Aerial imagery taken May 4, 2011. Mayor Gregg Kennedy said one person remained missing Saturday in the town of 900, which was mostly flattened. Overall, the tornado destroyed 117 structures in Smithville and damaged 50 others, killing 16 people. The same EF5 tornado that scoured the ground near Philadelphia, Mississippi, claimed its three lives in an unfathomable way. Would you like to see more summaries like this one? [4] Another 50tornadoes touched down on this day. In fact, the first EF-5 of the outbreak developed near Smithville, Mississippi. The damage path was 37.3 miles (60.0km) long and 34 mile (1.2km) wide at its widest point, and it killed a total of 23 people along its path. A total of 303 tornado warnings were issued by the six most-affected National Weather Service Forecast offices on April 27, 2011, alone. The median income for a household in the town $32,583, and the median income for a family $38,750. Infrared satellite loop from April 27-28, 2011, showing the tornado outbreak across the South and East. This tornado continued into Alabama and had a total path length of 92.3 miles. Survey Information- Click on the location in the table for additional maps and details, Current Hazards Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Extreme debarking of trees was noted in this area, and pieces of vehicles and structures were strewn long distances throughout the woods. The remains of a Ford Explorer in Smithville, Mississippi. [2], Activity on April27 was precipitated by a 995mbar (hPa; 29.39inHg) surface low situated over Kentucky and a deep, negatively tilted (aligned northwest to southeast) trough over Arkansas and Louisiana. View Storm Report The Weather Companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. It was considered the Wal-Mart of Smithville, she said. The 2011 Smithville EF5 tornado is one of the strongest tornadoes in recorded history, and this video aims to cover every second of the storm, from genesis t. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM. By noon on April 27th, all the elements began to come together for an extreme severe weather outbreak. The Hackleburg/Phil Campbell EF5 tornado was on the ground for132 miles. Over 300 transmission towers were mangled on April 27, 2011. Aerial photo of Long Memorial United Methodist Church in Cordova, Alabama, after a pair of tornadoes tore through the town on April 27, 2011. The tornado produced additional high-end EF3 damage as it continued north of Hamilton, where several mobile homes and frame homes were destroyed, including one frame home at the bottom of a ravine that was swept clean from its foundation (though lack of road access prevented close inspection of the home's construction, precluding a potential higher rating at that location). There was no indication of ground impacts between the original site of the mobile home and where it ended up to indicate that the mobile home bounced extensively as it traveled. A large storage shed flew in on the funnel cloud and landed next door. Finally, the most destructive and deadly supercells roared across Mississippi, Alabama, north Georgia, east Tennessee and far southwest Virginia that afternoon and evening. Until April 2011, three years had passed without a single EF-5 tornadothe strongest rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale, associated with winds in excess of 200 mph. Not on April 27. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) - 2NA1HGE depuis . Air Quality, RIVERS AND LAKES The Tennessee Valley Authority's electrical generation and distribution took a massive hit from the 2011 Super Outbreak. [9] The tornado weakened as it continued through rural areas northeast of town and moved into Itawamba County, where it uprooted numerous trees and power lines and caused roof damage to a house before exiting the county. On April 3, 1974, a destructive tornado struck the city of Xenia and town of Wilberforce, Ohio, killing 36 people.The tornado stands as the deadliest individual tornado of the 1974 Super Outbreak.The tornado destroyed a large portion of Xenia, which caused meterologist Dr. Ted Fujita to initially assign a preliminary rating of F6 intensity 1 on the Fujita scale, making it one of only two . Here are all of the tornado tracks across the Midsouth for the entire late April 2011 Tornado Outbreak: Here are all of the tornado tracks across the Midsouth for Monday night, April 25th: Here are all of the tornado tracks across the Midsouth for Tuesday evening, April 26th: Here are all of the tornado tracks across the Midsouth for early Wednesday morning, April 27th: Here are all of the tornado tracks across the Midsouth for Wednesday afternoon, April 27th: CURRENT HAZARDS A pair of additional tornado warnings for the NWS-Huntsville's area of responsibility were issued by the NWS office in Jackson, Mississippi, while Huntsville employees themselves took shelter. Smithville, MS April 27, 2011 - Police Department Releases Tornado Video Show more Comments are turned off. Submit a Storm Photo This total path was over 600 miles longer than the April 3-4, 1974, Super Outbreak. Additional supercell thunderstorms formed well ahead of the dry line in the warm, very moist, unstable, and highly sheared environment present across Mississippi and Alabama. The thunderstorm system that created this EF-4 began in Mississippi. "I've looked through my own databases of tornado cases over the past decade, and can't find any tornado environment that even approaches this one," Davies wrote. The Knupp et al. Nearby towns have jumped in to help, setting up shelters, serving hamburgers, sending in clothes. Sign Up for the Morning Brief - a weekday newsletter infused with your forecast, fun facts, articles and bite-sized nuggets to energize your day. What is the small town of Smithville like today? A semi truck was torn apart with the only remaining piece found 1.4 miles away. Twenty-three were killed, and roughly 61 injured. More Satellite, FORECASTS This marks the first EF5 tornado in Mississippi since the Candlestick Park tornado on May 3, 1966. Nobody in the house was badly hurt. Hardship happens to you. Taylor Ann Boozer walks through the rubble of a demolished home May 15, 2011 in Smithville, Mississippi. NWS Before photo courtesy of Google Earth and after photo taken April 29, 2011, from NOAAs King Air Aircraft, courtesy of the National Geodetic Survey. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. This marks the first EF5 tornado in Mississippi since the Candlestick Park tornado on May 3, 1966. His best friend held the 2-year-old. The tornado then crossed the county line and weakened to EF2 strength, where it snapped and uprooted numerous large trees, damaged or destroyed several chicken houses, totaled a car, destroyed a mobile home, tore much of the roof off of a two-story house, and caused significant roof damage to several other homes before dissipating near the town of Hodges at 4:23p.m. CDT (2123 UTC). 137 other people were injured. Observations Tornado Talk, LLC 2022, All Rights Reserved, Hazel Noe, 80 (died of injuries 6 days later), Carla Jones, 37 (died protecting her niece, nephew and son), Maxine Chism, 79 (died of injures 22 days later), RoyEstes, 63 (died of injures the next day), Allan Wideman, 49 (died of injuries 9 days later). According to the NWS Memphis, it was 35.1 miles. At this point, 12 of the tornadoes were violent (EF4, EF5) with most of these having a path length greater than 70 miles. . The first supercells developed across eastern and southern Arkansas at around 3 pm ahead of the same cold front that the previous nights storms formed on. -An SUV was tossed one-half mile into the town's water tower, then blown another one-quarter mile. And an unshakeable sense of faith. (Photo by Carmen K. Sisson/Cloudybright) Sunday morning . Anyone can read what you share. Please note: Due to scheduled maintenance, many NCEI systems will be unavailable Wednesday, March 1st, 3:30 PM ET - 7:30 PM ET. Multiple episodes of tornadic activity ensued with two waves of mesoscale convective systems in the morning hours followed by a widespread outbreak of supercells from Mississippi to North Carolina during the afternoon into the evening. The governor said he had rarely seen such destruction and mentioned that the casualty count might still rise. Note: The final Apr. Overview of the Hackleburg-Harvest-Huntland AL-TN Tornadoes of April 27, 2011, Little Yazoo, MS, F4 Tornado February 21, 1971, Franklin, IN F3 Tornado October 11, 1954. All NOAA. Questions? Here are all of the tornado tracks across the Midsouth. Please try another search. One of these two tornadoes was the ef-5 tornado that struck Smithville, Ms. One other supercell thunderstorm developed along the cold front in northeastern Arkansas. One of the four EF5 tornadoes on April 27, 2011, raked through the town of Smithville, Mississippi. Click on a link below to see the latest storm survey information for the indicated Counties. As of the census[9] of 2000, there were 882 people, 365 households, and 243 families residing in the town. How Winter Fashion Has Changed in 100 Years (PHOTOS), Eerie Vintage Photos of People Battling the Flu, Democratic Republic of the Congo | Franais, State of Vatican City (Holy See) | Italiano, blogged about the rarity of seeing such extreme values. A protruding anchor bolt from slab with base plate ripped away is shown among the rubble of a destroyed home in Smithville, Mississippi, following an EF5 tornado on April 27, 2011. Weather-Ready Nation These are life-saving announcements and its critical to understand their instructions. HWY 25 southwest of Smithville, MS There were 404 housing units at an average density of 275.8 per square mile (106.8/km2). Of the 207 tornadoes April 27, 15 were rated violent tornadoes, either EF4 or EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. This storm produced 4 tornadoes over Craighead county. Nine Ways To Tell The Difference. SMITHVILLE, Miss. Since 2007, tornadoes have been rated on the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF0-EF5) based on the damage they cause. When Darwin Hathcock, the police chief, saw the funnel cloud beyond the tree line just a couple of miles away, he knew that his town would not be spared. Specifically, reports that the EF5 tornado had ripped a steel drainage pipe out of the ground were proven to have been fabricated and that road crews had dug up the pipe to ensure vehicular safety as the road was previously declared unsafe.[13]. Meteorologist and researcher Jon Davies blogged about the rarity of seeing such extreme values of shear and unstable air. Questions or comments about this summary? Smithville is a town in Monroe County, Mississippi. Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. CoCoRaHS Probabilistic Local Education Winter Weather National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, HWY 44 near Ferguson, AR to Coahoma, MS along Old HWY 61. Shottsville Tornado - April 27, 2011. (Credit: @JamesSt03713090 / Twitter) Recommended Stories Sacramento Bee How much rain and snow fell in. Radar composite from 3:40 p.m. to 11:40 p.m. EDT of the supercell responsible for the Tuscaloosa and west Birmingham tornadoes on Apr. 27, 2011. Most residents have moved in with relatives and friends in other towns. This bow echo continued its fast eastward movement and exited the Mid-South by 1 am on the 26th. Storm Reports 27, 2011. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, U.S. Drought: Weekly Report for February 21, 2023, U.S. Drought: Weekly Report for February 14, 2023, U.S. Drought: Weekly Report for February 7, 2023. Powerful tornadoes struck outside of Alabama as well. Updated with latest cost figures and additional details. National Weather Service [5][dead link][6] The tornado began producing remarkably intense damage and swept away multiple homes and structures as it moved northeast, following MS 25. There were 365 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.9% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.4% were non-families. Experiences of Smithville, Mississippi Residents with the 27 April 2011 Tornado Volume 36 Number 2 ~ December 2012 95 it is still not recommended, especially in the Southeast where tornado visibility is reduced (Ashley 2007). Ruth Estis, who was blind and elderly, was pried from the arms of her husband, Roy Lee Estis, and carried away. The atmosphere reloaded quickly Wednesday morning and became increasingly favorable for more severe storms. Several other vehicles in town were thrown hundreds of yards, torn into multiple pieces, stripped down to their frames, or wrapped around trees as well. Fire Weather Tropical Weather We recognize our responsibility to use data and technology for good. 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