Tornadoes, or twisters, are among the world’s most terrifying weather events, tearing across land and often causing extensive damage and death. Defined as vertical funnels of rapidly rotating air, tornadoes form from severe thunderstorms – and certain parts of the world are far more susceptible.
From tornadoes with the highest death tolls to tragedies that could have been avoided, we round up some of the deadliest and most devastating twisters of all time...
One of the oldest known tornadoes in European history, this 16th-century twister was a rare occurrence when it hit the Mediterranean archipelago of Malta. It struck the Grand Harbour in either September 1551 or 1556 (records are unclear), starting as a waterspout at sea and twisting towards the land. An estimated 600 people were killed, most of whom were aboard an armada of ships that capsized in the harbour. It’s known as the Valletta tornado, though the fortified city – famous for its honey-hued limestone (pictured) – didn’t officially exist until 1566.
Known as the Tempest of Utrecht, the storm that hit the Dutch city on 1 August 1674 was brief but devastating. It effectively wiped out the city, tearing the roofs from homes and towers from churches. The city’s cathedral was destroyed save for the iconic Dom Tower, which still stands today (pictured). There’s ongoing debate whether the destruction was caused by a single tornado or a bow echo, a radar signature linked to severe thunderstorms and strong winds. Most likely, a combination of both phenomena led to the localised destruction in Utrecht and widespread damage across northwest Europe.
The first documented tornado in the Indian region tore through the eastern suburbs of Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) on 8 April 1838. It was so severe in its impact partly because it moved so slowly along its 16-mile (26km) path, taking around 2.5 hours to rampage across the land, with devastating results. An estimated 215 people were killed, while villages were left desolate and trees twisted out of the ground. Sonarpur, pictured today, was among the villages worst hit.
It’s widely believed enslaved people weren’t counted among those killed in the wake of the Great Natchez Tornado, which struck on 7 May 1840. This means hundreds were unaccounted for, as the tornado hit several plantations bordering the Mississippi River, as well as largely levelling the city of Natchez. The official death toll was 317 with 109 injured, making it the only tornado with more fatalities than injuries and the second-deadliest tornado in US history, after the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. Natchez has since been rebuilt, with its Natchez–Vidalia Bridge (pictured) – linking the city to Vidalia, Louisiana – among its most recognisable structures.
Tornadoes are a rare occurrence in Italy, especially on such a devastating scale. The tornado devastation in western Sicily in December 1851 ranks as the second worst in European history, second only to the 16th-century tornado that hit Malta. It began as twin waterspouts that moved inland near the town of Marsala, then twisted through Castellammare del Golfo (pictured today) before returning to the sea. Initial reports of 200 deaths were later revised, with at least 500 people believed to have been killed in total.
The Louisville Cyclone, one of Kentucky's most devastating natural disasters, struck the state's largest city on 27 March 1890. Death toll estimates range from 76 to 120, many caused when multi-storey buildings, including City Hall, collapsed, trapping people inside. Churches, railroad depots, schools, warehouses, and hundreds of homes were ripped apart by the storm, which one newspaper dubbed “the whirling tiger of the air.”
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The tornado that hit St Louis on 27 May 1896 remains the third deadliest in US history. It ripped through block after block of residential housing, uprooting trees and blowing steamboats out of the Mississippi River. The tornado was on the ground for less than half an hour but the devastation was major, as was the human cost. In total, 255 people were killed and 1,000 injured in Missouri and neighbouring Illinois. Wind speeds reached up to 260 miles per hour (418km/h).
It was a hot summer’s day in June 1899 and the circus was in town when this deadly tornado struck the city of New Richmond. It remains one of the state’s most tragic weather events and among the deadliest tornadoes in US history, with a death toll of 117 and hundreds of people injured in its wake. It began as a waterspout in Lake St Croix before spinning violently towards the city, levelling farms along the way. Hundreds of buildings, including the New Richmond Methodist Church (pictured after the storm), were completely destroyed.
The tornado that struck the town of Goliad on 18 May 1902 was the first major disaster in the state’s recorded history and is still among the worst to ever hit Texas. It didn’t just cause destruction, it completely levelled a section of the town that was one mile (1.6km) long and half a mile (0.8km) wide. The official death toll of 114 included at least 50 worshippers who were inside a Methodist church when it was flattened by the twister. A plaque, pictured, commemorates the event.
On the same day in April 1908, thousands of miles away, another deadly tornado struck Naria, Zajira and Bhedarganj in the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh (which was then under British rule, with Dhaka the capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam province). It’s estimated that 141 people were killed with thousands more injured, though the full extent of the damage isn’t documented. Pictured is the city of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, as it looks today.
