severe weather watches were issued by the SPC over those four days in the outbreak area, including 41 tornado watch
es (10 of which were PDS watches
) and 15 severe thunderstorm watch
es.
began to discuss this storm system, and the possibility of an outbreak of strong thunderstorm
s early the following week near and ahead of its trailing cold front
. A large area of possible severe storms for April 25–27 was forecast as the Storm Prediction Center
(SPC), a division of the National Weather Service
, issued a moderate risk of severe weather for three consecutive days, centered over Arkansas through Tennessee. By the late-afternoon hours of April 25, several tornadoes had been reported across a few states, including two which caused significant damage in Oklahoma and Texas. At 3:25 pm CDT (2025 UTC), the SPC issued a Particularly dangerous situation
(PDS) tornado watch
for much of Arkansas and parts of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana
. Tornadoes were scattered that day until early evening, when an intense tornadic cell tracked near the Little Rock
metropolitan area and a tornado emergency
was declared for Vilonia, Arkansas
. Reports indicated that a tornado either 3 miles (4.8 km) or 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) wide caused significant damage in the town. Reports indicate four people were killed. A strong EF3 tornado struck Hot Springs Village
that evening as well, causing severe damage and 1 death. Another tornado caused extensive damage to Little Rock Air Force Base
. Severe flood
ing continued across a large area from the Red River valley to the Great Lakes
.
corridor as conditions became even more favorable for extreme weather. A large PDS tornado watch with very high tornado probabilities was issued that afternoon for that same area. Widespread tornado warnings were issued in that area later that evening, and tornadoes caused damage.
Tornado watches were also issued for the Lower Great Lakes in the afternoon hours, and supercells began to track across southern Michigan in the early evening. Several counties in Michigan were placed under tornado warnings, including Kent
, Montcalm
, Ionia
, Kalamazoo
, Calhoun
, Barry
, Eaton
, Midland
, and Bay
counties. A tornado was later confirmed in Allegan County
. A possible funnel was spotted in Kalamazoo County, and seven people were injured by a lightning strike in Portage
. Further east, severe thunderstorms caused scattered wind damage and large hail across Pennsylvania and New York. Two-inch-diameter hail was reported in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
. An isolated supercell moved across Central New York throughout much of the afternoon, producing golf ball-sized hail in Syracuse
, and spawned a very brief EF1 tornado in Verona Mills
, causing primarily tree damage.
to Huntsville, Alabama
, an extremely rare issuance exceeding the high risk standards. Conditions for tornadoes became increasingly favorable for an extreme tornado outbreak. During the afternoon, a tornado emergency
was declared for Neshoba County, Mississippi
as a large tornado was reported on the ground by storm spotters. This powerful EF5 tornado caused incredible damage near Philadelphia, Mississippi
where homes were swept away, vehicles were thrown, and the ground was scoured out to a depth of 2 feet by the tornado. 3 people died in this tornado when a mobile home was picked up, thrown into a wooded area, and disintegrated. The atmosphere became increasingly unstable throughout the late afternoon, causing more explosive supercell development. A widespread complex of supercell storms overspread the states of Mississippi and Alabama and violent tornadoes began rapidly touching down as the evening progressed. Four tornadoes were officially rated as EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale
that day. These tornadoes impacted several counties in the states of Mississippi and Alabama, especially the towns of Smithville, Mississippi
; Hackleburg
and Phil Campbell, Alabama
; Philadelphia, Mississippi
; and Rainsville, Alabama
. This marks only the second day in history (the other being the April 3, 1974 Super Outbreak
) that there were three or more EF5 or F5 tornadoes.
A separate complex of storms occurred earlier that morning and caused communication and warning problems due to power outages, leading people to have no warning of approaching tornadoes later that day. A squall line
of severe thunderstorms packing strong straight-line winds and numerous embedded tornadoes impacted North
and Central Alabama
and parts of Middle
and East Tennessee
in the early morning hours. These storms knocked out power
and telephone line
s in a few areas; these outages would become much more widespread as the day continued. This preliminary line of storms also caused some NOAA weather radio transmitter sites to stop functioning for the remainder of the outbreak.
A dangerous and destructive tornado struck the city of Cullman, Alabama
at around 3:00 p.m. CDT (2000 UTC). This large, multi-vortex tornado was captured on several TV tower cameras from stations such as Birmingham's
Fox
affiliate WBRC
(channel 6) and ABC
affiliate WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU (channels 58, 33 and 40). The tornado caused extensive destruction in downtown Cullman, a city of about 20,000 people; the tornado has been rated an EF4. The final damage count was 867 residences and 94 businesses in Cullman. At 4:00 p.m. CDT a tornado struck Lawrence County, Alabama
, causing severe damage and killing a couple dozen people. At around 5:10 p.m. CDT (2210 UTC), a very large and exceptionally destructive tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama
. About 40 minutes later, the same tornado struck the northern suburbs of Birmingham
. A tornado emergency
was issued for both cities, and many other tornado emergencies were issued that day. Many local TV stations, including WBRC and WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, as well as CBS
affiliate WIAT
(channel 42), captured footage of this long-track tornado in both Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. A debris ball was observed by the Birmingham NEXRAD
, indicating that the tornado was causing extreme damage. Photos from the damage path showed total devastation. The path of this tornado struck the same small communities as the F4 storm on April 1956 Birmingham tornado, and the F5 storms on April 1977 Birmingham tornado and April 1998 Birmingham tornado. The supercell responsible for the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham EF4 tornado originated in Newton County, Mississippi
at 2:54 pm CDT and tracked 380 miles to Macon County, North Carolina
where it dissipated at 10:18 pm CDT. The supercell also produced the Shoal Creek Valley/Ohatchee, Alabama
EF4 and an EF3 NE of Cartersville, Georgia
.
By the morning of April 30, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency had confirmed at least 45 storm fatalities in Tuscaloosa. Also, several small Alabama towns including Hackleburg
, Phil Campbell
, Rainsville
, Harvest, Hueytown
, Pleasant Grove
, Tanner
and Concord
suffered catastrophic damage.
A secondary area of severe weather also developed that evening along the Interstate 81
corridor from northern Virginia
northward through Maryland
, Pennsylvania
and New York
as far north as northern New York
and continued into early April 28. Many tornadoes touched down in this area as well, although most were weak.
A statewide review by emergency management officials recorded 249 fatalities in Alabama. Damage and power outages in the Huntsville
area were so widespread that at one point over 650,000 people were out of power in the TVA system. Severe tornado damage, including 22 deaths, also occurred in Ringgold
, Apison
and Cleveland
due to a violent and long track EF4 tornado. Another violent and deadly tornado struck the town of Ohatchee
, where a destructive EF4 destroyed many homes and killed 22 people. Other notable destructive and deadly tornadoes occurred that day in and around the towns of New Wren, Enterprise
, Cordova
, Trenton
, Dadeville
, New Harmony
, Sawyerville
, and Camp Creek. Tornado alerts were issued for Southern
Ontario
as far north as Ottawa
; one tornado was later confirmed at Fergus
.
The SPC shows 260 tornadoes were reported in the preceding 24 hours. It also broke the record for most tornadoes in 24 hours with 206 in the United States from midnight to midnight CDT (62 of which were in Alabama and 67 of which were in Tennessee), breaking the 24-hour record of 147 (in both totals, excluding confirmed tornadoes outside the United States that were part of the outbreak) set by the 1974 Super Outbreak.
to Florida
, but tornadoes were predicted to weaken and become more isolated. Even so, several people were killed across the region and tornadoes were reported in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, North Carolina
, South Carolina
, Georgia
, Florida, and Maryland. Although tornado watches were issued, no tornadoes were spotted in New Jersey
or Washington, D.C.
In the wake of the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, widespread flooding hit the Midwest, South, and Eastern Seaboard, with extensive flood and flash flood warnings issued. One particularly damaging and deadly EF3 tornado struck the town of Glade Spring
, where 3 people died. Other strong tornadoes caused severe damage and a few fatalities in Georgia during the early morning hours. The last tornadoes of the outbreak touched down that afternoon in eastern North Carolina
which was hard hit from the April 16 outbreak
, but they were all weak. The system moved out into the Atlantic Ocean
that evening, with the exception of isolated thunderstorms over central Florida
that night into April 29, although there were no tornadoes then.
in Faulkner County around 7:30 pm CDT
on April 25. A tornado warning
was issued for the town roughly 30 minutes prior to the tornado's arrival and the relatively low loss of life is attributed to this lead time. A tornado emergency
was declared at 7:24 pm CDT for Vilonia shortly before the tornado struck. Four people were killed in the town and many more injured. Numerous structures were also damaged or destroyed. One mobile home was completely destroyed and debris from the home was scattered a significant distance from where it stood. Several other homes were reportedly leveled by the tornado. Within five minutes of the storm, local fire fighters arrived in the town and began search and rescue efforts. Following the tornado, 85 members of the National Guard were deployed to assist in search and rescue, debris clearing, security and traffic control.
, at 3:44 p.m. CDT on April 27. The damage path was 37.2 miles long, half a mile wide, and did extreme damage in Smithville. The NWS damage survey reported EF5 damage, with 18 homes, a post office, a police station, and what was listed as the "water system" completely destroyed, with 52 homes and 7 businesses damaged to varying degrees. Dozens of newly constructed two-story, brick homes were swept cleanly from their foundations and trees were debarked. Damage assessments have determined that 150 homes, 14 businesses and 4 churches were destroyed by the tornado in Smithville. The homes were well-built, of recent construction, but the storm was violent enough that all appliances and plumbing fixtures in the damage path were "shredded or missing". A large steel culvert that was buried underneath a road, was pulled up through the ground and asphalt and tossed away, leaving a large section of the ground and road missing. . Due to the severity of the damage, the tornado was rated an EF5. The National Weather Service has determined that this tornado continued across the state line and struck Shottsville, Alabama where homes were destroyed and seven people were killed. It continued to the northwest of Hackleburg, Alabama
where it caused mostly tree damage before lifting. In total, 23 people died in this tornado.
The last confirmed EF5 tornado was the Parkersburg, Iowa, tornado on May 25, 2008.
at 4:47 p.m. CDT
, during the late afternoon of April 27. The tornado then tracked northeastward generally parallel and just east of State Route 75 through Fyffe
, Rainsville
, and Sylvania
and into Georgia
killing at least 23 people.
The tornado touched down in the Lakeview community, initially causing structural damage to small buildings and snapping trees. The tornado grew in intensity and the path width increased from around 50 yards to a half a mile as it entered the Rainsville and Sylvania communities. Damage included houses that were completely removed from foundations and debris scattered for about one mile (1.6 km), trees were debarked, and a few mobile homes were completely destroyed with debris strewn for about a mile downstream. EF5 damage was noted as a pickup truck was thrown, and torn into multiple pieces, an 800-pound steel safe anchored to a foundation was torn away, thrown 600 feet (182.9 m) and had its door torn from its hinges. One home in this area was swept away, and a stone pillar was ripped from the ground, thrown, and broken into pieces. Other homes that were swept away were found with their concrete porches torn away and smashed to pieces. In Sylvania, several other houses were completely removed from foundations, some of which contained anchor bolts and foundation straps. The tornado continued to the south of Ider
were significant damage was obseved. It crossed into Georgia
near Fox Mountain as an EF1 with winds of 110 mph. It tracked 3 miles (4.8 km) into Georgia before lifting outside of Rising Fawn
. Damage in Georgia was limited to trees and power lines. This tornado came from the same supercell that produced the EF4 that hit the town of Ringgold, Georgia
.
A tornado touched down in Marion County, Alabama
about 5 miles (8 km) WSW of Hamilton, AL around 3:00 p.m. CDT on April 27, leaving massive damage along its track. The storm would eventually reach the Hackleburg area, leveling many structures including a large plant operated by Wrangler. Jeans reportedly fell from the sky in Courtland, Alabama
. Well built homes were wiped cleanly from their foundations and cars were thrown hundreds of feet. According to the Red Cross, 75% of the town was destroyed. While initially rated as an EF3, after further analysis of the damage the rating was increased to EF5, making it the first F5 or EF5 tornado in Alabama since the Birmingham tornado of April 8, 1998.
