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Catastrophe Report 3
January 1 – July 8,
2003 |
Tornado - USA
| Territory: |
|
United States |
| Region: |
|
Central states including eastern
Kansas, northern and south-west Missouri, parts of Tennessee,
Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Mississippi |
| Date: |
|
May 5th |
| Event: |
|
Tornadoes and severe thunder storms |
| Impact: |
|
In total, over 300 counties were affected in
19 states. Over 100 injured and 300 homes were destroyed in
the Oklahoma City area and 400 homes destroyed in Green County,
Missouri. Scores of buildings were destroyed elsewhere, accompanied
by power outages and disruption to water supplies. Fatalities
totalled 42. Insured losses are estimated at between 1.55 and
2.2 billion US$. The upper end of the range would result in
the event being the costliest tornado-related loss in US history,
beating the previous record of 1.7 billion US$ set in April
2001. |
| Summary: |
|
A total of 412 tornadoes touched down during
the first ten days of May – over twice as many as the
previous record number. Most destruction and loss of life occurred
on May 5th. The previous day, cold, dry air mass from over the
Rocky Mountains collided with a mass of moist, warm air moving
north from the Gulf of Mexico, spawning a line of severe thunderstorms
over south-east Kansas and Missouri. These moved rapidly eastwards
generating 84 tornadoes as they went. The town of Pierce in
south-west Missouri was severe damaged by a Category 3 tornado,
with wind speeds averaging between 253 and 330 km/h. Another
powerful tornado narrowly missed Oklahoma City. |
| Data sources: |
|
NOAA News Online
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s1136.htm |
| Additional sources:
|
|
National Satellite, Data, and Information
Centre
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2003/may/hazards.html
NASA Earth Observatory
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
US National Weather Service, Central Region HQ
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ |
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