Tennessee Tornado Casualties

How Many Tennessee Tornado Casualties?

There have been about 400 people killed by tornados and over 3000 injured since 1833, by comparison there have been less than 30 tornados deaths over the last 20 years with most of the deaths occurring in storms ranked F-4 and above. To date, there have been less than twenty F4 tornados in since 1833.

The most deadly tornado hit Sumner County along with parts of Kentucky in March of 1925. It ran 60 miles and killed 39 people. It was an F4 tornado and has since been labeled as the Liberty Tornado.

By comparison, here has been only one F5 tornado to hit in Middle Tennessee, to date, and it happened in April of 1998. It traveled over 60 miles through parts of Hardin, Wayne, Lawrence, Giles, and Maury County. This is the same string of tornados that hit downtown Nashville (Davidson) as well as Wilson, Cheatham, Dickson, Montgomery, and Robertson Counties on the very same day with forces ranging from F0-F3. This massive string of tornados killed less than 5 people and injured about 100.

Typically with any tornado, the longer it stays on the ground the stronger it will become and the more damage, death and injury will occur. But this is not always the case as timing can be everything as it was in what we call the Luckiest Tennessee Tornado.

Did You Know
The luckiest tornado touchdown happened in January of 1999 when an F3 tornado ripped through downtown Clarksville, before daylight on an early Sunday morning, destroying 124 buildings and damaging over 550. There were only a total of 5 injuries reported in Tennessee’s 5th largest city which had a population of 89,000 at the time.

More About Tornados in Tennessee:
Tennessee Tornado Season
Tennessee Tornado Alley & Dixie Alley
Middle Tennessee Tornado Activity
Tennessee Tornado Casualties
Tornado Watch Vs. Tornado Warning