Phil Campbell
experienced continuous significant devastation throughout the city. Significant damage occurred from the intersection of County Road 51 and Alabama Highway 237 to the intersection of County Road 81 and County Road 75. Within this corridor, several well constructed houses were destroyed. At least three churches along the path sustained significant damage. One church in Phil Campbell was completely destroyed with only the slab remaining. Multiple mobile homes throughout the path were completely destroyed, and their mangled frames were tossed at least 25 to 50 yards. Cars were tossed and destroyed throughout the path of the tornado, with one car wrapped around a debarked tree in Phil Campbell. All along the path length, thousands of hardwood and softwood trees were snapped. A 25 feet (7.6 m) section of pavement was torn from a road in this area. Hundreds of trees were also debarked and twisted, and had only stubs of largest branches remaining. Phil Campbell was also affected by an F5 tornado on April 3, 1974, during the super outbreak; that storm also went on to affect Tanner and Madison.
EF5 damage continued similarly northeast from Phil Campbell, roughly along County Roads 81 and 82. Several high voltage
TVA
power line trusses were twisted and toppled, particularly near Highway 243. Six chicken houses were completely destroyed near the Franklin
-Lawrence County
line. The tornado continued into Lawrence County
near the Mount Hope area where significant devastation was incurred to single family homes and a restaurant. Nothing but the foundation and a pile of debris remained in this area, and a small portion of the restaurant foundation buckled. Thousands of hardwood and softwood trees were snapped, with a significant number of trees twisted and debarked with only stubs of branches remaining. Many mobile homes were also destroyed with the frames mangled, and a single family home was completely destroyed with the walls and contents strewn over a hundred yards. Meteorologist Gary Dobbs, with WAAY-TV
since 1984, spotted this tornado from his car and was unable to get to his storm shelter. While his house was destroyed around him, Dobbs was thrown 40 feet (12.2 m) from the house. The door of the storm shelter blew off, but no friends therein were seriously injured. Dobbs required hospitalization.
Further northeast, more trees were found snapped and twisted before reaching Highway 24. At this location, 4 chicken houses were completely destroyed with much of the debris wrapped around debarked trees. TVA high voltage power line trusses were also destroyed at this location. The tornado continued northeast wreaking significant devastation in and around the Langtown community north of Moulton
. On the west side of Alabama Highway 33, several homes sustained significant damage with roofs missing or only interior rooms remaining. A nearby store and gas station also sustained significant damage. The tornado strengthened again as it moved into County Roads 214 and 298, where multiple houses and mobile homes were completely destroyed. Several cars were tossed into fields and wrapped around trees along County Road 291 and 292. One vehicle was tossed into a large hardwood tree that was also debarked. Tree and mobile home damage continued along County Roads 217 and 222, where a handful of large high voltage TVA power poles were destroyed, cutting off electricity delivery from Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. Tornado damage continued northeast towards Alabama Highway 20, where a restaurant was completely destroyed and two single family houses were significantly damaged. Tree damage appeared to continue into extreme northwestern Morgan County
.
The same tornado continued a short stretch through the northwest corner of Morgan County and into Limestone
, coming within approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant and toppling nearly a dozen high voltage
power lines in Limestone County, snapping concrete power poles at their bases. These power lines delivered electricity from Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, and without the outlet, the plant had to be shut down. This tornado produced high-end EF3 damage over a large area in eastern Limestone County along and north of the East Limestone High School.
Tanner experienced a large swath of EF4 damage and a narrow corridor of "high-end EF4 to near-EF5 damage". The storm "completely wiped clean" several well constructed homes with anchor bolting. One home was scattered over 300 hundred yards with large items carried completely away. Intense ground scarring occurred in this area. The storm also tossed a large cargo container approximately 600 yards and carried several cars airborne for hundreds of yards. As the storm crossed US-Hwy 72 in eastern Limestone County, the tornado destroyed a Nexrad radar operated by WAFF-48 and continued into East Limestone where dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed. As the storm crossed into Madison County, AL, the storm destroyed many homes and businesses along Yarborough Rd and Ford Chapel Rd and eventually swept through the Harvest/Toney area where it damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes in the Anderson Hills and Carter's Gin communities. The tornado completely destroyed a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Harvest as well as severely damaged a convenience store and local bank, which was shut down for months following the event. The storm progressed across Pulaski Pike in northwest Madison County, damaging many homes. In all, hundreds of homes received moderate to major damage along the path from Limestone to Madison County with many of these being total losses.
The track then moved into Tennessee
and continued south of Huntland
. Isolated and minor EF0 tree damage was noted at the intersection of John Hunter Highway (State Route 122) and Limestone Road near the Lincoln/Franklin county line. More significant damage was noted, starting about 1.4 miles (2.3 km) south southwest of Huntland. A cinder block building suffered damage to its flat adobe roof, with some of blocks near the roof (around 20 feet (6.1 m) off of the ground) pushed out, resulting in EF2 damage. Surveyors could not directly examine the roof given this building was on the highest ground in the vicinity. Nearby, a single family home of cinder block construction had its roof totally removed, with another home about 1000 feet (304.8 m) away having significant roof damage, with over one half of its roof removed, and some shifting off of its foundation. Damage with the latter was consistent with high-end EF2 damage. A chicken building nearby the second home, with metal girding was completely flattened, consistent with EF2 damage.
A farm complex south of Hickory Grove road had damage to a number of structures there. The home and the main car garage had part of their roofs removed. A barn that was protecting bales of hay was destroyed, with a few of bales blown from 100–200 feet from their original location. The worst damage was noted with lower end EF3 damage to a cinder block utility building about 200 feet (61 m) south of the primary residence. Most of its roof was removed, with over half of its downwind wall pushed outward. An older barn nearby suffered lesser EF0 damage to it roof, while the top half of a silo near that barn was missing. Another barn structure was completely destroyed northwest of the primary home. The width at this point was approximately 1/4 mile. Other damage was noted near the intersection of Hickory Grove Road and Sugar Cove Road, with EF1 damage to some heavy farm equipment and EF0 roof damage to a nearby barn. Scattered trees were downed to the northeast, with 8 inches (203.2 mm) fence posts 18 inches (457.2 mm) deep pulled up near Hickory Grove and Buncombe Road. There was evident the tornado continued toward mountains a few miles further east, with some trees damaged along the ridge.
In total, this tornado killed 72 people, all in Alabama. This made it the deadliest single tornado ever to strike the state of Alabama as well as (at the time) the deadliest in the United States since the 1955 Udall, Kansas
tornado killed 80. This tornado also had the longest track of any tornado in the outbreak, with its path extending over 130 miles (209.2 km) across Northern Alabama into Tennessee. On April 27th, 2011 alone, the National Weather Service in Huntsville, Alabama issued 92 tornado warnings, 31 severe thunderstorm warnings, and 7 flash flood warnings.
, including the southern and eastern portions of Tuscaloosa
around 5:10 p.m. CDT
on April 27, and continued northeast. Debris from the tornado was reported to be falling from the sky across Birmingham
over 20 miles (32.2 km) away in Jefferson County
. Skycams operated by Tuscaloosa television station WVUA
(channel 23) as well as Birmingham stations Fox affiliate WBRC
(channel 6) and ABC affiliate WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU (channels 58/33/40) captured video of the tornado as it struck Tuscaloosa. Several stores and restaurants in a business district at the intersection of McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street, near the DCH Regional Medical Center, were reduced to rubble by the tornado; buildings were also reported destroyed on 35th Street, between Interstate 359
and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. As the tornado traveled east to 35th Street and Kauloosa Avenue, the Tuscaloosa Environmental Services and Cintas
facilities suffered severe damage. Numerous homes in the Rosedale and Forest Lake neighborhoods, as well as a P&P Grocery store in Rosedale, were devastated. Numerous fatalities occurred in this area. The tornado then struck the community of Concord
, flattening most of the community. The tornado continued northeast towards Birmingham, downing thousands of trees. The University of Alabama
suspended its operations, cancelled its softball and rowing competitions, cancelled its final exams period, and postponed its commencement until August 6.
Many stations, including WTVY-TV, WSFA
, WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, showed television cameras capturing the event as the tornado moved east-northeast across the western and northern suburbs of Birmingham around 6:00 p.m. CDT. Several suburbs in the area were severely damaged by the massive tornado as it tore through the west side of Birmingham, resulting in multiple fatalities. The suburbs of Pleasant Grove
, McDonald Chapel
, Pratt City and northern Hueytown
were devastated by the tornado as it moved northeast, flattening entire neighborhoods. The tornado then struck the suburb of Fultondale
, causing EF2 damage to homes and businesses before dissipating northeast of Birmingham. Surveys indicated high end EF4 damage from the tornado in Birmingham's western suburbs.
The National Weather Service
has determined the path length of this violent tornado to be 80.7 miles (129.9 km) with a maximum damage path width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). The tornado's most intense damage indicated peak winds of around 190 mi/h; therefore, it was given a final rating of EF4. Reports from Tuscaloosa indicated 43 people were killed, with over 1000 injured. Overall this tornado killed 64 people and injured more than 1500.
President Barack Obama
and First Lady Michelle Obama
visited Tuscaloosa on April 29, taking a ground tour of some of the affected areas. Obama was quoted as saying that he has "never seen devastation like this." He stated further that he had already declared a federal state of emergency in Alabama.
, before reaching the town of Ringgold
. Between 75 and 100 homes were damaged or destroyed; with the most severe damage occurring on Cherokee Valley Road in Catoosa County, where twelve homes were swept away. A Baymont Inn & Suites
, located near Interstate 75 was also partially collapsed by the tornado, along with a McDonald's
, a Taco Bell
and several gas stations located on Highway 151 in Ringgold at the Interstate 75
interchange (exit 348), and the Catoosa County Department of Family and Children Services and other businesses on Nashville Street in downtown Ringgold. The Kellerhals Center for Visual Arts Education at Ringgold High School was destroyed (RHS itself had minor damage), and Ringgold Middle School was heavily damaged.
The storm then crossed the Tennessee state line at 8:28 p.m. EDT, into Hamilton
and Bradley County, Tennessee, and became a strong EF4, before lifting in Polk County. Many homes in Hamilton County and Bradley county were leveled, with numerous other homes suffering varying degrees of damage. The tornado tore straight through the small community of Apison
, devastating much of the town and killing 8 people. Homes in the area were swept off of their foundations by the tornado. Severe damage also took place in Cleveland
as the tornado moved through several subdivision and neighborhoods, damaging and destroying multiple homes, which resulted in 5 fatalities in the area. Several trees were felled in Polk County, before the tornado dissipated. All roads in and out of Ringgold were closed until the morning of April 29; after roads leading to the affected areas were reopened, residents and business owners were allowed to return, being allowed entry only by providing identification, and informing police a reason why they are entering into the area, in order to curb looting in the storm-damaged areas.
The tornado killed twenty-two people along its 52 miles (83.7 km) path across Catoosa, Hamilton, Bradley, and Polk Counties, including nine fatalities in Ringgold, ranging in age from 16 to 86 years old, including an entire family of four, and another eight in Apison, Tennessee
,
and at least thirty others were injured, some sustaining serious injuries. The tornado was given a rating of EF4 with winds estimated between 175-190 mph,. The damage path of the tornado was between one-third and one-half mile wide. This tornado is only the eighth in Georgia to be categorized as an EF4 or F4 on the (Enhanced) Fujita Scale
, since official tornado records have been kept in 1950.
The tornado was first seen and then tracked on tower cameras, including one operated by WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, for several minutes. Some cameras were obliterated. Radio stations in downtown Cullman also reported in on the tornado and some even captured the tornado passing over until their broadcast towers were destroyed. Preliminary reports stated that the courthouse and EMS building nearby took a direct hit from the twister. Many well-known businesses such as Vincent's Furniture, the Cullman Times, and the Busy Bee Cafe were severely damaged or destroyed.
