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Tornado-related deaths have declined dramatically over the past few decades because of improved forecasts and better warnings, but the massive outbreak on April 27 reported killed 318 people across the Deep South. What happened?
The bottom line: Massive tornadoes hit populated cities head-on. Forecasters had warned of an "insane" storm system for days, so it's unlikely that the tornadoes caught many by surprise. But with few basements inDixie Alley, not many places were safe in the paths of tornadoes that had nearly 200-mph winds. Even solidly built houses were swept away. Many entire neighborhoods were completely obliterated.
"The truth is, even if you did everything you were supposed to do, unless you were in an underground bunker, you weren't going to survive," James Spann of the ABC affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., told The New York Times.
Vicious twisters
On Wednesday, more than 150 tornadoes were reported in the southeastern United States. Bob Henson, a meteorologist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., said he "wouldn't at all be surprised," to see some of those storms rated as EF-5, the highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita Damage scale, with winds faster than 200 mph.
Already, one tornado that killed 14 people in Smithville, Miss., has been given the top rating, the first EF-5 in the United States in three years.
The deadly combination of strength and location, with the populous cities of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Ala., has created one of the highest death tolls in decades.
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