SUPER TORNADO OUTBREAK 148 TORNADOES IN 18 HOURS

SUPER TORNADO OUTBREAK 148 TORNADOES IN 18 HOURS 315 -330 DEATHS $3. 5 BILLION (2005 DOLLARS) APRIL 3 -4, 1974 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

CAUSE A powerful spring-time low pressure system that developed across the North American Interior Plains on April 1 st was intensified when it collided with a system of very moist cold air creating a large contrast in temperature.

SUPER TORNADO OUTBEAK: APRIL 3 -4, 1974

STATES IMPACTED BY THE 1974 TORNADO OUTBREAK: APRIL 3 -4 • • • Illinois Indiana Ohio Kentucky Michigan Tennessee

STATES IMPACTED BY THE 1974 TORNADO OUTBREAK: APRIL 3 -4 • • Alabama Mississippi Georgia North Carolina Virginia West Virginia New York

DIMENSIONS OF THE TORNADO OUTBREAK • • DURATION: 18 HOURS MAXIMUM: F 5 AREA OF IMPACT: 13 STATES DAMAGE: $3. 5 BILLION (2005 DOLLARS)

DISTRIBUTION OF STORMS IN THE 1974 OUTBREAK • • • 6 F 5’s (Including the Xenia storm) 24 F 4’s 34 F 3’s 32 F 2’s 33 F 1’s

XENIA, OHIO: ONE OF THE WORST TORNADOES IN HISTORY The tornado formed near Bellbrook, Ohio at 4: 30 pm EDT, and reached Xenia as a F 5 storm at 4: 40 pm.

THE TORNADO DESTROYED XENIA

NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH EVACUATION IS TYPICAL FLOODS GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAY ADVANCE WARNING FOR TORNADOES IS INADEQUATE EXCEPT FOR GOING TO A SAFE ROOM IN THE HOUSE HURRICANES TYPHOONS TSUNAMIS VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS WILDFIRES