Downtown Cullman was badly damaged by the tornado. The major damage was along a two-block area through the center of the downtown business district. The tornado more or less followed U.S. Highway 278 through the city, which in turn led to the tornado crossing and creating extensive damage along many major intersections, including those with Interstate 65
, U.S. Highway 31, Alabama Highway 157
, and Alabama Highway 69. There were several homes destroyed from the tornado with much damage resulting from fallen trees. Residential damage was especially heavy along West Main Avenue and in the eastern downtown Historical District. Many homes destroyed exceeded 100 years in age. East Elementary School, one of the city's two elementary schools, received moderate damage as it is located in the middle of the Historical District, which took a direct hit. Minor to moderate wind damage occurred on the campuses of Cullman Middle School and Cullman High School
as well. Cullman Tornado Damage Aerials
This tornado continued Northeast and swept away a gas station in Arab, Alabama
along with completely crippling Arab's power grid and obstructing many roads with trees. Homes in the area were found swept away from their foundations. Six fatalities were reported from this tornado.
The path of destruction began just east of County Road 26 (around the 3000 Shoal Creek Road address block) and followed along County Road 22/Shoal Creek Road for approximately 12.5 miles (20.1 km). The tornado's path and width varied greatly along Shoal Creek Road, with some areas showing damage much worse on one side of the road than the other, while other areas showed equal devastation on both sides of the road. Finally, the tornado destroyed many waterfront homes at the end of the valley, crossed Neely Henry Lake and continued its destructive path in Ohatchee, Alabama. Damage ranged from downed trees and roof damage to total destruction as the tornado roared through the valley at 50-60 mph, packing winds of 180 mph+. The official count of homes destroyed or heavily damaged in Shoal Creek Valley was set at 256. Most phone lines, power lines and poles were destroyed, and water lines were severed by uprooted trees. Entire homes were leveled, and in some cases completely removed by the storm, leaving only brick steps, a fireplace and chimney, or a slab behind. Barns, vehicles, tractors and heavy farming equipment were shredded and moved up to 1/2 mile. Livestock were thrown and killed, and the initial human death toll of 13 would eventually rise to 15 in the area.
Those that rode out the storm in Shoal Creek Valley describe the classic "freight train" rumble of the tornado, feeling their ears "pop" as the low-pressure tornado approached, and the ground "shaking like an earthquake." Many say that the storm lasted 10 or 15 seconds. This tornado's final death toll along its entire path would eventually come to 22. Many people were missing from this area and were never found.
, 16.2 inches (411.5 mm) four miles (6 km) northwest of Poplar Bluff, Missouri
, and 14.96 inches (380 mm) at Westville, Oklahoma
. On April 25, 2011, thunderstorms with high winds swept through parts of southern and southeastern Ohio. Straight-line winds estimated at 80 miles per hour (128.7 km/h) uprooted trees, damaged roofs, and downed power lines through Perry County, Ohio
and Athens County, Ohio
. Strong thunderstorms and heavy downpours which led to flooding was also reported in multiple areas across Upstate New York with heavy flooding in the Syracuse, New York area. Interstate 81
was briefly shut down downtown at traffic hour and Upstate University Hospital also closed briefly due to flooding in the lobby.
Farther south, flash flooding late on April 26 resulted in two fatalities in Monroe, Louisiana
after an apartment complex was swamped. The flooding there was considered to be worse than the flooding after Hurricane Gustav
in 2008
. In central and northern Arkansas, up to 10.44 inches (265 mm) of rain was reported during that week. The resulting flash flooding in central Arkansas also resulted in five people losing their lives. Many roads were closed as a result of the flooding there. The flooding was mitigated somewhat by a significant drought
that had existed before the storm.
Severe thunderstorms were reported as far north as Northern Ontario
on the evening of April 26. Heavy rains and minor flooding were also reported in Northern Ontario from April 26–28. Windstorms were also reported in Southern Ontario
and Southern Quebec
which resulted in several injuries and one death, damages and power outages.
Other fatalities due to straight-line winds occurred in McComb, Mississippi
early on April 26 and also in Moody, Alabama
, Vestavia Hills, Alabama
and Franklin, Tennessee
early on April 27 from the squall line with embedded tornadoes.
, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee
, and Oklahoma because of the flooding and tornadoes. Following the tornado outbreak on the evening of April 27, President Barack Obama
granted a federal emergency declaration for the state of Alabama, giving federal assistance, including search and rescue assets, to the affected region. There have unfortunately been several fatalities since the outbreaks from accidents sustained by volunteers as a part of the clean-up initiative.
More than 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to Alabama, assisting local and state first responders in search and rescue efforts. President Obama visited the affected areas of Alabama on April 29. Also on April 29, he approved a federal disaster declaration for seven Mississippi counties: Clarke
, Greene
, Hinds
, Jasper
, Kemper
, Lafayette
, and Monroe
.
The tornadoes prompted FOX
to cancel a planned crossover
between all three Seth MacFarlane
series that would have had a hurricane bring the families of The Cleveland Show
, Family Guy
and American Dad!
all together. The crossover was rescheduled and was broadcast October 2.
(TVA)'s power grid
for transmitting electricity throughout the region. More than 300 power transmission towers, 120 feet (36.6 m) to 150 feet (45.7 m) tall, were destroyed in the storms, some "twisted like bow ties" according to National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Holweg. The towers supported some 90 transmission lines, a mixture of 500kV
and 161kV lines. Those lines provided power from TVA to 128 regional distributors.
TVA lost the ability to transmit power from both Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant and Widows Creek Fossil Plant
after the storms on April 27, requiring both to be shut down. The nuclear plant's cold shutdown
was supported by diesel generators for four days until a second 161kV line could be restored to the plant. The loss of redundant off-site power required a "notification of unusual event", the lowest of four levels of concern dictated by the NRC
. Some 60% of the sirens for warning residents of worse problems around Browns Ferry were disabled by the storms, and the plant had to arrange plans to use cars with loudspeakers to warn residents in case of another problem. Chief Operating Officer Bill McCollum of TVA stated that it could be weeks before the nuclear plant is up and running again. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission stated at a press conference: "The plants' conditions are stable and are being placed in a cooled-down condition."
Huntsville
was the largest city with no electricity from TVA. All the traffic lights were off, a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed, students were sent home from United States Space Camp
, and Panoply Arts Festival
was cancelled. Power was restored gradually to Huntsville, beginning with 3% on Sunday morning, after the Wednesday tornadoes. Only localized outages remained eight days after the storm. In addition to traffic and safety issues, the outage caused difficulties with water treatment and distribution and retail of all kinds, including gasoline
and food purchases.
Ontario electricity outages were minor, mostly caused by the windstorms of April 28. Although they affected thousands of people at different times throughout the day, all power was restored by the end of the day.
Emergency Tornado Aid
Memorials
Pictures from Tuscaloosa, Alabama:
For the latest severe weather information:
Tornado outbreak
While there is no single agreed upon definition, generally at least 6-10 tornadoes produced by the same synoptic scale weather system is considered a tornado outbreak. The tornadoes usually occur within the same day, or continue into the early morning hours of the succeeding day, and within the...
, the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded, and popularly known as the 2011 Super Outbreak, occurred from April 25 to 28, 2011. The outbreak affected the Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, Midwestern, and Northeastern
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
United States, leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake, especially across the state of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. It produced destructive tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es in Alabama, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and affected many other areas throughout the Southern and Eastern United States. In total, 353 tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service in 21 states from Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to New York and even isolated tornadoes in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak, with April 27 being among the most prolific and destructive tornado days in United States history with a record 207 tornadoes touching down that day. Four of the tornadoes were destructive enough to be rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale
Enhanced Fujita Scale
The Enhanced Fujita Scale rates the strength of tornadoes in the United States based on the damage they cause.Implemented in place of the Fujita scale introduced in 1971 by Ted Fujita, it began operational use on February 1, 2007. The scale has the same basic design as the original Fujita scale:...
, which is the highest ranking possible; typically these tornadoes are only recorded about once each year or less.
In total, 346 people were killed as a result of the outbreak. That death toll includes 322 tornado-related deaths across six states. In addition, 24 fatalities were not caused by tornadoes, but were confirmed to be as a result of other thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
-related impacts such as straight-line winds
Downburst
A downburst is created by an area of significantly rain-cooled air that, after reaching ground level, spreads out in all directions producing strong winds. Unlike winds in a tornado, winds in a downburst are directed outwards from the point where it hits land or water...
, hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
, flash flood
Flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas—washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a storm, hurricane, or tropical storm or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields...
ing or lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
. 239 deaths in Alabama alone were confirmed by the SPC and the state's Emergency Management Agency
Emergency management
Emergency management is the generic name of an interdisciplinary field dealing with the strategic organizational management processes used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazard risks that can cause events like disasters or catastrophes and to ensure the continuance of the...
.
April 27 was the deadliest tornado day in the United States since the 1925 "Tri-State" outbreak, which produced the infamous Tri-State Tornado
Tri-State Tornado
The Tri-State Tornado of Wednesday, March 18, 1925, was the deadliest tornado in U.S. history. With 695 confirmed fatalities, the tornado killed more than twice as many as the second deadliest, the 1840 Great Natchez Tornado...
. Although it has been classified by some news outlets as the second-deadliest tornado outbreak in United States history, the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak actually holds that distinction with at least 436 reported deaths split almost evenly over two days. Officially the outbreak is listed by NOAA as the fourth deadliest in United States history and the 24-hour-period from 8:00 a.m. April 27 to 8:00 a.m. April 28 as the fifth deadliest tornado day in United States history. Over 492 preliminary local storm report
Local storm report
A local storm report is transmitted by the National Weather Service of what it receives from storm spotters such as amateur radio operators, storm chasers, law enforcement, civil defense , firefighters, EMTs, or citizens about severe weather conditions in their area...
s were received for tornadoes over four days, including 292 in 16 states on April 27. It was also the costliest tornado outbreak and one of the costliest natural disasters in United States history (even after adjustments for inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
), with insured damage estimated as high as $6 billion, and total damages exceeding $10 billion (2011 USD).
Meteorological synopsis
The outbreak was caused by a vigorous upper-level trough that moved into the Southern Plains states on April 25. An extratropical cycloneExtratropical cyclone
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are a group of cyclones defined as synoptic scale low pressure weather systems that occur in the middle latitudes of the Earth having neither tropical nor polar characteristics, and are connected with fronts and...
developed ahead of this upper-level trough between northeast Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and western Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, which moved northeast. Conditions were similar on April 26, with a predicted likelihood of severe thunderstorms, including an extended threat of strong to violent long-track tornadoes during the afternoon and evening hours; mixed-layer CAPE
Convective available potential energy
In meteorology, convective available potential energy , sometimes, simply, available potential energy , is the amount of energy a parcel of air would have if lifted a certain distance vertically through the atmosphere...
values were forecast to be around 3000-4000 J/kg, around east Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. The storm mode on April 26 was predicted to consist of mostly discrete supercells during the afternoon and early evening, shifting over to a mesoscale convective complex
Mesoscale Convective Complex
A mesoscale convective complex is a unique kind of mesoscale convective system which is defined by characteristics observed in infrared satellite imagery. They are long-lived, nocturnal in formation and commonly contain heavy rainfall, wind, hail, lightning and possibly tornadoes.-Size:A...
, with more of a threat of damaging winds and hail during the nighttime hours.
As the storm system moved eastward toward the Ohio, Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys on April 27, a very powerful 80-100 knot mid-level jet stream moved into the Ohio and Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley
The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...
s, behind the trough, creating strong wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
, with a low pressure center moving quickly northeastward across those areas on the 27th. On the afternoon of April 27, CAPE values were estimated to be in the range of 2000-3000 J/kg across Louisiana and southern Mississippi, with the moderate instability moving northeastward across the southern Tennessee Valley; in addition, temperatures across the southeastern United States ranged from the 70s °F (mid-20s °C) to the lower 90s °F (near 35 °C). Helicity levels ranged from 450–600 m/s2 supportive for significant tornadic activity and strong to violent long-track tornadoes.
