Deadly Tornado Outbreak May Be Worst in U.S. History, NOAA Says
May 04, 2011, 12:56 PM EDTBy Brian K. Sullivan
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- The tornado outbreak that killed at least 327 people in the Southeast last week may have been the largest in U.S. history, with an estimated 305 twisters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
More than 600 tornadoes formed in all of April, compared with the previous record of 267 set in 1974, the agency said in a statement today. That makes April 2011 the most active month ever, breaking the record of 542 tornadoes in May 2003.
“So far, there have been an estimated 881 tornadoes in 2011,” NOAA said. “The annual tornado record is 1,817, set in 2004. May is historically the most active month for tornadoes.”
Insured losses from the outbreak that lasted from April 25 to April 27 may be as much as $5 billion, according to catastrophic risk modeler Eqecat Inc. in Oakland, California. It was the third-deadliest single outbreak, behind March 1925 with 747 deaths and March 1932 with 332, NOAA said.
The deadliest year in the U.S. was 1925 when 794 people were killed, according to NOAA.
The National Weather Service has sent teams from 21 offices in 14 states to survey the damage from last week’s outbreak. So far, destruction from 178 storms has been surveyed and officials have determined at least two of the storms were EF-5 twisters, the strongest on the six-step Enhanced Fujita Scale.
EF-5 storms produce wind gusts of more than 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour), according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Alabama was hardest-hit, with at least 250 dead, according to the state’s Emergency Management Agency.
--Editors: Charlotte Porter, Bill Banker
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