One of the most devastating storms in US history rattled through Nebraska on 23 March 1913. The Easter Sunday Tornado, as it became known, ripped violently across 40 miles (64km) of land in just 35 minutes. Its biggest impact was in Omaha, where it devastated a 4.5-mile (7.2km) stretch within a matter of seconds, killing 103 people. The overall death toll is believed to be closer to 150.
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The Tri-State Tornado of 18 March 1925 remains the deadliest in US history, killing 695 people as it travelled from southeastern Missouri through southern Illinois and into southwestern Indiana. Illinois was the worst hit, with around 600 deaths, entire towns and farms destroyed and thousands left homeless after the tornado. The tornado travelled more than 219 miles (352km), which is the longest track for a single tornado. Today it would be classified as an F5 – the highest category – with winds exceeding speeds of 300 miles per hour (483km/h).
Sometimes referred to as the 1932 Super Outbreak, the series of tornadoes that hit on 21 March 1932 was the worst event of its kind in Alabama in terms of death toll and scope of damage. It all happened in one day, with at least 20 tornadoes rampaging through Deep Southern states, from Montgomery in Alabama to Tennessee and Georgia. It’s reported more than 330 people died in total, 268 in Alabama, while towns and homesteads in and around Birmingham were levelled.
The Sylhet District – part of British India’s Assam region before becoming part of East Bengal and later independent Bangladesh – was devastated by a tornado in May 1934. The storm is believed to have killed at least 200 people, with many more injured or missing. Disturbing reports at the time described bodies floating in the river, suggesting the death toll could have been higher than official figures. Tens of villages were destroyed and thousands left homeless. Pictured is a village in Sylhet today.
A baby boy named Elvis Presley and his mother Gladys were among the survivors of the terrifying tornado that hit the singer’s birth town of Tupelo on 5 April 1936. Many more were killed, with a death toll of 216 people. The tornado began in Coffeeville before travelling across the state to Tupelo, where it hit the Gum Pond area with full force. Close to 50 blocks were reduced to rubble, as this picture shows.
A twin threat of tornadoes converged in Gainesville on 6 April 1936, killing 203 people, injuring 1,600 and tearing apart full blocks of the northern Georgia town. Around 750 houses were destroyed and other buildings were left in splintered tatters. Workers under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) employment scheme (part of efforts to pull the country out of the Great Depression) were drafted in to clear the aftermath (pictured). The tornado is ranked as the fifth deadliest in US history.
This deadly tornado travelled continuously for more than 100 miles (161km), starting its path of destruction in the small Texas Panhandle towns of Glazier and Higgins, where at least 69 people were killed and buildings were levelled. But it was Woodward in Oklahoma that bore the brunt. It hit the city with little warning, flattening around 100 blocks and destroying structures including The Oasis (pictured), a diner where several customers were injured. At least 116 people were killed in the state, with a total death toll (including victims in Kansas, where it also struck) of 181 people.
Comoros, a volcanic archipelagic country off the coast of East Africa, was devastated by a fierce tornado that battered the islands with strong winds over two days in early 1951. It’s estimated that around 500 people died in the storms, with many more injured. The precise details, including the date, are scant but it’s believed the tornado began as a waterspout and gained intensity by the time it hit ground as a twister. The Indian Ocean archipelago, pictured as it looks today, remains vulnerable to cyclones and coastal flooding.
This terrifying tornado, categorised as the maximum F5 in severity on the Fujita Scale, equalled the 1902 Goliad disaster in death toll, with 114 people killed – though it’s classed as the deadliest of the two due to the number of people injured, at around 600. It also effectively flattened the city of Waco when it hit on 11 May 1953. Winds of speeds above 300 miles per hour (483km/h) tossed cars and trees around the streets, tore down homes and reduced businesses – including the five-storey Dennis Furniture store, pictured – to rubble. Flooding as a result of the storm made rescue efforts particularly difficult.
The severe F5 tornado that hit the Beecher district of Flint, Michigan on 8 June 1953 is classed as the 10th-deadliest in the US and the most devastating to ever strike the state. It tore a 27-mile (43km) path, ripping houses from their foundations, uprooting trees and sending cars flying through the air like missiles. A total of 116 people were killed and 844 were injured. The year of 1953 was one of the worst for tornadoes in US history, with a twister hitting Worcester, Massachusetts the following day, killing 90 people.
The impact of this deadly tornado was particularly devastating because it simply took people by surprise. April is considered peak tornado season in Bangladesh, so the districts of Faridpur and Dhaka (then part of East Pakistan) were unprepared for the twin twisters that struck on 19 March 1961. It’s reported that 210 people were killed in these areas in central Bangladesh, while many more were injured. Pictured is the Padma River, which runs through Faridpur.
The tornado that touched land near the town of Cooch Behar in the evening of 19 April 1963 swept up both bodies and buildings in its path. People are said to have been fatally thrown as far as nearly 2,000 feet (610m). The official death count in and around the town – which is around 20 miles (32km) from the feet of the Himalayas – was 139. It’s thought the total number killed, including people in neighbouring Bangladesh, was around 300. Among the surviving structures was the city’s famous 19th-century palace, pictured today.
Seven villages were wiped off the map after the tornado that hit Bangladesh on 11 April 1964 – and many others including Magura (pictured today) were almost completely demolished. The Narail-Magura tornado developed northeast of Muhammadpur and tore a relentless path to the Nabaganga river before turning towards the Narail District. Its horseshoe-shaped path covered around 20 miles (32km) and, though the total number of deaths is unknown, it’s estimated at between 300 and 1,400. One of the obliterated villages, Bhabanipur, was home to 400 people, of which not one was found.
Formerly part of East Pakistan and now the capital of Bangladesh, the highly populated area of Dhaka and its suburbs was the worst hit in a deluge of terrifying tornadoes on 14 April 1969. A total of 660 people were killed and more than 4,000 injured. The impact was exacerbated by the weakness of structures in shanty towns such as Demra, pictured today, which bore the brunt of the impact.
A second deadly tornado hit another part of what was East Pakistan on the same day. Around 31 miles (50km) to the east of Dhaka, the Comilla region was hit by a separate storm that killed a recorded 263 people and injured thousands. The area’s dense population and ineffective warning systems contributed to the tragically high death count. Combined with the huge loss of life in Dhaka, this was among the deadliest days in tornado history. Pictured is Comilla as it looks today.
The country’s poor warning systems have also been blamed for the devastation and tragic loss of life caused by the tornado that hit the area around Barisal or Barishal, in south-central Bangladesh, on 29 April 1972. The same month had already seen 200 people killed in Fulbaria, in the north, on 1 April, and 75 people killed on 5 April in Dhaka suburbs. Here, the official number of fatalities was 300 – though it’s believed many more may have died due to the number of people living in shanties, with no record of their existence. Pictured is a rural area just outside the city of Barisal today.
An entire village, Balurchar, was obliterated on 17 April 1973. Two tornado funnels merged to form one giant, particularly potent tornado that ploughed through the Manikganj District of the Dhaka Division. It destroyed pretty much everything in its zig-zagging path, pummelling nine villages and blowing boats from the Kaliganga river. The official death toll is 681, though it’s thought many deaths went unrecorded – placing this among the worst tornadoes in history. The area has more recently been affected by severe flooding (pictured here in late 2020).
Around 500 people were killed in the tornado that ripped through the heart of the Madaripur District in central Bangladesh on 1 April 1977. Corrugated iron and steel roofs were blown from structures “like kites”, according to witness reports, with some striking villagers. Dozens of bodies were also recovered from the river. While there’s no record of the full extent of the damage, it’s reported that no houses or trees were left standing, with villages such as Solenama completely destroyed. Among badly hit areas to have been rebuilt is Shibchar, pictured.
Some details of this fatal tornado outbreak are scant because it occurred under Soviet rule, though it’s considered among the deadliest to hit Russia, with reports ranging from 69 confirmed deaths to more than 400 killed. It carved a deadly path through the Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions, approximately 200 miles (322km) north of Moscow, on 9 June 1984. The storms toppled buildings constructed with steel-reinforced concrete and hurled trees into the air. There were also reports of hailstones weighing 1kg (2.2lb). Affected areas, including Yaroslavl (pictured), have since been rebuilt.
The world’s deadliest-ever tornado struck Daulatpur and Saturia on 26 April 1989. The twister devastated a wide area and killed an estimated 1,300 people. A further 12,000 were injured, villages and towns were destroyed, and more than 120,000 people were left without homes. The tornado began in Daulatpur before spinning for 50 miles (80km) northeast to Saturia, in Bangladesh's Manikganj District, with a width of a mile (1.6km) at some points. This photo, taken a week after the tornado, shows just some of the devastation in Saturia.
The high population density and poor quality of buildings meant the tornado that struck the districts of Tangail and Jamalpur on 13 May 1996 had a particularly devastating impact. Measuring as an F5 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the tornado originated in the region of Madarganj and travelled to Mirzapur, destroying more than 80 villages and resulting in over 700 fatalities. Additionally, it caused approximately 32,000 injuries, led to the deaths of 7,000 domestic animals, and destroyed more than 36,000 homes. The photo depicts Tangail’s DC Lake park as it appears today.
The storm that preceded the tornado in Odisha (then Orissa) was forecasted by the local meteorology office, which issued warnings to the radio stations. Unfortunately, these warnings were broadcasted too late, after the tornado had already struck. As a result, the storm on 24 March 1998 claimed the lives of more than 200 people, including 40 children who were tragically crushed in their school building. The state experienced another tornado in November 1999 (pictured is the aftermath in the village of Barunda), which exacerbated the devastation caused by the Super Cyclone that had struck earlier, claiming an estimated 10,000 lives.
On 13 April 2010, a severe tropical storm originating in the Bay of Bengal struck the states of Bihar, West Bengal, and Meghalaya in eastern India. The storm resulted in an estimated 137 fatalities and left up to one million people homeless. Additionally, two fatalities were reported in neighbouring Bangladesh due to the storm. In Rampur village, which is depicted in photographs from the storm's aftermath, every home either had its roof collapsed or blown off by the tornado-like winds, which reached speeds of up to 75 miles per hour (120km/h).
On 22 May 2011, a devastating tornado struck the densely populated city of Joplin, Missouri, ranking among the top 10 deadliest tornadoes in US history and the deadliest since modern record-keeping began in 1950. The tornado was classified as an F5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with wind speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour (322km/h). It resulted in the tragic deaths of 158 people and injured more than 1,000 others within the Joplin area. The storm's impact included the destruction of over 8,000 buildings and uprooting of 18,000 trees. The estimated damage costs amounted to approximately £2.2 billion ($3 billion), making it the costliest tornado in US history.
According to the National Weather Service, the twister that hit El Reno on 31 May 2013 was the most dangerous tornado seen in storm-observing history up until that time. The tornado resulted in the tragic deaths of eight people, all of whom were in vehicles, including three storm researchers. Despite the relatively low death toll, the sheer intensity and size of the tornado were unprecedented. It was a record-breaking 2.6 miles (4.2km) wide, making it one of the widest tornadoes ever observed. Remarkably, the tornado's path narrowly missed the main part of the city and its airport, which likely prevented even greater devastation.
On 1 June 2015, more than 450 passengers were aboard the pleasure cruise ship Eastern Star when it capsized in the Yangtze River. According to the China Meteorological Administration, a tornado struck the river, causing the ship to overturn and sink, resulting in one of China's deadliest maritime disasters. Despite extensive rescue efforts, the final death toll was reported to be 442. An official inquiry attributed the scale of the tragedy to freak storms and cited the captain's incompetence as contributing factors.
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Overnight between 2 and 3 March 2020, more than a dozen tornadoes swept through central Tennessee during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. East Nashville and surrounding counties, including Cookeville, were severely affected by the violent storms. These tornadoes ranged between F3 and F4 in severity, causing extensive damage such as tearing down buildings, overturning vehicles, and destroying 90 planes and numerous buildings at Nashville’s John C. Tune airport. The March tornado outbreak resulted in 24 fatalities, contributing to a total of 28 deaths caused by tornadoes in Tennessee in 2020.
A month later, in April 2020, a severe tornado outbreak struck several states in the southeastern USA, beginning on Easter Sunday, April 12, and continuing into the next day. This event saw an estimated total of 137 tornadoes across 10 states, marking one of the most significant tornado outbreaks in recent years. In Mississippi, reports highlighted a particularly broad tornado, possibly among the widest recorded in the state's history. The outbreak tragically resulted in at least 32 fatalities across the affected states. Numerous buildings, including homes in places like Nixville, South Carolina, suffered extensive damage or were reduced to rubble, illustrating the destructive impact of the storms.
Starting on December 10, 2021, a series of deadly tornadoes ravaged multiple states across the Midwest and South regions of the United States, causing widespread devastation from Arkansas to Kentucky. Among the hardest-hit areas was Dawson Springs, a small town in western Kentucky, where approximately 75% of the town was severely damaged or destroyed. Mayfield, located about 72 miles (116km) west of Dawson Springs, also suffered significant impact from the tornadoes. The destruction included historic landmarks such as a 100-year-old church and a candle factory, where at least eight fatalities were reported. The total death toll from the tornado outbreak reached at least 90 people, reflecting the tragic scale of the disaster.
A deadly tornado ripped through western Mississippi on 25 March 2023, causing catastrophic damage to homes and infrastructure in several neighbourhoods and killing at least 25 people. The town of Rolling Fork was worst hit as the mile wide (1.6km) twister moved at 70 miles per hour (113km/h) from the southwest to the northeast destroying everything in its path. The death toll made this the worst tornado to hit the Magnolia State in the last 50 years. Pictured, a Rolling Fork resident sits among the rubble where her home once stood.
On 20 September 2023 a violent tornado tore through China’s eastern province of Jiangsu, killing 10 people and damaging 1,646 homes in the densely-populated city of Suqian (pictured). A culmination of weeks of destructive and deadly weather in coastal areas near the Yellow Sea off Jiangsu, the tornado was brief but fierce, overturning cars, bringing down power lines and littering the streets of Suqian with debris. One witness took to the Chinese social media platform Weibo to describe trees and solar panels flying through the air. "For those two minutes, I was dumbfounded," he wrote.
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