In total, 56 severe weather watches were issued by the SPC over those four days in the outbreak area, including 41 tornado watch
Tornado watch
A tornado watch is issued when conditions are right for a tornado to form. Since any thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado is defined as severe, a tornado watch is also automatically a severe thunderstorm watch...
es (10 of which were PDS watches
Particularly dangerous situation
A particularly dangerous situation is a type of enhanced wording first used by the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma on certain severe weather watches...
) and 15 severe thunderstorm watch
Severe thunderstorm watch
[File:Annual_severe_thunderstorm_watch_frequency_in_the_United_States.svg|thumb|right|300px|Map of average annual severe thunderstorm watches in the United States between 1999 and 2008.Legend:...
es.
April 25
Starting on April 19, the Hydrometeorological Prediction CenterHydrometeorological Prediction Center
The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center is one of nine service centers under the umbrella of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction , a part of the National Weather Service, which in turn is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. government...
began to discuss this storm system, and the possibility of an outbreak of strong thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
s early the following week near and ahead of its trailing cold front
Cold front
A cold front is defined as the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, replacing a warmer mass of air.-Development of cold front:The cooler and denser air wedges under the less-dense warmer air, lifting it...
. A large area of possible severe storms for April 25–27 was forecast as the Storm Prediction Center
Storm Prediction Center
The Storm Prediction Center , located in Norman, Oklahoma, is tasked with forecasting the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the contiguous United States. The agency issues convective outlooks, mesoscale discussions, and watches as a part of this process...
(SPC), a division of the National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
, issued a moderate risk of severe weather for three consecutive days, centered over Arkansas through Tennessee. By the late-afternoon hours of April 25, several tornadoes had been reported across a few states, including two which caused significant damage in Oklahoma and Texas. At 3:25 pm CDT (2025 UTC), the SPC issued a Particularly dangerous situation
Particularly dangerous situation
A particularly dangerous situation is a type of enhanced wording first used by the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma on certain severe weather watches...
(PDS) tornado watch
Tornado watch
A tornado watch is issued when conditions are right for a tornado to form. Since any thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado is defined as severe, a tornado watch is also automatically a severe thunderstorm watch...
for much of Arkansas and parts of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Tornadoes were scattered that day until early evening, when an intense tornadic cell tracked near the Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
metropolitan area and a tornado emergency
Tornado emergency
A Tornado Emergency is enhanced wording of tornado warnings used by the National Weather Service in the United States during significant tornado occurrences in highly populated areas...
was declared for Vilonia, Arkansas
Vilonia, Arkansas
Vilonia is a town in Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. Its population was 2,106 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. Reports indicated that a tornado either 3 miles (4.8 km) or 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) wide caused significant damage in the town. Reports indicate four people were killed. A strong EF3 tornado struck Hot Springs Village
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Hot Springs Village is a census-designated place in Garland and Saline counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As it is situated in two counties, it is also part of two metropolitan statistical areas...
that evening as well, causing severe damage and 1 death. Another tornado caused extensive damage to Little Rock Air Force Base
Little Rock Air Force Base
Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas.-Overview:...
. Severe flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing continued across a large area from the Red River valley to the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
.
April 26
A high risk of severe weather was issued for April 26 for portions of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas along and near the Interstate 30Interstate 30
Interstate 30 is an Interstate Highway in the southern United States. I-30 runs from Interstate 20 west of Fort Worth, Texas, northeast via Dallas, Texas, and Texarkana, Texas, to Interstate 40 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The route parallels U.S. Route 67 except for the portion west of...
corridor as conditions became even more favorable for extreme weather. A large PDS tornado watch with very high tornado probabilities was issued that afternoon for that same area. Widespread tornado warnings were issued in that area later that evening, and tornadoes caused damage.
Tornado watches were also issued for the Lower Great Lakes in the afternoon hours, and supercells began to track across southern Michigan in the early evening. Several counties in Michigan were placed under tornado warnings, including Kent
Kent County, Michigan
-Air Service:*Commercial air service to Grand Rapids is provided by Gerald R. Ford International Airport . Previously named Kent County International Airport, it holds Grand Rapids' mark in modern history with the United States' first regularly scheduled airline service, beginning July 31, 1926,...
, Montcalm
Montcalm County, Michigan
-Michigan State Highways:* M-46* M-57* M-66* M-82* M-91-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 61,266 people, 22,079 households, and 16,183 families residing in the county. The population density was 86 people per square mile . There were 25,900 housing units at an average density...
, Ionia
Ionia County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 61,518 people, 20,606 households, and 15,145 families residing in the county. The population density was 107 people per square mile . There were 22,006 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
, Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo County, Michigan
-Air Service:*The Kalamazoo & Battle Creek Metro Area is served by Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport.-Interstates:* I-94* I-94 Business Loop-US highways:* US-131* BUS US 131-Michigan State Trunklines:* M-43* M-89* M-96...
, Calhoun
Calhoun County, Michigan
-Interstates:* I-69* I-94* I-194* I-94 Business Loop serves the city of Albion.* I-94 Business Loop serves the city of Battle Creek.* I-94 Business Loop serves the city of Marshall.-Michigan State Trunklines:* M-37* M-60* M-66* M-78* M-89* M-96* M-99...
, Barry
Barry County, Michigan
-Highways:* M-37* M-43* M-50* M-66* M-78* M-79* M-89* M-179-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 56,755 people, 21,035 households, and 15,986 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 23,876 housing units at an average density of...
, Eaton
Eaton County, Michigan
Eaton County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 107,759. The county seat is Charlotte. Eaton County was named for John Eaton, who was Secretary of War under U.S. President Andrew Jackson, making it one of Michigan's Cabinet counties...
, Midland
Midland County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 82,874 people, 31,769 households, and 22,683 families residing in the county. The population density was 159 people per square mile . There were 33,796 housing units at an average density of 65 per square mile...
, and Bay
Bay County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 110,157 people, 43,930 households, and 30,048 families residing in the county. The population density was 248 people per square mile . There were 46,423 housing units at an average density of 104 per square mile...
counties. A tornado was later confirmed in Allegan County
Allegan County, Michigan
-Interstates:* I-196* I-196 Business Loop serves the city of Holland.-US highways:* US-31* US-131-Michigan State Trunklines:* M-40* M-89* M-179* M-222-Allegan County Intercounty Highways:* A-2* A-37* A-42* A-45-Demographics:...
. A possible funnel was spotted in Kalamazoo County, and seven people were injured by a lightning strike in Portage
Portage, Michigan
Portage is a city in Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 46,292 at the 2010 census. It is the smaller of the two main cities included in the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 326,589 as of 2010.Portage is adjacent to the...
. Further east, severe thunderstorms caused scattered wind damage and large hail across Pennsylvania and New York. Two-inch-diameter hail was reported in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
The city of Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, micropolitan statistical area, itself part of the...
. An isolated supercell moved across Central New York throughout much of the afternoon, producing golf ball-sized hail in Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, and spawned a very brief EF1 tornado in Verona Mills
Verona Mills, New York
Verona Mills is an unincorporated community in Oneida County, New York, United States. On April 26, 2011, a tornado with 100 mph winds associated with the April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak hit a wooded area near Verona Mills, near New York State Route 49, uprooting trees and snapping a power pole....
, causing primarily tree damage.
April 27
For the second day in a row, the SPC issued a high risk of severe weather for the Southern United States, and late that morning the SPC increased the probability for tornadoes to 45% along a corridor from Meridian, MississippiMeridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
to Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
, an extremely rare issuance exceeding the high risk standards. Conditions for tornadoes became increasingly favorable for an extreme tornado outbreak. During the afternoon, a tornado emergency
Tornado emergency
A Tornado Emergency is enhanced wording of tornado warnings used by the National Weather Service in the United States during significant tornado occurrences in highly populated areas...
was declared for Neshoba County, Mississippi
Neshoba County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 28,684 people, 10,694 households, and 7,742 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile . There were 11,980 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
as a large tornado was reported on the ground by storm spotters. This powerful EF5 tornado caused incredible damage near Philadelphia, Mississippi
Philadelphia, Mississippi
Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,303 at the 2000 census.- History :...
where homes were swept away, vehicles were thrown, and the ground was scoured out to a depth of 2 feet by the tornado. 3 people died in this tornado when a mobile home was picked up, thrown into a wooded area, and disintegrated. The atmosphere became increasingly unstable throughout the late afternoon, causing more explosive supercell development. A widespread complex of supercell storms overspread the states of Mississippi and Alabama and violent tornadoes began rapidly touching down as the evening progressed. Four tornadoes were officially rated as EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale
Enhanced Fujita Scale
The Enhanced Fujita Scale rates the strength of tornadoes in the United States based on the damage they cause.Implemented in place of the Fujita scale introduced in 1971 by Ted Fujita, it began operational use on February 1, 2007. The scale has the same basic design as the original Fujita scale:...
that day. These tornadoes impacted several counties in the states of Mississippi and Alabama, especially the towns of Smithville, Mississippi
Smithville, Mississippi
Smithville is a town in Monroe County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 882 at the 2000 census. Smithville is the birthplace of Rod Brasfield, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.-Geography:...
; Hackleburg
Hackleburg, Alabama
Hackleburg is a town in Marion County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 1,430. It is also the hometown of country music singer Sonny James. James had numerous country and cross over pop hits starting in the 1950s though the 1970s...
and Phil Campbell, Alabama
Phil Campbell, Alabama
Phil Campbell is a town in Franklin County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,091. Phil Campbell is the birthplace of Billy Sherrill.-Geography:Phil Campbell is located at .According to the U.S...
; Philadelphia, Mississippi
Philadelphia, Mississippi
Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,303 at the 2000 census.- History :...
; and Rainsville, Alabama
Rainsville, Alabama
Rainsville is a city in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 4,499. Rainsville is located on top of Sand Mountain.Rainsville was incorporated in October 1956....
. This marks only the second day in history (the other being the April 3, 1974 Super Outbreak
Super Outbreak
The Super Outbreak is the second largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period, just behind the tornado outbreak of April 25–28, 2011...
) that there were three or more EF5 or F5 tornadoes.
A separate complex of storms occurred earlier that morning and caused communication and warning problems due to power outages, leading people to have no warning of approaching tornadoes later that day. A squall line
Squall line
A squall line is a line of severe thunderstorms that can form along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front. It contains heavy precipitation, hail, frequent lightning, strong straight-line winds, and possibly tornadoes and waterspouts....
of severe thunderstorms packing strong straight-line winds and numerous embedded tornadoes impacted North
North Alabama
North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama, generally considered to include 12 counties: Cherokee, Colbert, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan, and Winston, with a combined population of 958,247, or 20.84% of the state's population as...
and Central Alabama
Central Alabama
Central Alabama is the region in the state of Alabama that stretches approximately 170 miles from the western border with Mississippi to eastern border with Georgia and 136 miles from the northern border of Cullman County to the Alabama River in southern Autauga County. With a...
and parts of Middle
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....
and East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
in the early morning hours. These storms knocked out power
Power Line
Power Line is an American political blog, providing news and commentary from a conservative point-of-view. It was originally written by three lawyers who attended Dartmouth College together: John H. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, and Paul Mirengoff...
and telephone line
Telephone line
A telephone line or telephone circuit is a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system...
s in a few areas; these outages would become much more widespread as the day continued. This preliminary line of storms also caused some NOAA weather radio transmitter sites to stop functioning for the remainder of the outbreak.
A dangerous and destructive tornado struck the city of Cullman, Alabama
Cullman, Alabama
Cullman is a city in Cullman County, State of Alabama. Cullman is located along Interstate 65, about north of Birmingham, and about south of Huntsville. According to the U.S...
at around 3:00 p.m. CDT (2000 UTC). This large, multi-vortex tornado was captured on several TV tower cameras from stations such as Birmingham's
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate WBRC
WBRC
WBRC, virtual channel 6, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Birmingham, Alabama designated market area. The station is owned by Raycom Media, and its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in Birmingham...
