Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: How much damage did the Joplin tornado cause?
Overall, the tornado killed 158 people (with an additional three indirect deaths), injured some 1,150 others, and caused damages amounting to a total of $2.8 billion. It was the deadliest tornado to strike the United States since the 1947 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes, and the seventh-deadliest overall.
The tornado then continued on an east to east-southeast trajectory towards Interstate 44 where it weakened; nonetheless, vehicles were blown off the highway and mangled near the U.S. Route 71 (Exit 11) interchange. The damage at and around the interchange was rated EF2 to EF3. The weakening tornado continued to track into the rural areas of southeastern Jasper County and northeastern Newton County where damage was generally minor to moderate, with trees, mobile homes, outbuildings, and frame homes damaged mainly at EF0 to EF1 strength. The tornado lifted east of Diamond at 6:12pm CDT (23:12 UTC) according to aerial surveys. The tornado's total track length was at least 22.1 miles (35.6km) long. Overall, 6,954 homes were destroyed, 359 homes had major damage and 516 had minor damage, 158 people were killed, and 1,150 others were injured along the path.[6][4] A separate EF2 tornado touched down near Wentworth from the same supercell about 25 miles (40km) east-southeast of Joplin.[6][7]
In this plan they discussed past disasters, mainly hurricanes, and how much damage was caused by the disaster to how much money was spent on recovery. They also talked about how many homes were destroyed and how it affected the Outer Banks in general, but mainly how it affected Dare County. When talking about the past disasters they experienced, they went into detail talking about how much flooding they caused and how much the sea level rose around their area. In the Dare County Mitigation Plan, they discuss each type of disaster there is and how it could affect that particular county. They also talk about the likelihood of that particular disaster to happen in the area. For instance, Dare County is not likely to have a tornado hit them unless it is a water tornado that spins from the ocean and causes very little damage.Dare County Mitigation Plan
It was later confirmed that much of the damage was caused by two strong tornadoes that were embedded inside the derecho; an EF2 in Gladstone and an EF3 in Brookridge. According to Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser, over 300 structures were damaged. In Gladstone over 200 buildings were damaged and several were destroyed according to the mayor. Tornadoes also hit Douglas County, Kansas causing locally significant damage. There no reports of fatalities with these storms. It was later reported that despite tornado warnings, many tornado sirens were not sounded in Douglas County and in other parts of the Kansas City Metro.
List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks List of tornadoes causing 100 or more deaths Tornadoes of 2011 Tornado intensity and damage Tornado records
In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers published a study disputing the tornado's initial EF5 rating, based on surveying damage on over 150 structures within a six mile segment of the storm's path. According to the report, over 83 percent of the damage was caused by wind speeds of 135 miles per hour or less, the maximum wind speed of an EF2 tornado. An additional 13 percent was caused by EF3 wind speeds, and 3 percent was consistent with EF4 winds. The study found no damage consistent with wind speeds over 200 miles per hour, the minimum threshold of an EF5 tornado.[44] Researchers concluded that the inability to find EF5 damage was due to the absence of construction standards that were able to determine the necessary wind speeds. Bill Colbourne, a member of the engineering team that surveyed the damage, declared that "a relatively large number of buildings could have survived in Joplin if they had been built to sustain hurricane winds."
Yet another severe weather event developed across the Midwest and southern Great Plains on April 19 as another dynamic low pressure system tracked across the area. Thunderstorms began in the late afternoon and early evening with large hail and several tornadoes. Significant damage was reported near Bowling Green, Missouri and Girard, Illinois as a result of tornadoes, the latter of which was rated EF3. Another large tornado was reported near Octavia, Oklahoma before the supercells merged into a very large squall line. Overnight, the squall line tracked eastward with widespread wind damage and many embedded tornadoes across several states, a few as strong as EF2 but most were brief and weak. In the early hours of April 20, 2011, a tornado tore through a neighborhood in Oregon, Ohio leaving some significant damage and no injuries. Also, 3 tornadoes hit New Albany, Indiana, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. Both cities are just north of Louisville, Kentucky On April 22, the outbreak continued with several tornadoes causing damage in the Midwest, the most notable being a violent EF4 that struck St. Louis, Missouri, causing extensive damage. A few more tornadoes were reported on April 23–24, however most did not cause any severe damage, though one EF2 tornado caused structural damage in the town of Bardwell, Kentucky.
