Top 10 Worst Tornadoes In American History

It's getting to that time of year when tornadoes start popping up and people start thinking of past storms. Every summer people like to talk to about the worst storms they can remember or that they know of. These strong and dangerous tornadoes were the fingers of God.

10. Waco, Texas 1953

Via srh.noaa.gov

This tornado was known as "The Deadliest Tornado in Texas Since 1900". This twister went through the downtown area measuring at a F5 tornado. In its path it left 114 dead along with 597 injured. The worst part was that it held a 20 mile damaged path all through Waco. At the end it caused roughly $41 million in damages.

9. Flint-Beecher, Michigan 1953

noaanews.noaa.gov / Via weather.about.com

It was a 1/2 mile wide F5 tornado that traveled a total 27 miles. The dangerous aspect of this twister was that it struck in late evening making it almost impossible to see. A total of 116 died and 850 were injured. Many of the farms and businesses in the town were destroyed leaving an estimate of $19 million in damages.

8. New Richmond, Wisconsin 1899

host.madison.com / Via weather.about.com

This particular tornado started as a waterspout over Lake St. Coix and transitioned into a tornado heading towards town. The devastating part about this day was there were an extra 1,000 people in town to see the circus. Luckily the funnel was well visible and people were able to attempt to avoid it. A total of 117 people died and 125 injured. A total of $300,000 damage was reported. Later they found that a 3,000 pound safe was flung over to a nearby block.

7. Joplin, Missouri 2011

kpbs.org / Via ustornadoes.com

Joplin's Tornado was one of the most memorable tornadoes that affected the US. It was one mile wide and rated an EF5. 158 lost their lives and 1,150 were injured along with $3 billion in damages. Many people died due to the fact of poor constructed homes and buildings. Some houses didn't even have basements. As studies went on, some people wanted to change the tornado into a EF4 since most of the damaged was from the poor constructed houses.

6. Woodward, Oklahoma 1947

srh.noaa.gov / Via history.com

With a tornado reaching 2 miles wide it leveled hundreds of town blocks and buildings. The town's gas and electricity was taken out leaving the stranded in complete darkness. The national guard had to intervene due to the fact people started looting after the storm passes. A total of 107 lost their lives that night.

5. Gainesville, Georgia 1936

zoomradar.com / Via todayingeorgiahistory.org

A day after the Tupelo tornado, two large F5 tornadoes hit downtown Gainesville. The outbreak had an estimated 7 mile track. Once the storm finally surpassed, just over 200 lost their lives. An estimated 1,600 people were injured along with millions of dollars in damages. With these two tornadoes going through downtown it left about 2,000 people homeless. Shortly after the disaster, president Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the courthouse and city hall after the rebuilding effort.

4. Tupelo, Mississippi 1936

Via zoomradar.com

The tornado was registered as a F5 reaching 200+ winds. The dangerous part of this particular tornado was that it occurred late evening around 8PM. One of the most impacted areas was Gum Pond. The report was about 200 dead and 3,500 injured. An interesting fact was one of the survivors was Elvis Presley who was only one at the time.

3. St. Louis, Missouri 1896

ncdc.noaa.gov / Via ncdc.noaa.gov

The mile wide F4 beast hit the southwest part of the city first. It destroyed numerous homes and later demolished the steam boats along the Mississippi River. The tornado even caused damage to The Eads Bridge. The bridge was known to be "tornado proof" until pieces of tree were thrown through the steal of the bridge. It lasted a total of 3 miles and killed 255 and injured 1,000 leaving a total of $12 million in damages. Many of the deaths did not include those that died from the steam boats since their bodies most likely floated down the river.

2. Natchez, Mississippi 1840

weathersnapshot.com / Via webra.cas.sc.edu

This was a massive tornado due to the fact it was a F5 tornado and also 2 miles wide. At the time it struck the town it was in the afternoon while people were still at work so many did not have time to react. 317 were found dead and an estimate of $100 million in damage today. Most of the deaths occurred when the steamboats on the river were overturned.

1. Tri-State Tornado

theguardian.com / Via history.com

Known to be the deadliest tornado ever in American history, the Tri-State tornado ripped through three states. Its path lasted 219 miles stretching through eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana lasting for over 3 hours. The frightening part about this tornado was that it was 1 mile wide moving at speeds over 70 miles per hour. Along with the huge path, 695 were found dead and 13,000 injured by this beast. The estimate of damaged was close to $17 million.