(channel 6) and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU (channels 58, 33 and 40). The tornado caused extensive destruction in downtown Cullman, a city of about 20,000 people; the tornado has been rated an EF4. The final damage count was 867 residences and 94 businesses in Cullman. At 4:00 p.m. CDT a tornado struck Lawrence County, Alabama
Lawrence County, Alabama
Lawrence County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. It was named after James Lawrence, a captain in the United States Navy from New Jersey. As of the 2010 census, the population was...
, causing severe damage and killing a couple dozen people. At around 5:10 p.m. CDT (2210 UTC), a very large and exceptionally destructive tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
. About 40 minutes later, the same tornado struck the northern suburbs of Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. A tornado emergency
Tornado emergency
A Tornado Emergency is enhanced wording of tornado warnings used by the National Weather Service in the United States during significant tornado occurrences in highly populated areas...
was issued for both cities, and many other tornado emergencies were issued that day. Many local TV stations, including WBRC and WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, as well as CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate WIAT
WIAT
WIAT, virtual channel 42, is the CBS-affiliated television station in the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa/Anniston/Gadsden, Alabama television market. Licensed to Birmingham, it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 30, although through the use of PSIP, the station's virtual channel number is...
(channel 42), captured footage of this long-track tornado in both Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. A debris ball was observed by the Birmingham NEXRAD
NEXRAD
NEXRAD or Nexrad is a network of 159 high-resolution Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the United States Department of Commerce...
, indicating that the tornado was causing extreme damage. Photos from the damage path showed total devastation. The path of this tornado struck the same small communities as the F4 storm on April 1956 Birmingham tornado, and the F5 storms on April 1977 Birmingham tornado and April 1998 Birmingham tornado. The supercell responsible for the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham EF4 tornado originated in Newton County, Mississippi
Newton County, Mississippi
-History:Newton County was formed in 1836. All sources say it was named in honor of Sir Isaac Newton, including the 1896 history of Newton County.Newton County is adjacent to Jasper County, which was named for Sgt. William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero of the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Sgt. John...
at 2:54 pm CDT and tracked 380 miles to Macon County, North Carolina
Macon County, North Carolina
- Geographic features :Of the in Macon County, are federal lands that lie within the Nantahala National Forest and are administered by the United States Forest Service. Of the of USFS land, lie in the Highlands Ranger District and the remaining lie in the Wayah Ranger District...
where it dissipated at 10:18 pm CDT. The supercell also produced the Shoal Creek Valley/Ohatchee, Alabama
Ohatchee, Alabama
Ohatchee is a town in Calhoun County in Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,215. It is included in the Anniston-Oxford, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
EF4 and an EF3 NE of Cartersville, Georgia
Cartersville, Georgia
Cartersville is a town in Bartow County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 19,7314. The city is the county seat of Bartow County.-Geography:Cartersville was named for Colonel Farish Carter....
.
By the morning of April 30, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency had confirmed at least 45 storm fatalities in Tuscaloosa. Also, several small Alabama towns including Hackleburg
Hackleburg, Alabama
Hackleburg is a town in Marion County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 1,430. It is also the hometown of country music singer Sonny James. James had numerous country and cross over pop hits starting in the 1950s though the 1970s...
, Phil Campbell
Phil Campbell, Alabama
Phil Campbell is a town in Franklin County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,091. Phil Campbell is the birthplace of Billy Sherrill.-Geography:Phil Campbell is located at .According to the U.S...
, Rainsville
Rainsville, Alabama
Rainsville is a city in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 4,499. Rainsville is located on top of Sand Mountain.Rainsville was incorporated in October 1956....
, Harvest, Hueytown
Hueytown, Alabama
Hueytown is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 16,105.It was the home of the legendary NASCAR Alabama Gang...
, Pleasant Grove
Pleasant Grove, Alabama
Pleasant Grove is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama and suburb of Birmingham. It is part of the Birmingham–Hoover Metropolitan Area. Its nickname is "The Good Neighbor City". At the 2010 census the population was 10,110.-History:...
, Tanner
Tanner, Alabama
Tanner is a small town in central southern Limestone County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. It lies along the Tennessee River, next to the city of Athens....
and Concord
Concord, Alabama
Concord is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham–Hoover–Cullman Combined Statistical Area. At the 2000 census the population was 1,809. This area was damaged by an F5 tornado on April 8, 1998, and again by an EF4 tornado on Wednesday,...
suffered catastrophic damage.
A secondary area of severe weather also developed that evening along the Interstate 81
Interstate 81
Interstate 81 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island at the Canadian border, where the Thousand Islands Bridge connects it to Highway 401, the main freeway...
corridor from northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
northward through Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as far north as northern New York
North Country, New York
The North Country is a region of the U.S. state of New York that encompasses the state's extreme northern frontier, bordering Lake Ontario on the west, the Saint Lawrence River and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec on the north and northwest, and Lake Champlain and Vermont on the east...
and continued into early April 28. Many tornadoes touched down in this area as well, although most were weak.
A statewide review by emergency management officials recorded 249 fatalities in Alabama. Damage and power outages in the Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
area were so widespread that at one point over 650,000 people were out of power in the TVA system. Severe tornado damage, including 22 deaths, also occurred in Ringgold
Ringgold, Georgia
Ringgold is a city in Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,422 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Catoosa County...
, Apison
Apison, Tennessee
Apison is an unincorporated community in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. It is a rural area east of the city of Chattanooga, and also borders Ooltewah, Collegedale, and rural parts of north Georgia to the south...
and Cleveland
Cleveland, Tennessee
Cleveland is a city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,285 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bradley County...
due to a violent and long track EF4 tornado. Another violent and deadly tornado struck the town of Ohatchee
Ohatchee, Alabama
Ohatchee is a town in Calhoun County in Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,215. It is included in the Anniston-Oxford, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, where a destructive EF4 destroyed many homes and killed 22 people. Other notable destructive and deadly tornadoes occurred that day in and around the towns of New Wren, Enterprise
Enterprise, Mississippi
Enterprise is a town in Clarke County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 474 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Enterprise is located at...
, Cordova
Cordova, Alabama
Cordova is a city in Walker County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 2,423.-History:Cordova was originally a settlement on the Warrior River Called "Dent" or "Dent's Place." The city was dubbed "Cordova" by Captain Benjamin M. Long in 1859. He named the city after a...
, Trenton
Trenton, Georgia
Trenton is a city in Dade County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,942 at the 2000 census. It is the only incorporated municipality in the county, and as such it serves as the county seat....
, Dadeville
Dadeville, Alabama
Dadeville is a city in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 3,212. The city is the county seat of Tallapoosa County.Dadeville is part of the Alexander City Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, New Harmony
New Harmony, Tennessee
New Harmony is an unincorporated community in Bledsoe County, Tennessee, United States. It lies in eastern Bledsoe County, south of Summer City and southeast of the city of Pikeville, the county seat of Bledsoe County. Its elevation is 1,975 feet ....
, Sawyerville
Sawyerville, Alabama
Sawyerville, previously known as Sawyers Depot, is an unincorporated community in west-central Hale County, Alabama and is a part of the Tuscaloosa metropolitan area. It derives its name from the town’s first post master. The community is rural and came to flourish due to its proximity to the...
, and Camp Creek. Tornado alerts were issued for Southern
Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...
Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
as far north as Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
; one tornado was later confirmed at Fergus
Fergus, Ontario
Fergus is the largest community in Centre Wellington, a township within Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. It lies on the Grand River about 25 km north of Guelph.-History:...
.
The SPC shows 260 tornadoes were reported in the preceding 24 hours. It also broke the record for most tornadoes in 24 hours with 206 in the United States from midnight to midnight CDT (62 of which were in Alabama and 67 of which were in Tennessee), breaking the 24-hour record of 147 (in both totals, excluding confirmed tornadoes outside the United States that were part of the outbreak) set by the 1974 Super Outbreak.
April 28
Tornado watches were issued for the Atlantic Seaboard from PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, but tornadoes were predicted to weaken and become more isolated. Even so, several people were killed across the region and tornadoes were reported in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Florida, and Maryland. Although tornado watches were issued, no tornadoes were spotted in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
or Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
In the wake of the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, widespread flooding hit the Midwest, South, and Eastern Seaboard, with extensive flood and flash flood warnings issued. One particularly damaging and deadly EF3 tornado struck the town of Glade Spring
Glade Spring, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,374 people, 565 households, and 402 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,093.4 people per square mile . There were 626 housing units at an average density of 498.2 per square mile...
, where 3 people died. Other strong tornadoes caused severe damage and a few fatalities in Georgia during the early morning hours. The last tornadoes of the outbreak touched down that afternoon in eastern North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
which was hard hit from the April 16 outbreak
April 14–16, 2011 tornado outbreak
One of the largest single-system tornado outbreaks in United States history occurred from April 14 to 16, 2011, resulting in 178 confirmed tornadoes across 16 states and severe destruction on all three days of the outbreak. A total of 38 people were killed from tornadoes and an additional five...
, but they were all weak. The system moved out into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
that evening, with the exception of isolated thunderstorms over central Florida
Central Florida
Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....
that night into April 29, although there were no tornadoes then.
Confirmed tornadoes
Vilonia tornado
The first killer tornado of the outbreak was a large EF2 that struck the small town of Vilonia, ArkansasVilonia, Arkansas
Vilonia is a town in Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. Its population was 2,106 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
in Faulkner County around 7:30 pm CDT
Central Time zone
In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
on April 25. A tornado warning
Tornado warning
A tornado warning is an alert issued by government weather services to warn that severe thunderstorms with tornadoes may be imminent. It can be issued after a tornado or funnel cloud has been spotted by eye, or more commonly if there are radar indications of tornado formation...
was issued for the town roughly 30 minutes prior to the tornado's arrival and the relatively low loss of life is attributed to this lead time. A tornado emergency
Tornado emergency
A Tornado Emergency is enhanced wording of tornado warnings used by the National Weather Service in the United States during significant tornado occurrences in highly populated areas...
was declared at 7:24 pm CDT for Vilonia shortly before the tornado struck. Four people were killed in the town and many more injured. Numerous structures were also damaged or destroyed. One mobile home was completely destroyed and debris from the home was scattered a significant distance from where it stood. Several other homes were reportedly leveled by the tornado. Within five minutes of the storm, local fire fighters arrived in the town and began search and rescue efforts. Following the tornado, 85 members of the National Guard were deployed to assist in search and rescue, debris clearing, security and traffic control.
Smithville tornado
A violent tornado struck Smithville, MississippiSmithville, Mississippi
Smithville is a town in Monroe County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 882 at the 2000 census. Smithville is the birthplace of Rod Brasfield, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.-Geography:...
, at 3:44 p.m. CDT on April 27. The damage path was 37.2 miles long, half a mile wide, and did extreme damage in Smithville. The NWS damage survey reported EF5 damage, with 18 homes, a post office, a police station, and what was listed as the "water system" completely destroyed, with 52 homes and 7 businesses damaged to varying degrees. Dozens of newly constructed two-story, brick homes were swept cleanly from their foundations and trees were debarked. Damage assessments have determined that 150 homes, 14 businesses and 4 churches were destroyed by the tornado in Smithville. The homes were well-built, of recent construction, but the storm was violent enough that all appliances and plumbing fixtures in the damage path were "shredded or missing". A large steel culvert that was buried underneath a road, was pulled up through the ground and asphalt and tossed away, leaving a large section of the ground and road missing. . Due to the severity of the damage, the tornado was rated an EF5. The National Weather Service has determined that this tornado continued across the state line and struck Shottsville, Alabama where homes were destroyed and seven people were killed. It continued to the northwest of Hackleburg, Alabama
Hackleburg, Alabama
Hackleburg is a town in Marion County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 1,430. It is also the hometown of country music singer Sonny James. James had numerous country and cross over pop hits starting in the 1950s though the 1970s...
where it caused mostly tree damage before lifting. In total, 23 people died in this tornado.
The last confirmed EF5 tornado was the Parkersburg, Iowa, tornado on May 25, 2008.
Rainsville tornado
This storm, rated EF5, is likely to have begun in the Lakeview community northeast of Geraldine, AlabamaGeraldine, Alabama
Geraldine is a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 896.-Geography:Geraldine is located at ....
at 4:47 p.m. CDT
Central Time zone
In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
, during the late afternoon of April 27. The tornado then tracked northeastward generally parallel and just east of State Route 75 through Fyffe
Fyffe, Alabama
Fyffe is a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 1,018. Fyffe is located on top of Sand Mountain....