On the night of October 21, several tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma. One of these was a high-end EF1 that impacted the southwestern fringes of Norman in the vicinity of Interstate 35 and Oklahoma State Highway 9. The tornado caused damage to trees and power poles, and damaged or destroyed several metal sheds and outbuildings. The touchdown of the tornado was seen on live television as storm chasers Val and Amy Castor from KWTV-DT were in the immediate vicinity of the tornado when it formed, causing light damage to their vehicle as it passed directly overhead. The tornado also did damage to part of the Riverwind Casino, which at the time was hosting a Beach Boys concert attended by Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. Despite the damage, no injuries were reported. Another EF1 tornado struck the town of Seminole, where there was considerable damage to homes, businesses, trees, and a church. Tornado activity on October 22 was limited to a single EF1 that injured one person and caused moderate damage to a large industrial building and some trailers in Pascagoula, Mississippi; the second EF1 tornado to cause damage in Pascagoula in the year 2017. The most significant tornado activity occurred on October 23, as an EF1 tornado downed many trees and damaged several homes in Spartanburg, South Carolina. After the initial Spartanburg tornado dissipated, a second, stronger EF2 tornado caused major damage to industrial buildings, a metal truss tower, trees and power poles, a gas station, and vehicles in the northwestern part of the city, and injured one person. Another EF2 tornado damaged or destroyed multiple homes, destroyed outbuildings, and snapped trees and power poles near Gaffney. In North Carolina, an EF2 tornado destroyed a hangar and several planes at the airport in Hickory. The Hickory tornado also downed hundreds of trees onto structures and vehicles. Overall, this outbreak produced 21 tornadoes and did not result in any fatalities.
Numerous tornadoes ripped across parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Florida. A large, violent tornado struck Mayflower and Vilonia, Arkansas, on April 27 causing severe damage and killing 16 people. The tornado was rated a high-end EF4, the first violent tornado of the year. Another death was confirmed earlier that evening with an EF2 tornado that moved through Quapaw, Oklahoma, and Baxter Springs, Kansas. Ten people were killed on the 28th when an EF4 tornado struck Louisville, Mississippi. EF3s caused major damage and fatalities in Coxey, Alabama and Tupelo, Mississippi, as well. Overall, this outbreak produced 84 tornadoes and killed 35 people. The city of Joplin, Missouri was under a tornado watch on April 27.
Located in Tornado Alley, Missouri also receives extreme weather in the form of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. The most recent tornado in the state to cause damage and casualties was the 2011 Joplin tornado, which destroyed roughly one-third of the city of Joplin. The tornado caused an estimated $1–3 billion in damages, killed 159 (+1 non-tornadic), and injured over 1,000 people. It was the first EF5 to hit the state since 1957 and the deadliest in the U.S. since 1947, making it the seventh deadliest tornado in American history and 27th deadliest in the world. St. Louis and its suburbs also have a history of experiencing particularly severe tornadoes, the most recent memorable one being an EF4 tornado that damaged Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on April 22, 2011. One of the worst tornadoes in American history struck St. Louis on May 27, 1896, killing at least 255 and causing $10 mil. damage ($3.9 bil. damage in 2009) or $ in today's dollars.
After the tornado dissipated at approximately 10:45 p.m. CDT in southeastern Noble County, northeast of Perry, many of the same areas of Logan County struck by the Mulhall tornado were hit again by an F3 tornado produced by a separate supercell that touched down south of Crescent at 11:33 p.m. CDT. Damage caused by this tornado was indistinguishable from damage caused by the earlier F4 tornado. 25 homes were destroyed and 30 others were damaged near Crescent, with much of the damage believed to have been caused by both tornadoes.
