2011 Smithville, Mississippi tornado

2011 Smithville, Mississippi–Shottsville, Alabama tornado

Extreme damage at a residence along Highway 25 near Smithville, with part of the foundation slab pulled up and dislodged slightly.
Type Tornado
Formed April 27, 2011, 3:40 p.m. CDT (UTC–05:00)
Dissipated April 27, 2011, 4:23 p.m. CDT (UTC–05:00)
Max rating1 EF5 tornado
Highest winds
  • 205 mph (330 km/h)
Casualties 23 fatalities, 137 injuries

1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

Part of the 2011 Super Outbreak

On April 27, 2011, an extremely violent EF5 wedge tornado, with estimated winds of up to 205 mph (330 km/h), struck the town of Smithville, Mississippi at 3:47 p.m. CDT (2047 UTC) on April 27, resulting in catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities.[1]

Tornado summary

The tornado began 3 miles (4.8 km) west-southwest of Smithville along the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway near the Glover Wilkins Lock at 3:42 p.m. CDT (2042 UTC), snapping numerous trees near the Smithville Recreation Area. The tornado then rapidly intensified as it approached town, reaching EF5 intensity. As the storm crossed Davis Road South, the ground was deeply scoured in a nearby field.[2] The tornado swept away numerous homes and structures as it moved northeast, following Highway 25. A semi-truck was thrown a considerable distance and destroyed in this area, and at one residence that was swept away, part of the concrete foundation slab was pulled up and dislodged slightly.[1][2]

Remains of an SUV that was thrown half a mile into the top of the water tower seen in the background before bouncing off, traveling another 1/4 mile though the air, impacting the ground and eventually coming to rest in the parking lot of the E.E. Pickle funeral home on the opposite side of town.

The tornado then entered Smithville at maximum intensity and first struck residential areas, completely sweeping away dozens of well-built brick homes with anchor bolts, and completely debarking numerous hardwood trees. All furniture, appliances, and plumbing from homes in the direct path of the tornado was either shredded or missing, and a few homes had floor tiles scoured from their foundations. Shrubbery along the perimeter of some homes was shredded and stripped as well. An SUV was thrown a 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) into the top of the Smithville water tower, then bounced off and was hurled an additional 1⁄4-mile (400 m) before impacting the ground and eventually coming to rest on the opposite side of town, where it was later found crushed and compacted into a small ball. The town hall, post office, four churches, several businesses, the water system, and the police station were destroyed. Tar and chip pavement was torn from a road in town and rolled into piles, ground scouring was noted in several areas, and a 1965 Chevrolet pickup truck was thrown from one residence and never found.[1][3][4] The local medical clinic was destroyed as well, with supplies being scattered around town.[5] The large brick E.E. Pickle funeral home was reduced to a bare slab as the tornado exited at the northeast side of town, with the debris scattered and wind-rowed into an adjacent wooded area. Nearby granite tombstones were blown over in the opposite direction of the tornado's passage. Overall, the tornado destroyed 117 structures in Smithville and damaged 50 others, killing 16 people.[3] The tornado weakened as it continued through rural areas northeast of town and moved into Itawamba County, where it downed numerous trees and power lines and caused roof damage to a house before exiting the county.[2][6]

The tornado then continued across the Alabama state line into Marion County, where it caused EF1 damage to outbuildings and mobile homes near Bexar. Continuing northeast, the tornado re-intensified as it struck the rural community of Shottsville at high-end EF3 intensity, where homes and mobile homes were destroyed, hundreds of trees were snapped and debarked, and seven people were killed. 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).[7] Several additional homes were damaged and a chicken house was destroyed as the tornado approached the Franklin County line. The tornado then crossed into Franklin County 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 4:23 p.m. CDT (2123 UTC). The damage path was 37.3 miles (60.0 km) long and 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) wide at its widest point, and it killed a total of 23 people along its path. 137 other people were injured.[7][8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Smithville, MS EF-5 Tornado". National Weather Service in Memphis, Tennessee. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. May 30, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "April 2011 Tornado Response Imagery". National Geodetic Survey. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  3. 1 2 National Climatic Data Center (2011). "NCDC Storm Events Database". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  4. ↑ Richard Okulski; Brad Panovich (October 17, 2011). Smithville, MS Tornado presentation. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. YouTube. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ Kristina Goetz (October 23, 2011). "Deadly tornado destroyed town, not spirit, of tiny Smithville, Miss.". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  6. ↑ National Climatic Data Center (2011). "NCDC Storm Events Database". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Franklin County Alabama (Hodges Area) EF-2". National Weather Service in Huntsville, Alabama. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. June 5, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Shottsville (Marion County) EF-3 Tornado April 27, 2011". National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. August 23, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2013.

External links

  1. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/meg/?n=apr2011toroutbreaksmithville
  2. http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/apr11_tornado
  3. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=303562
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmI_2iYuchc
  5. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/23/deadly-tornado-smithville-mississippi
  6. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=303563
  7. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hun/?n=4272011_franklin_county_hodges
  8. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=event_04272011shotsville
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