, Rainsville
Rainsville, Alabama
Rainsville is a city in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 4,499. Rainsville is located on top of Sand Mountain.Rainsville was incorporated in October 1956....
, and Sylvania
Sylvania, Alabama
Sylvania is a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,186. Sylvania is located on top of Sand Mountain.-Geography:Sylvania is located at .According to the U.S...
and into Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
killing at least 23 people.
The tornado touched down in the Lakeview community, initially causing structural damage to small buildings and snapping trees. The tornado grew in intensity and the path width increased from around 50 yards to a half a mile as it entered the Rainsville and Sylvania communities. Damage included houses that were completely removed from foundations and debris scattered for about one mile (1.6 km), trees were debarked, and a few mobile homes were completely destroyed with debris strewn for about a mile downstream. EF5 damage was noted as a pickup truck was thrown, and torn into multiple pieces, an 800-pound steel safe anchored to a foundation was torn away, thrown 600 feet (182.9 m) and had its door torn from its hinges. One home in this area was swept away, and a stone pillar was ripped from the ground, thrown, and broken into pieces. Other homes that were swept away were found with their concrete porches torn away and smashed to pieces. In Sylvania, several other houses were completely removed from foundations, some of which contained anchor bolts and foundation straps. The tornado continued to the south of Ider
Ider, Alabama
-School:Ider High School, which is a member of the DeKalb County School System.* Cheerleading - In 1997, 1999, and 2001 the Ider High School cheerleading team won the World Cheerleading Association's Small Varsity Division National Championship. In 2001 the team was also COA Regional Champions,...
were significant damage was obseved. It crossed into Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
near Fox Mountain as an EF1 with winds of 110 mph. It tracked 3 miles (4.8 km) into Georgia before lifting outside of Rising Fawn
Rising Fawn, Georgia
Rising Fawn is a small unincorporated community in the southern part of Dade County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is also the location of Cloudland Canyon State Park.-Notable residents:...
. Damage in Georgia was limited to trees and power lines. This tornado came from the same supercell that produced the EF4 that hit the town of Ringgold, Georgia
Ringgold, Georgia
Ringgold is a city in Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,422 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Catoosa County...
.
Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, Hillsboro, Tanner, East Limestone, Harvest/Toney tornado
A tornado touched down in Marion County, Alabama
Marion County, Alabama
Marion County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Marion County was created by an act of the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on February 13, 1818. The county is located in the northwestern part of the state, bounded on the west by the state of Mississippi. It encompasses . Marion County...
about 5 miles (8 km) WSW of Hamilton, AL around 3:00 p.m. CDT on April 27, leaving massive damage along its track. The storm would eventually reach the Hackleburg area, leveling many structures including a large plant operated by Wrangler. Jeans reportedly fell from the sky in Courtland, Alabama
Courtland, Alabama
Courtland is a town in Lawrence County, Alabama, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 769.-Geography:...
. Well built homes were wiped cleanly from their foundations and cars were thrown hundreds of feet. According to the Red Cross, 75% of the town was destroyed. While initially rated as an EF3, after further analysis of the damage the rating was increased to EF5, making it the first F5 or EF5 tornado in Alabama since the Birmingham tornado of April 8, 1998.
Phil Campbell
Phil Campbell, Alabama
Phil Campbell is a town in Franklin County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,091. Phil Campbell is the birthplace of Billy Sherrill.-Geography:Phil Campbell is located at .According to the U.S...
experienced continuous significant devastation throughout the city. Significant damage occurred from the intersection of County Road 51 and Alabama Highway 237 to the intersection of County Road 81 and County Road 75. Within this corridor, several well constructed houses were destroyed. At least three churches along the path sustained significant damage. One church in Phil Campbell was completely destroyed with only the slab remaining. Multiple mobile homes throughout the path were completely destroyed, and their mangled frames were tossed at least 25 to 50 yards. Cars were tossed and destroyed throughout the path of the tornado, with one car wrapped around a debarked tree in Phil Campbell. All along the path length, thousands of hardwood and softwood trees were snapped. A 25 feet (7.6 m) section of pavement was torn from a road in this area. Hundreds of trees were also debarked and twisted, and had only stubs of largest branches remaining. Phil Campbell was also affected by an F5 tornado on April 3, 1974, during the super outbreak; that storm also went on to affect Tanner and Madison.
EF5 damage continued similarly northeast from Phil Campbell, roughly along County Roads 81 and 82. Several high voltage
High voltage
The term high voltage characterizes electrical circuits in which the voltage used is the cause of particular safety concerns and insulation requirements...
TVA
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
power line trusses were twisted and toppled, particularly near Highway 243. Six chicken houses were completely destroyed near the Franklin
Franklin County, Alabama
Franklin County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Benjamin Franklin, famous statesman, scientist, and printer. As of 2010, the population was 31,704...
-Lawrence County
Lawrence County, Alabama
Lawrence County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. It was named after James Lawrence, a captain in the United States Navy from New Jersey. As of the 2010 census, the population was...
line. The tornado continued into Lawrence County
Lawrence County, Alabama
Lawrence County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. It was named after James Lawrence, a captain in the United States Navy from New Jersey. As of the 2010 census, the population was...
near the Mount Hope area where significant devastation was incurred to single family homes and a restaurant. Nothing but the foundation and a pile of debris remained in this area, and a small portion of the restaurant foundation buckled. Thousands of hardwood and softwood trees were snapped, with a significant number of trees twisted and debarked with only stubs of branches remaining. Many mobile homes were also destroyed with the frames mangled, and a single family home was completely destroyed with the walls and contents strewn over a hundred yards. Meteorologist Gary Dobbs, with WAAY-TV
WAAY-TV
WAAY-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Tennessee Valley area of North Alabama that is licensed to Huntsville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter at its Monte Sano Boulevard studios on top of Monte Sano Mountain. Calkins Media owns...
since 1984, spotted this tornado from his car and was unable to get to his storm shelter. While his house was destroyed around him, Dobbs was thrown 40 feet (12.2 m) from the house. The door of the storm shelter blew off, but no friends therein were seriously injured. Dobbs required hospitalization.
Further northeast, more trees were found snapped and twisted before reaching Highway 24. At this location, 4 chicken houses were completely destroyed with much of the debris wrapped around debarked trees. TVA high voltage power line trusses were also destroyed at this location. The tornado continued northeast wreaking significant devastation in and around the Langtown community north of Moulton
Moulton, Alabama
Moulton is a city in Lawrence County, Alabama, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 3,260. The city is the county seat of Lawrence County.-Geography:Moulton is located at ...
. On the west side of Alabama Highway 33, several homes sustained significant damage with roofs missing or only interior rooms remaining. A nearby store and gas station also sustained significant damage. The tornado strengthened again as it moved into County Roads 214 and 298, where multiple houses and mobile homes were completely destroyed. Several cars were tossed into fields and wrapped around trees along County Road 291 and 292. One vehicle was tossed into a large hardwood tree that was also debarked. Tree and mobile home damage continued along County Roads 217 and 222, where a handful of large high voltage TVA power poles were destroyed, cutting off electricity delivery from Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. Tornado damage continued northeast towards Alabama Highway 20, where a restaurant was completely destroyed and two single family houses were significantly damaged. Tree damage appeared to continue into extreme northwestern Morgan County
Morgan County, Alabama
Morgan County is the most populous county in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, and the second most populous county in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area in the U.S. State of Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Territorial legislature on February 6, 1818 from land acquired from the...
.
The same tornado continued a short stretch through the northwest corner of Morgan County and into Limestone
Limestone County, Alabama
Limestone County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is included in the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area. Its name comes from Limestone Creek, a local stream. In 2000, the population was 65,676. As of 2010 the county's...
, coming within approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant and toppling nearly a dozen high voltage
High voltage
The term high voltage characterizes electrical circuits in which the voltage used is the cause of particular safety concerns and insulation requirements...
power lines in Limestone County, snapping concrete power poles at their bases. These power lines delivered electricity from Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, and without the outlet, the plant had to be shut down. This tornado produced high-end EF3 damage over a large area in eastern Limestone County along and north of the East Limestone High School.
Tanner experienced a large swath of EF4 damage and a narrow corridor of "high-end EF4 to near-EF5 damage". The storm "completely wiped clean" several well constructed homes with anchor bolting. One home was scattered over 300 hundred yards with large items carried completely away. Intense ground scarring occurred in this area. The storm also tossed a large cargo container approximately 600 yards and carried several cars airborne for hundreds of yards. As the storm crossed US-Hwy 72 in eastern Limestone County, the tornado destroyed a Nexrad radar operated by WAFF-48 and continued into East Limestone where dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed. As the storm crossed into Madison County, AL, the storm destroyed many homes and businesses along Yarborough Rd and Ford Chapel Rd and eventually swept through the Harvest/Toney area where it damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes in the Anderson Hills and Carter's Gin communities. The tornado completely destroyed a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Harvest as well as severely damaged a convenience store and local bank, which was shut down for months following the event. The storm progressed across Pulaski Pike in northwest Madison County, damaging many homes. In all, hundreds of homes received moderate to major damage along the path from Limestone to Madison County with many of these being total losses.
The track then moved into Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and continued south of Huntland
Huntland, Tennessee
Huntland is a town in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 916 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area....
. Isolated and minor EF0 tree damage was noted at the intersection of John Hunter Highway (State Route 122) and Limestone Road near the Lincoln/Franklin county line. More significant damage was noted, starting about 1.4 miles (2.3 km) south southwest of Huntland. A cinder block building suffered damage to its flat adobe roof, with some of blocks near the roof (around 20 feet (6.1 m) off of the ground) pushed out, resulting in EF2 damage. Surveyors could not directly examine the roof given this building was on the highest ground in the vicinity. Nearby, a single family home of cinder block construction had its roof totally removed, with another home about 1000 feet (304.8 m) away having significant roof damage, with over one half of its roof removed, and some shifting off of its foundation. Damage with the latter was consistent with high-end EF2 damage. A chicken building nearby the second home, with metal girding was completely flattened, consistent with EF2 damage.
A farm complex south of Hickory Grove road had damage to a number of structures there. The home and the main car garage had part of their roofs removed. A barn that was protecting bales of hay was destroyed, with a few of bales blown from 100–200 feet from their original location. The worst damage was noted with lower end EF3 damage to a cinder block utility building about 200 feet (61 m) south of the primary residence. Most of its roof was removed, with over half of its downwind wall pushed outward. An older barn nearby suffered lesser EF0 damage to it roof, while the top half of a silo near that barn was missing. Another barn structure was completely destroyed northwest of the primary home. The width at this point was approximately 1/4 mile. Other damage was noted near the intersection of Hickory Grove Road and Sugar Cove Road, with EF1 damage to some heavy farm equipment and EF0 roof damage to a nearby barn. Scattered trees were downed to the northeast, with 8 inches (203.2 mm) fence posts 18 inches (457.2 mm) deep pulled up near Hickory Grove and Buncombe Road. There was evident the tornado continued toward mountains a few miles further east, with some trees damaged along the ridge.
In total, this tornado killed 72 people, all in Alabama. This made it the deadliest single tornado ever to strike the state of Alabama as well as (at the time) the deadliest in the United States since the 1955 Udall, Kansas
Udall, Kansas
Udall is a city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 746.-History:Founded in 1881 by J.M. Napier and P.W. Smith. Udall was named after English author Cornelius Udall....
tornado killed 80. This tornado also had the longest track of any tornado in the outbreak, with its path extending over 130 miles (209.2 km) across Northern Alabama into Tennessee. On April 27th, 2011 alone, the National Weather Service in Huntsville, Alabama issued 92 tornado warnings, 31 severe thunderstorm warnings, and 7 flash flood warnings.
Tuscaloosa/Birmingham tornado
A large wedge tornado tracked across Tuscaloosa County, AlabamaTuscaloosa County, Alabama
Tuscaloosa County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama.It is named in honor of the pre-Choctaw chief Tuskaloosa. In 2010, the population was 194,656...