On October 31, the Storm Prediction Center issued an enhanced risk of severe weather for eastern Texas, much of Louisiana, and southwestern Mississippi. This included a 10% hatched risk area for tornadoes. Later that night, a line of severe storms with multiple embedded tornadoes moved through the region. In Texas, the towns of Cushing, Evadale, and Angleton all sustained minor to moderate damage from weak tornadoes. A supercell thunderstorm that developed ahead of the main line produced a long-tracked EF2 tornado that touched down in Alexandria, Louisiana, where several businesses sustained significant damage before the tornado continued through rural areas to the northeast, destroying multiple mobile homes, causing additional damage in Trout, and injuring two people. Severe weather spread eastward throughout the region into the early morning hours of November 1, and numerous tornadoes touched down. Strong EF2 tornadoes caused damage near the Louisiana towns of Oakdale, Cheneyville, Bogalusa, and Varnado. In Mississippi, an EF1 tornado caused minor to moderate damage in Port Gibson. North of town, a second EF1 tornado caused one fatality when a car drove into a falling tree. An EF2 tore most of the roof off of a house and snapped power poles in Morgantown as well. On November 2, despite only a marginal risk being issued by the Storm Prediction Center, scattered tornadoes continued further east in the Mid-Atlantic region and southward into Florida. An EF1 touched down in Baltimore, Maryland, where a wall collapse at an Amazon warehouse killed two employees. An EF2 tornado tore the roof off of a house, damaged two other homes, and caused major tree damage near Crystal Hill, Virginia as well. In Florida, a few weak tornadoes also caused damage. Fifty-six tornadoes were confirmed as a result of this outbreak, which killed 3 people, making it the deadliest North American tornado event of 2018.
This was the deadliest tornado recorded in Oklahoma since an F5 tornado killed 107 people in Woodward on April 9, 1947. It was also the deadliest tornado ever recorded in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area; the previous record was held by an F4 tornado that affected southwestern portions of the city on June 12, 1942, killing 31 people and causing $500,000 in damage ($ million in (2021 USD) when adjusted for inflation). It was the costliest tornado in US history until an EF4 tornado hit Tuscaloosa and northern portions of Birmingham, Alabama on April 27, 2011, causing an estimated $2.45 billion in damage (, the Bridge Creek–Moore tornado is the fourth-costliest tornado, having been surpassed by the EF5 tornadoes that hit Joplin on May 22, 2011, and areas of Moore near the 1999 storm track on May 20, 2013). National Weather Service researchers estimated that the death toll from the storm would likely have exceeded 600 had it not been for the advanced warning through local television and radio stations and exercising proper safety precautions.
Four years after an F5 tornado caused incredible damage across much of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area during the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak, another strong tornado affected the area. The storm responsible for the tornado developed across Grady County during the mid-afternoon hours and produced a weak tornado near Newcastle and west of Moore. Just after 5:00 pm, a new tornado touched down on the west side of Moore west of Interstate 35 and moved east northeast across the city; the tornado proceeded to cause damage across southeastern sections of Oklahoma City, including Tinker Air Force Base near Interstate 40, and also near Midwest City and Choctaw. Despite extensive damage along the path, no fatalities were caused by the tornado, although dozens of injuries were reported across Cleveland and Oklahoma Counties.
Within Moore city-limits, the peak damage caused near the center of the tornado was mostly rated as F2, although a few isolated locations received F3-rated damage; F3 damage in Moore was observed near 12th Street where several businesses, two hotels, an office building, a church, several restaurants, a child center and a Headstart Program building were either severely damaged or destroyed. The tornado also damaged numerous homes in the Highland Park subdivision which was mostly destroyed by the F5 tornado which passed just a few blocks north of the May 8, 2003 tornado. Other homes on the north side of the city also sustained significant damage before the tornado crossed the Cleveland-Oklahoma county line.
Due to the severe damage caused by the tornado, the travelling Piccadilly Circus was unable to perform as scheduled. As a result, the circus employees brought their two adult elephants to help drag damaged automobiles and other heavy debris out of the roadway to make a path for first responders.[24]
The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornado strength from weakest, an EF0 tornado, to strongest, an EF5 tornado, by the damage the tornado caused to property and infrastructure. An EF0 tornado has winds from 65–85 MPH (105–137 KPH), may take off a roof or damage gutters, and can bring down tree limbs. If a tornado causes no damage because it did not occur in a populated area, it is always classed as EF0. An EF5 tornado has winds over 200 MPH (322 KPH) and can totally destroy reinforced concrete structures, even throwing rail cars a considerable distance.
The school is about 30 blocks northeast of the worst of the devastation of the 2011 Joplin tornado which destroyed much of southern Joplin on May 22, 2011—one day after the school's graduation. Joplin High School had just completed its school graduation on the campus shortly before the tornado. The Leggett and Platt Athletic Center was used as an emergency shelter for victims. Billingsly Student Center was the headquarters for volunteer efforts run by Americorps St. Louis and was the coordination area for identifying victims and survivors. On May 29, 2011, Barack Obama, who was inspecting the damage, spoke at the Taylor Performing Arts Center.
A moderate risk of severe weather was issued for much of the Midwest south to Oklahoma for May 22. The first tornadic supercell that day developed in the mid-afternoon hours over the western Twin Cities with a swath of damage, especially in and around Minneapolis, Minnesota. An intense tornado also tracked towards Harmony, Minnesota that afternoon and a tornado emergency was issued. Late that afternoon, at about 5:15 pm CDT (2215 UTC), a very large and intense multiple-vortex tornado resulted in catastrophic damage in Joplin, Missouri. Many houses and businesses were flattened and some even were blown away in Joplin, the main hospital was heavily damaged and many people were reported to have been trapped in destroyed houses. The Weather Channel video showed entire communities flattened. Early reports suggest there were at least 125 fatalities, but as of May 2012, the death toll was confirmed at exactly 158, and another 1,000+ injured. This tornado was given a rating of EF5.
On June 22, 2010, an EF0-rated tornado touched down in Campbelltown. Storm chaser Mike Brulo documented the entire storm, including the tornado. This weak tornado did not cause as much damage as the one in 2004. Brulo's video can be found here.
A small local outbreak of 8 F0 tornadoes hit northwestern Minnesota, causing minimal damage and no injuries.A moderate outbreak of tornadoes stretched across much of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Mostly minor, there was one significant F2 tornado near Dustin, Oklahoma.Another moderate outbreak occurred, mainly on the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. A few also occurred in eastern Ohio, and one in West Virginia. An F2 touched down in Hartland, Michigan, and caused significant damage to the town, mostly to hundreds of damaged and totalled vehicles. This tornado also destroyed a towing company and damaged a manufacturing plant to the north. Three people were injured by this tornado. Three others were injured in three separate F1 tornadoes, in Elwell, Michigan, Shepherd, Michigan, and Canton, Ohio. The outbreak caused more than $7 million in damage.
Similar to fatalities, damage (and observations) of a tornado are a coincidence of what character of tornado interacts with certain characteristics of built up areas. That is, destructive tornadoes are in a sense "accidents" of a large tornado striking a large population. In addition to population and changes thereof, comparing damage historically is subject to changes in wealth and inflation. The 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado on May 27, incurred the most damages adjusted for wealth and inflation, at an estimated $2.9billion (1997USD). In raw numbers, the Joplin tornado of May 22, 2011 is considered the costliest tornado in recent history, with damage totals near $2.8 billion (2011 USD). Until 2011, the "Bridge Creek-Moore tornado" of May 3, 1999 was the most damaging.[12]
The 1953 Flint-Beecher Tornado occurred on Monday, June 8, 1953, and ranks as the deadliest in Michigan history and the 10th deadliest in United States history. Rated as an F5 on the Fujita Scale, the tornado touched down in Genesee County, Michigan, at 8:30 p.m. (01:30 UTC) and continued on a 27-mile (43 km) path causing 116 fatalities, 844 injuries and an estimated $19 million (1953 USD) in damage. Most of the casualties and damage occurred in the unincorporated community of Beecher, a suburb on the northern edge of the city of Flint, Michigan. The tornado was one of eight tornadoes that touched down the same day in eastern lower Michigan and northwest Ohio. It was also part of the larger Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak of severe weather that began over Nebraska and Iowa, before moving east across the upper Great Lakes states and Ontario, and on to New York and New England causing more deadly tornadoes. This is often noted as the last single tornado to exact a triple-digit death toll in the United States until the 2011 Joplin Tornado.
The tornado initially touched down just east of the Missouri-Kansas state line near the end of 32nd Street at 5:34pm CDT (22:34 UTC) and tracked due east, downing a few trees at EF0 intensity. Eyewitnesses and storm chasers reported multiple vortices rotating around the parent circulation in that area.[6][7] Civil defense sirens sounded in Joplin 20 minutes before the tornado struck in response to a tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service, but many Joplin residents didn't heed them.[8] The tornado strengthened to EF1 intensity as it continued through rural areas towards Joplin, snapping trees and power poles and damaging outbuildings. Widening, the tornado then tracked into the more densely populated southwest corner of the city near the Twin Hills Country Club. It heavily damaged several homes at a subdivision in this area at EF1 to EF2 strength. The tornado continued to strengthen as it ripped through another subdivision just east of Iron Gates Rd. Numerous homes were destroyed at EF2 to EF3 strength at that location, and multiple vehicles were tossed around, some of which were thrown on or rolled into homes.[6]
On February 24, the Storm Prediction Center issued an enhanced risk of severe weather across much of the Lower Mississippi River Valley. This included a 10% hatched risk area for tornadoes. A mixed convective mode was predicted, with both bowing line segments and discrete supercell thunderstorms expected to develop in the threat area. Throughout the event, the development of isolated supcercell thunderstorms that was expected did not occur. However, a large quasi-linear convective system developed, and numerous semi-discrete supercell structures and embedded mesovortices within the larger line of severe storms produced a moderate outbreak of tornadoes. While most of these tornadoes were relatively brief, several of them were strong, resulting in major damage and fatalities. A high-end EF2 tornado near Adairville, Kentucky destroyed several homes and barns and killed an elderly woman, ending a record 283-day streak without any tornado-related deaths. Another high-end EF2 struck the southeast side of Hopkinsville, severely damaging multiple two-story apartment buildings and injuring nine people. An EF1 tornado caused roof damage to many homes and businesses in Murray as well. In Arkansas, an EF1 tornado caused moderate damage to many structures in the town of Keiser and blew much of the roof off of a hotel near Osceola. An EF2 tornado near Knobel killed one person when a mobile home was thrown into a pond. The same tornado later crossed into Missouri and struck the town of Malden, where numerous homes were heavily damaged and several people were injured. Also in Missouri, several homes in the town of Matthews had their roofs ripped off as the result of an EF2 tornado. Another EF2 tornado touched down in the eastern part of Clarksville, Tennessee as well, where several homes and duplexes were damaged or destroyed, and many vehicles and a few buildings were damaged at an industrial complex. A total of 30 tornadoes were confirmed as a result of this outbreak, which resulted in two fatalities and at least 20 injuries.
A moderate risk of severe weather was issued for much of the Midwest, as well as further south to Oklahoma for May 22. The first tornadic supercell developed in the mid-afternoon hours over the western Twin Cities in Minnesota, and caused moderate damage in the Minneapolis area. Shortly thereafter, an intense tornado crept towards Harmony, Minnesota, prompting the National Weather Service to issue the first tornado emergency of the outbreak. Late that afternoon, a large, intense EF5 multiple-vortex tornado left catastrophic destruction in Joplin, Missouri. Causing 158 fatalities, it was the deadliest single tornado in the U.S. since at least 1947.