On This Day in 1936: The Tale of Two Cities Tornado Outbreak
On April 5 and 6, 1936, a severe weather outbreak of at least 12 tornadoes struck the Southeast. The outbreak became known as the “Tale of Two Cities Tornado Outbreak” as it was mainly focused on Tupelo, Miss., and Gainesville, Ga., and is the second deadliest outbreak recorded in U.S. history.
There was a total of 8 tornadoes on April 5th, all were rated F3 or higher on the Fujita Scale of measuring tornado intensity. They occurred in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. The strongest tornado of the day was an F5 tornado that hit Tupelo, Miss.
The Tupelo, Miss., tornado formed around 8:30 p.m. on April 5th from a complex of storm cells about 8 miles outside of the city. It then moved west to east through the city. While it missed the business district, the tornado moved through many residential areas, consequently injuring or even killing whole families. According to records, the tornado leveled 48 city blocks and at least 200, perhaps even up to 900, homes. Additionally, the tornado destroyed a water tower and produced many fires in its wake. However, flooding rain overnight helped to contain the flames.
As many bodies were not recovered, the unofficial death toll is 233, which 216 are estimated to have been killed from the tornado alone. This is the fourth-deadliest tornado in U.S. history. It also caused at least 700 injuries and around $3 million (1936 USD) in damage.
The outbreak did not stop there, as at least 4 more tornadoes occurred the next day with the strongest being an F4 tornado that hit downtown Gainesville, Ga. The other tornadoes either struck Georgia or South Carolina.
The Gainesville, Ga., tornado happened around 8:30 a.m. on April 6th and was a double tornado event, one advanced from the Atlanta highway while the other approached from the Dawsonville highway. The two merged and caused catastrophic damage in the downtown area. As it moved through the downtown district, it destroyed many business buildings, including the multi-story Cooper Pants Factory. The factory was filled with workers who had just arrived for work when it collapsed and caught fire. It killed about 70 people, which is the worst tornado-caused death toll in a single building in U.S. history.
The tornado resulted in about 750 homes being destroyed while badly damaging 254 others. The final death toll could not be calculated because many of the buildings that were hit collapsed and caught fire. However, the unofficial death toll is 203, which is the fifth deadliest tornado in U.S. history. There were about 1600 injuries and about $12.5 million (1936 USD) in damage.
Gainesville, Ga., was also the site of another deadly F4 tornado on June 1, 1903, which killed 98 people. No other small town of similar size (population of 17,000 in 1936) in the U.S. has experienced such devastation twice in its history.
In total, this severe weather outbreak caused at least 454 fatalities and 2498 injuries between the 12 tornadoes. There was also $15.9 million (1936 USD) in damages. This is the only continuous tornado outbreak in U.S. history to produce more than one tornado with triple digits death tolls.
Source: Wikipedia
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Image: EASTERN PORTION OF SOUTH (FRONT) ELEVATION - Odd Fellows Hall, Sycamore and Summitt Streets, Gainesville, Hall County, GA (James Dawson O'Klley, Library of Congress)