, including the southern and eastern portions of Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
around 5:10 p.m. CDT
Central Time zone
In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
on April 27, and continued northeast. Debris from the tornado was reported to be falling from the sky across Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
over 20 miles (32.2 km) away in Jefferson County
Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, with its county seat being located in Birmingham.As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Jefferson County was 658,466...
. Skycams operated by Tuscaloosa television station WVUA
WVUA-CA
WVUA-CA is a Class A commercial television station owned by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama, affiliated with This TV. The station is licensed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with studios on the university's campus...
(channel 23) as well as Birmingham stations Fox affiliate WBRC
WBRC
WBRC, virtual channel 6, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Birmingham, Alabama designated market area. The station is owned by Raycom Media, and its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in Birmingham...
(channel 6) and ABC affiliate WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU (channels 58/33/40) captured video of the tornado as it struck Tuscaloosa. Several stores and restaurants in a business district at the intersection of McFarland Boulevard and 15th Street, near the DCH Regional Medical Center, were reduced to rubble by the tornado; buildings were also reported destroyed on 35th Street, between Interstate 359
Interstate 359
Interstate 359 is a part of the Interstate Highway System in the US state of Alabama. It is a spur route that runs for entirely within the city limits of Tuscaloosa. Its termini are just south of I-20/I-59 interchange on the south side of town and U.S. Highway 43 in downtown Tuscaloosa. The...
and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. As the tornado traveled east to 35th Street and Kauloosa Avenue, the Tuscaloosa Environmental Services and Cintas
Cintas
Cintas Corporation , based in Mason, Ohio, is a publicly traded company that operates more than 400 facilities throughout North America. The company provides specialized services to businesses, including the design and manufacturing of corporate identity uniform programs, entrance mats, restroom...
facilities suffered severe damage. Numerous homes in the Rosedale and Forest Lake neighborhoods, as well as a P&P Grocery store in Rosedale, were devastated. Numerous fatalities occurred in this area. The tornado then struck the community of Concord
Concord, Alabama
Concord is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham–Hoover–Cullman Combined Statistical Area. At the 2000 census the population was 1,809. This area was damaged by an F5 tornado on April 8, 1998, and again by an EF4 tornado on Wednesday,...
, flattening most of the community. The tornado continued northeast towards Birmingham, downing thousands of trees. The University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
suspended its operations, cancelled its softball and rowing competitions, cancelled its final exams period, and postponed its commencement until August 6.
Many stations, including WTVY-TV, WSFA
WSFA
WSFA is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Alabama's Black Belt region licensed to Montgomery. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter in Grady along the Montgomery and Pike County line. The station can also be seen on Knology and Charter...
, WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, showed television cameras capturing the event as the tornado moved east-northeast across the western and northern suburbs of Birmingham around 6:00 p.m. CDT. Several suburbs in the area were severely damaged by the massive tornado as it tore through the west side of Birmingham, resulting in multiple fatalities. The suburbs of Pleasant Grove
Pleasant Grove, Alabama
Pleasant Grove is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama and suburb of Birmingham. It is part of the Birmingham–Hoover Metropolitan Area. Its nickname is "The Good Neighbor City". At the 2010 census the population was 10,110.-History:...
, McDonald Chapel
McDonald Chapel, Alabama
McDonald Chapel is a census-designated place in Birmingham, Alabama, United States northeast of Pleasant Grove. At the 2000 census the population was 1,054. Large portions of this area were damaged by violent tornadoes in 1956, 1998, and 2011. The 1998 tornado was rated an F5 on the Fujita scale....
, Pratt City and northern Hueytown
Hueytown, Alabama
Hueytown is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 16,105.It was the home of the legendary NASCAR Alabama Gang...
were devastated by the tornado as it moved northeast, flattening entire neighborhoods. The tornado then struck the suburb of Fultondale
Fultondale, Alabama
Fultondale is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States and a northern suburb of Birmingham. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 6,595 and, as of 2006, was estimated to be 6,905. Fultondale was a relatively stagnant community until the last decade...
, causing EF2 damage to homes and businesses before dissipating northeast of Birmingham. Surveys indicated high end EF4 damage from the tornado in Birmingham's western suburbs.
The National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
has determined the path length of this violent tornado to be 80.7 miles (129.9 km) with a maximum damage path width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). The tornado's most intense damage indicated peak winds of around 190 mi/h; therefore, it was given a final rating of EF4. Reports from Tuscaloosa indicated 43 people were killed, with over 1000 injured. Overall this tornado killed 64 people and injured more than 1500.
President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
and First Lady Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
visited Tuscaloosa on April 29, taking a ground tour of some of the affected areas. Obama was quoted as saying that he has "never seen devastation like this." He stated further that he had already declared a federal state of emergency in Alabama.
Ringgold/Southeast Tennessee tornado
A violent tornado struck portions of far northwest Georgia and southeast Tennessee during the mid-evening hours of April 27; the twister set down along Davis Ridge Road in Catoosa County, GeorgiaCatoosa County, Georgia
Catoosa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 5, 1853. As of 2000, the population was 53,282. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 62,241...
, before reaching the town of Ringgold
Ringgold, Georgia
Ringgold is a city in Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,422 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Catoosa County...
. Between 75 and 100 homes were damaged or destroyed; with the most severe damage occurring on Cherokee Valley Road in Catoosa County, where twelve homes were swept away. A Baymont Inn & Suites
Baymont Inn & Suites
Baymont Inn & Suites is a hotel franchise owned by Wyndham Worldwide and based in the United States.The chain began as an idea by the current CEO of Marcus Corporation, Steven Marcus to create a limited-service, discount-priced motel chain. The first property, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, opened...
, located near Interstate 75 was also partially collapsed by the tornado, along with a McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, a Taco Bell
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
and several gas stations located on Highway 151 in Ringgold at the Interstate 75
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 and State Road 924 in Hialeah, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border...
interchange (exit 348), and the Catoosa County Department of Family and Children Services and other businesses on Nashville Street in downtown Ringgold. The Kellerhals Center for Visual Arts Education at Ringgold High School was destroyed (RHS itself had minor damage), and Ringgold Middle School was heavily damaged.
The storm then crossed the Tennessee state line at 8:28 p.m. EDT, into Hamilton
Hamilton County, Tennessee
Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was named for Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 310,935 . Its county seat is Chattanooga....
and Bradley County, Tennessee, and became a strong EF4, before lifting in Polk County. Many homes in Hamilton County and Bradley county were leveled, with numerous other homes suffering varying degrees of damage. The tornado tore straight through the small community of Apison
Apison, Tennessee
Apison is an unincorporated community in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. It is a rural area east of the city of Chattanooga, and also borders Ooltewah, Collegedale, and rural parts of north Georgia to the south...
, devastating much of the town and killing 8 people. Homes in the area were swept off of their foundations by the tornado. Severe damage also took place in Cleveland
Cleveland, Tennessee
Cleveland is a city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,285 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bradley County...
as the tornado moved through several subdivision and neighborhoods, damaging and destroying multiple homes, which resulted in 5 fatalities in the area. Several trees were felled in Polk County, before the tornado dissipated. All roads in and out of Ringgold were closed until the morning of April 29; after roads leading to the affected areas were reopened, residents and business owners were allowed to return, being allowed entry only by providing identification, and informing police a reason why they are entering into the area, in order to curb looting in the storm-damaged areas.
The tornado killed twenty-two people along its 52 miles (83.7 km) path across Catoosa, Hamilton, Bradley, and Polk Counties, including nine fatalities in Ringgold, ranging in age from 16 to 86 years old, including an entire family of four, and another eight in Apison, Tennessee
Apison, Tennessee
Apison is an unincorporated community in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. It is a rural area east of the city of Chattanooga, and also borders Ooltewah, Collegedale, and rural parts of north Georgia to the south...
,
and at least thirty others were injured, some sustaining serious injuries. The tornado was given a rating of EF4 with winds estimated between 175-190 mph,. The damage path of the tornado was between one-third and one-half mile wide. This tornado is only the eighth in Georgia to be categorized as an EF4 or F4 on the (Enhanced) Fujita Scale
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
, since official tornado records have been kept in 1950.
Cullman/Arab tornado
Rated at EF4, this tornado tracked straight through downtown Cullman.The tornado was first seen and then tracked on tower cameras, including one operated by WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, for several minutes. Some cameras were obliterated. Radio stations in downtown Cullman also reported in on the tornado and some even captured the tornado passing over until their broadcast towers were destroyed. Preliminary reports stated that the courthouse and EMS building nearby took a direct hit from the twister. Many well-known businesses such as Vincent's Furniture, the Cullman Times, and the Busy Bee Cafe were severely damaged or destroyed.
Downtown Cullman was badly damaged by the tornado. The major damage was along a two-block area through the center of the downtown business district. The tornado more or less followed U.S. Highway 278 through the city, which in turn led to the tornado crossing and creating extensive damage along many major intersections, including those with Interstate 65
Interstate 65
Interstate 65 is a major Interstate Highway in the United States. The southern terminus is located at an intersection with Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama, and its northern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 90 , U.S. Route 12, and U.S...
, U.S. Highway 31, Alabama Highway 157
Alabama State Route 157
State Route 157 is a long route in the northern and northwestern part of the state. The southern terminus of the route is at the junction with U.S. Highway 278 approximately ten miles east of Cullman, and the northern terminus of the route is at the Tennessee state line northwest of Florence...
, and Alabama Highway 69. There were several homes destroyed from the tornado with much damage resulting from fallen trees. Residential damage was especially heavy along West Main Avenue and in the eastern downtown Historical District. Many homes destroyed exceeded 100 years in age. East Elementary School, one of the city's two elementary schools, received moderate damage as it is located in the middle of the Historical District, which took a direct hit. Minor to moderate wind damage occurred on the campuses of Cullman Middle School and Cullman High School
Cullman High School
Cullman High School is the largest public high school in the city of Cullman, Alabama as well as Cullman County, Alabama. The school is classified as a 5A school and belongs to the Cullman City School District....
as well. Cullman Tornado Damage Aerials
This tornado continued Northeast and swept away a gas station in Arab, Alabama
Arab, Alabama
Arab is a city in both Cullman County, Alabama and Marshall County, Alabama in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, located ten miles from Guntersville Lake and Guntersville Dam, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area...
along with completely crippling Arab's power grid and obstructing many roads with trees. Homes in the area were found swept away from their foundations. Six fatalities were reported from this tornado.
Shoal Creek/Ohatchee tornado
After the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham tornado lifted, at around 7:00pm, the same supercell produced another tornado, which touched down in the rural community of Shoal Creek Valley, located between Ashville and Ragland in St. Clair County, Alabama. The tornado intensity varied from EF3 to EF4 as the storm moved.The path of destruction began just east of County Road 26 (around the 3000 Shoal Creek Road address block) and followed along County Road 22/Shoal Creek Road for approximately 12.5 miles (20.1 km). The tornado's path and width varied greatly along Shoal Creek Road, with some areas showing damage much worse on one side of the road than the other, while other areas showed equal devastation on both sides of the road. Finally, the tornado destroyed many waterfront homes at the end of the valley, crossed Neely Henry Lake and continued its destructive path in Ohatchee, Alabama. Damage ranged from downed trees and roof damage to total destruction as the tornado roared through the valley at 50-60 mph, packing winds of 180 mph+. The official count of homes destroyed or heavily damaged in Shoal Creek Valley was set at 256. Most phone lines, power lines and poles were destroyed, and water lines were severed by uprooted trees. Entire homes were leveled, and in some cases completely removed by the storm, leaving only brick steps, a fireplace and chimney, or a slab behind. Barns, vehicles, tractors and heavy farming equipment were shredded and moved up to 1/2 mile. Livestock were thrown and killed, and the initial human death toll of 13 would eventually rise to 15 in the area.
Those that rode out the storm in Shoal Creek Valley describe the classic "freight train" rumble of the tornado, feeling their ears "pop" as the low-pressure tornado approached, and the ground "shaking like an earthquake." Many say that the storm lasted 10 or 15 seconds. This tornado's final death toll along its entire path would eventually come to 22. Many people were missing from this area and were never found.
