Tornadoes Devastate Eight States in the US, “Quad-State Tornado” Might Be Worst in History
More than 50 tornadoes were reported across eight states through the weekend, causing massive damage to lives, infrastructure, and property. The severe storm system moved through the central and southern US, caused the collapse of a busy candle factory in Kentucky, an Amazon warehouse in western Illinois and a nursing home in Arkansas.
According to the NWS, experts have confirmed at least 20 tornadoes were in progress during the major outbreak Friday night into Saturday morning. Among these most notable tornadoes include EF3 in Bowling Green, Kentucky, EF3 in Defiance, Missouri and EF3 in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Preliminary tornado tracks are now available in EigenPrism for 38 Tornadoes, and 1 tornado damage footprint from Friday. As for the Quad State long-track tornado, which is said to be the worst in history, the damage survey is awaited from the source due to the sheer length of the damage swath.
Assessing the impact
EigenPrism users can access the following quick links to track the tornadoes. You can immediately overlay the following footprints on your exposure:
- EF3 Unnamed Tornado track on 2021-12-10
- EF3 Unnamed Tornado track on 2021-12-11
- EF2 Dickson Tornado track on 2021-12-11
- EF2 Unnamed Tornado track on 2021-12-10
- EF1 Unnamed Tornado track on 2021-12-11
- EF1 Diaz Tornado track on 2021-12-11
December 11
As per the National Weather Service (NWS), multiple tornadoes swept across six states -Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, as the severe storm system moved through the Central and Southern US. There have been over 30 tornado reports so far across the region.
In addition to that, a long-track twister, the Quad-state tornado, travelled more than 230 miles from Arkansas to Kentucky and caused a lot of damage to property and lives in the region. Subsequently, more than 400,000 homes and businesses lost power across eight states in the South and Midwest by 10 a.m. ET Saturday, including more than 130,000 in Tennessee and more than 60,000 in Kentucky.
The damage is still being assessed but significant damage is believed to have occurred in Kentucky, Western Illinois and Arkansas.
The line of storms is currently tracking from Ohio to Texas. As the storms move east into a more stable air mass, they should slowly diminish, but the threat for an isolated tornado still exists. A tornado watch is in effect over Eastern Kentucky until 9 a.m. ET. A tornado watch is also in effect for parts of eastern Tennessee, northern Alabama and northeast Mississippi until 11 a.m. CT.
This deadly outbreak of tornadoes, including the Quad-state tornado, has claimed the lives of more than 100 people so far in Kentucky, leaving many injured. The death toll from the overnight tornado could surpass that of the infamous 1974 tornado that hit Louisville and is now listed as the most significant tornado event in Kentucky’s history. Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency just after midnight, based on major tornado damage in multiple Western Kentucky counties.
Assessing the impact
EigenPrism users can access the following quick links to track the tornadoes. You can immediately overlay the following footprints on your exposure:
- Mayfield, KY Graves County as of 2021-12-11
- NW Monette, AR Craighead County as of 2021-12-11
- 24-Hr Rotational Track as of 2021-12-11
- US 24-hr Tornado Consolidated Reports as of 2021-12-11
