- 1975 Omaha tornado
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This article is about the 1975 tornado. For the Easter Sunday tornado of 1913, see here.
Coordinates: 41°15′N 96°00′W / 41.25°N 96°W
1975 Omaha tornado Date of tornado outbreak: May 6–7, 1975 Duration1: ~2½ days Maximum rated tornado2: F5 tornado Tornadoes caused: 36 Damages: unknown Fatalities: 3 Areas affected: Central and Southern United States 1Time from first tornado to last tornado
2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita ScaleThe 1975 Omaha tornado is a violent tornado that hit the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area. It was part of a two-day outbreak that struck the Midwest and Southern United States on May 6–7, 1975, ending in the very early hours of May 8 across Louisiana. South Dakota, Iowa, Texas and Mississippi were also struck by several tornadoes. In total, 36 tornadoes touched down across 6 states. The outbreak killed three people, while injuring hundreds more.
Contents
Tornado event
During the early afternoon of May 6, 1975, a tornado watch was issued for much of eastern Nebraska. Initial tornado activity started in northeast Nebraska throughout the first half of the afternoon. At around 4:15 PM, a tornado warning was issued for the Omaha area and an F5 tornado[1] touched down about 15 minutes later in Sarpy County, Nebraska. The storm then moved north-east, cutting into Douglas County crossing Interstate 80 (injuring several motorists) and through west-central sections of the city of Omaha. The tornado chopped a path across 10 miles (16 km) of streets and residences, crossing the city's busiest intersection at 72nd & Dodge before lifting at 4:58 PM.
In one remarkable instance, First United Methodist Church minister of music Mel Olson spotted the rolling clouds in the sky outside the windows of the room where he was rehearsing a children's choir. He led them to safety below the church building. The building, located at 70th and Cass Streets, was struck and heavily damaged by the twister. The room where the children had been practicing, with three walls of windows, was hit and the glass imploded.
Three people were killed and 133 reported injured. One of the fatalities was thrown several feet by the tornado from her home to a backyard four or five houses away.[2] Debris was found miles away. Over 4,000 buildings were damaged and 287 were destroyed. In terms of damage, it was the costliest tornado in American history to that date, with insurance costs estimated at up to $1.1 billion (in 1975 dollars). It was the third costliest tornado, behind the Oklahoma City area F5 tornado on May 3, 1999 and the Wichita Falls, Texas tornadoes on April 10, 1979.
Confirmed tornadoes
May 6 event
F# Location County Time (UTC) Path length Damage South Dakota F0 SW of Kimball Brule 1705 12.4 miles
(19.8 km)F1 SW of Tabor Bon Homme 1946 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F0 SW of Tripp Bon Homme 2010 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)Nebraska F4 N of Pierce Pierce 1905 4.1 miles
(6.6 km)F3 E of Pierce to W of Menominee Pierce, Cedar, Knox 1915 44.8 miles
(71.7 km)F0 SW of Bloomfield Knox 1930 5.4 miles
(8.6 km)F3 N of Stanton Stanton, Wayne 1945 15.9 miles
(25.4 km)F0 SE of Colon Saunders 2100 3.4 miles
(5.4 km)F0 S of Waterbury Dixon 2130 3 miles
(4.8 km)F4 Omaha area Sarpy, Douglas 2133 8 miles
(12.8 km)3 deaths Iowa F2 NE of Crescent Pottawattamie, Harrison 2200 12.8 miles
(20.5 km)F2 W of Beebeetown Pottawattamie, Harrison 2220 10.6 miles
(17 km)Source: May 7 event
F# Location County Time (UTC) Path length Damage Mississippi F3 W of New Hope Lowndes 1145 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)Trees down and light house damage. F0 Biloxi area Coast 1710 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)Sign twisted. F2 NE of Smyrna Lockport 1750 9.7 miles
(15.5 km)F1 S of Eaton Forres, Jone 1930 5.4 miles
(8.6 km)South Dakota F0 N of Manchester to SE of Caprey Wendy (SD) Villa (SD) Bill (ND) Caprey 1655 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F1 E of Wendte Stanley 1800 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F0 W of Onida Sully 1955 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F0 SW of Onida Sully 2130 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F0 N of Mission Ridge Sully 2220 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)Texas F2 NE of Kingsland Travis 2200 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F1 N of Leander Williamson 2300 1 miles
(1.6 km)F2 NW of Nolanville Bell 2300 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)Iowa F2 SE of Manteno Crawford 2330 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F2 NW of Jacksonville Shelby 0000 9.9 miles
(15.8 km)F0 Creston area Union 0015 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F2 SW of Van Wert Decatur 0100 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F2 Osceola area Clarke 0130 10 miles
(16 km)Louisiana F2 W of Clare Sabine 0400 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)F2 Welsh area Jefferson Parish 0605 1 miles
(1.6 km)F1 Mansfield area De Soto 0615 0.7 miles
(1.1 km)F2 SW of Estherwood Acadia 0700 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)F1 S of Duson Lafayette 0730 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)F2 Baton Rouge East Baton Rouge 0730 6.2 miles
(9.9 km)F2 NW of Jack St. Helena 0800 (05/08) 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)Source: Tornado History Project - Storm Data for May 7, 1975, Tornado History Project - Storm Data for May 8, 1975
See also
References
External links
10 costliest US tornadoes Rank Area affected Date Damage 1 Adjusted Damage 2 1 Joplin, Missouri May 22, 2011 2800 2800 2 Tuscaloosa, Alabama April 27, 2011 2200 2200 3 Oklahoma City Metro, Oklahoma May 3, 1999 1000 1318 4 Hackleburg, Alabama April 27, 2011 1250 1250 5 Wichita Falls, Texas April 10, 1979 400 1209 6 Omaha, Nebraska May 6, 1975 250 1019 7 Lubbock, Texas Tornado May 11, 1970 135 763 8 Topeka, Kansas Tornado June 8, 1966 100 676 9 Windsor Locks, Connecticut October 3, 1979 200 605 10 St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado May 27, 1896 12 520
Source: Brooks, Harold E.; C.A. Doswell (Feb 2001). "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890–1999". Weather and Forecasting (American Meteorological Society) 16 (1): 168-76. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2. http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1175%2F1520-0434(2001)016%3C0168%3ANDFMTI%3E2.0.CO%3B2. 3
1. These are the unadjusted damage totals in millions of US dollars.
2. Raw damage totals adjusted for inflation, in millions of 2011 USD.
3. A search of NCDC Storm Data indicates no tornadoes between 1999 and 2010 have caused more than $250 million in damage.Categories:- F4 tornadoes
- Tornadoes of 1975
- Tornadoes in Nebraska
- Natural disasters in Omaha, Nebraska
- 1975 in the United States
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