Non-tornadic effects
This storm system prolonged an ongoing heavy rain event, which began across Arkansas and Missouri on April 22. Weekly rainfall totals reached 19.73 inches (501.1 mm) six miles (10 km) east-northeast of Springdale, ArkansasSpringdale, Arkansas
As of the census of 2010, there were 69,797 people, 22,805 households, and 16,640 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.7% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 1.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 5.7% Pacific Islander, 22% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more...
, 16.2 inches (411.5 mm) four miles (6 km) northwest of Poplar Bluff, Missouri
Poplar Bluff, Missouri
Poplar Bluff is a city in Butler County located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. It is the county seat of Butler County and is known as "The Gateway to the Ozarks" among other names. As of the 2000 U.S...
, and 14.96 inches (380 mm) at Westville, Oklahoma
Westville, Oklahoma
Westville is a town in Adair County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,596 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Westville is located at ....
. On April 25, 2011, thunderstorms with high winds swept through parts of southern and southeastern Ohio. Straight-line winds estimated at 80 miles per hour (128.7 km/h) uprooted trees, damaged roofs, and downed power lines through Perry County, Ohio
Perry County, Ohio
Perry County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. Founded on March 1, 1818, it was the 55th county to be formed in Ohio. Portions of Fairfield, Washington and Muskingum Counties were taken to create Perry County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 36,058. Its county seat...
and Athens County, Ohio
Athens County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,223 people, 22,501 households, and 12,713 families residing in the county. The population density was 123 people per square mile . There were 24,901 housing units at an average density of 49 per square mile...
. Strong thunderstorms and heavy downpours which led to flooding was also reported in multiple areas across Upstate New York with heavy flooding in the Syracuse, New York area. Interstate 81
Interstate 81
Interstate 81 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island at the Canadian border, where the Thousand Islands Bridge connects it to Highway 401, the main freeway...
was briefly shut down downtown at traffic hour and Upstate University Hospital also closed briefly due to flooding in the lobby.
Farther south, flash flooding late on April 26 resulted in two fatalities in Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
after an apartment complex was swamped. The flooding there was considered to be worse than the flooding after Hurricane Gustav
Hurricane Gustav
The name Gustav has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean:* 1984's Tropical Storm Gustav - Spent most of its existence as a tropical depression hovering over Bermuda, no major damage was reported....
in 2008
2008 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was a very active hurricane season with sixteen named storms formed, including eight that became hurricanes and five that became major hurricanes. The season officially started on June 1 and ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of...
. In central and northern Arkansas, up to 10.44 inches (265 mm) of rain was reported during that week. The resulting flash flooding in central Arkansas also resulted in five people losing their lives. Many roads were closed as a result of the flooding there. The flooding was mitigated somewhat by a significant drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
that had existed before the storm.
Severe thunderstorms were reported as far north as Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
on the evening of April 26. Heavy rains and minor flooding were also reported in Northern Ontario from April 26–28. Windstorms were also reported in Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...
and Southern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
which resulted in several injuries and one death, damages and power outages.
Other fatalities due to straight-line winds occurred in McComb, Mississippi
McComb, Mississippi
McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States, about south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 13,644. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi, Micropolitan Statistical Area...
early on April 26 and also in Moody, Alabama
Moody, Alabama
Moody is a city in St. Clair County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 8,053.-Geography:Moody is located at .According to the U.S...
, Vestavia Hills, Alabama
Vestavia Hills, Alabama
Vestavia Hills is a city in Jefferson and Shelby Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of the city of Birmingham.-History:Vestavia Hills is named for the estate of former Birmingham mayor George B. Ward. It was situated on the crest of Shades Mountain in what is now the northern...
and Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin is a city within and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 62,487 as of the 2010 census Franklin is located approximately south of downtown Nashville.-History:...
early on April 27 from the squall line with embedded tornadoes.
Aftermath
Alabama Governor Robert J. Bentley declared a state of emergency in the state of Alabama on April 27, due to storm damage from severe thunderstorms earlier that day as well as forthcoming severe weather later that day. States of emergency were also declared in Arkansas, KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, and Oklahoma because of the flooding and tornadoes. Following the tornado outbreak on the evening of April 27, President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
granted a federal emergency declaration for the state of Alabama, giving federal assistance, including search and rescue assets, to the affected region. There have unfortunately been several fatalities since the outbreaks from accidents sustained by volunteers as a part of the clean-up initiative.
More than 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to Alabama, assisting local and state first responders in search and rescue efforts. President Obama visited the affected areas of Alabama on April 29. Also on April 29, he approved a federal disaster declaration for seven Mississippi counties: Clarke
Clarke County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 17,955 people, 6,978 households, and 5,024 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile . There were 8,100 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
, Greene
Greene County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 13,299 people, 4,148 households, and 3,152 families residing in the county. The population density was 19 people per square mile . There were 4,947 housing units at an average density of 7 per square mile...
, Hinds
Hinds County, Mississippi
As of the census of 2000, there were 250,800 people, 91,030 households, and 62,355 families residing in the county. The population density was 288 people per square mile . There were 100,287 housing units at an average density of 115 per square mile...
, Jasper
Jasper County, Mississippi
-History:Jasper County was formed in 1833 from the middle section of what been Jones County. It was named for Sgt. William Jasper who first distinguished himself in the defense of Fort Moultrie in 1776. When a shell from a British warship shot away the flagstaff, he recovered the flag, raised it on...
, Kemper
Kemper County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,453 people, 3,909 households, and 2,787 families residing in the county. The population density was 14 people per square mile . There were 4,533 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile...
, Lafayette
Lafayette County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,744 people, 14,373 households, and 8,321 families residing in the county. The population density was 61 people per square mile . There were 16,587 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
, and Monroe
Monroe County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,014 people, 14,603 households, and 10,660 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile . There were 16,236 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
.
The tornadoes prompted FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
to cancel a planned crossover
Night of the Hurricane
Night of the Hurricane is a three-part crossover event in the Animation Domination block on Fox with all three animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane: Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. The event depicts a storm which hits the towns of Stoolbend, Quahog and Langley Falls...
between all three Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
series that would have had a hurricane bring the families of The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States...
, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
and American Dad!
American Dad!
American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television...
all together. The crossover was rescheduled and was broadcast October 2.
Electricity outage
Storms through the area severely damaged Tennessee Valley AuthorityTennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
(TVA)'s power grid
Electric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
for transmitting electricity throughout the region. More than 300 power transmission towers, 120 feet (36.6 m) to 150 feet (45.7 m) tall, were destroyed in the storms, some "twisted like bow ties" according to National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Holweg. The towers supported some 90 transmission lines, a mixture of 500kV
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
and 161kV lines. Those lines provided power from TVA to 128 regional distributors.
TVA lost the ability to transmit power from both Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant and Widows Creek Fossil Plant
Widows Creek Power Plant
Widows Creek Power Plant is a major 1600-MWe coal-fired power station, east of Stevenson, Alabama USA. The plant, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, generates about nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year...
after the storms on April 27, requiring both to be shut down. The nuclear plant's cold shutdown
Shutdown (nuclear reactor)
In a nuclear reactor, shutdown refers to the state of the reactor when it is subcritical by at least a margin defined in the reactor's technical specifications...
was supported by diesel generators for four days until a second 161kV line could be restored to the plant. The loss of redundant off-site power required a "notification of unusual event", the lowest of four levels of concern dictated by the NRC
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
. Some 60% of the sirens for warning residents of worse problems around Browns Ferry were disabled by the storms, and the plant had to arrange plans to use cars with loudspeakers to warn residents in case of another problem. Chief Operating Officer Bill McCollum of TVA stated that it could be weeks before the nuclear plant is up and running again. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission stated at a press conference: "The plants' conditions are stable and are being placed in a cooled-down condition."
Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
was the largest city with no electricity from TVA. All the traffic lights were off, a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed, students were sent home from United States Space Camp
United States Space Camp
U.S. Space Camp is owned and operated by the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission d.b.a. U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "Space Camp" refers to both the actual camp and a family of related camp programs offered year-round by the facility. The camp provides residential and...
, and Panoply Arts Festival
Panoply Arts Festival
The Panoply Arts Festival, an annual three-day celebration of the arts in Huntsville, Alabama, has been a Huntsville tradition since it first opened on Friday, 14 May 1982...
was cancelled. Power was restored gradually to Huntsville, beginning with 3% on Sunday morning, after the Wednesday tornadoes. Only localized outages remained eight days after the storm. In addition to traffic and safety issues, the outage caused difficulties with water treatment and distribution and retail of all kinds, including gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
and food purchases.
Ontario electricity outages were minor, mostly caused by the windstorms of April 28. Although they affected thousands of people at different times throughout the day, all power was restored by the end of the day.
See also
- List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes
- List of United States disasters by death toll
- List of tornadoes striking downtown areas
- Tornado recordsTornado recordsThis article lists various tornado records. The most extreme tornado in recorded history was the Tri-State Tornado, which roared through parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925. It was likely an F5, though tornadoes were not ranked on any scale in that era...
- Tornadoes of 2011Tornadoes of 2011This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 2011. Extremely destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the U.S., Bangladesh and Eastern India, but they can occur almost anywhere under the right conditions...
- 2011 Mississippi River floods2011 Mississippi River floodsThe Mississippi River floods in April and May 2011 were among the largest and most damaging recorded along the U.S. waterway in the past century, comparable in extent to the major floods of 1927 and 1993. In April 2011, two major storm systems deposited record levels of rainfall on the Mississippi...
– Major flooding event partially related to the same storm that caused the tornado outbreak - Tri-State TornadoTri-State TornadoThe Tri-State Tornado of Wednesday, March 18, 1925, was the deadliest tornado in U.S. history. With 695 confirmed fatalities, the tornado killed more than twice as many as the second deadliest, the 1840 Great Natchez Tornado...
– Deadliest tornado in North America, and made March 18, 1925 the deadliest tornado day recorded in the U.S. - 1932 Deep South tornado outbreak1932 Deep South tornado outbreakThe 1932 Deep South tornado outbreak is a deadly tornado outbreak that struck the southern United States on March 21–22, 1932. The outbreak produced tornadoes from Texas to South Carolina, and as far north as Illinois...
– Deadliest tornado outbreak in Alabama history, including an F4 tornado that tracked through Tuscaloosa. - 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak – Infamous tornado outbreak occurring on April 5–6, 1936. Deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak since the March, 1925 (Tri-State Tornado) outbreak, thus surpassing the March, 1932, April, 1974, and April, 2011 outbreaks in total fatalities.
- April 1956 Birmingham tornado – F4 tornado that hit the northern Birmingham suburbs on April 15, 1956.
- Super OutbreakSuper OutbreakThe Super Outbreak is the second largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period, just behind the tornado outbreak of April 25–28, 2011...
– Infamous tornado outbreak occurring on April 3–4, 1974, similar in severity to the April 25–28, 2011 outbreak; the April 2011 event surpassed the Super Outbreak as the deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak since official tornado records were kept in 1950; Tanner, Alabama was struck by violent tornadoes during both events. - April 1977 Birmingham tornado – F5 tornado that hit the northern Birmingham suburbs on April 4, 1977.
- 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak – March 27, 1994 outbreak that produced an F4 tornado in St. Clair, Calhoun and Cherokee Counties in north-central Alabama.
- April 1998 Birmingham tornado – F5 tornado that struck western parts of Birmingham on April 8, 1998.
- December 2000 Tuscaloosa tornado – F4 tornado that hit southeast suburbs of Tuscaloosa on December 16, 2000.
External links
- Hook-Echo.com Tornado Outbreak Overview
- Time lapse visualization of the April 25th-28th tornado outbreak
Emergency Tornado Aid
- Alabama Red Cross
- National Red Cross
- Tuscaloosa News People Finder Set up by local newspaper to aid in finding loved ones and friends missing in the tornado.
Memorials
Pictures from Tuscaloosa, Alabama:
For the latest severe weather information: