Today marks the 40th anniversary of the 1974 Super Outbreak of tornadoes, a series of devastating convective storms that hit 13 U.S. states over a period of 24 hours.
RMS estimates that a recurrence of this event today could result in insured losses of between $7 to $8 billion.
Click through for a look at the destruction wrought on this dark day in '74, and some facts about the severe loss of lives and property.
Photos provided by AP Photos
This incredible photo taken by Fred Stewart, an employee of a Xenia hospital, shows a tornado funnel rolling through the southeast Pine Crest Garden section of Xenia, Ohio, on April 3, 1974. The tornado caused millions of dollars in damage and killed at least 300 people and injured scores of others.
Among the ruins and battered possessions of a home lies a wrecked dog house bearing a “Xenia Lives” sticker distributed by a local church on Easter Sunday. The day's tornadoes caused the second-highest recorded number of fatalities in such an event (more than 300, surpassed only just by the number of deaths caused by the 2011 Super Outbreak).
The aftermath: Xenia, Ohio, April 4, 1974. According to RMS, the Super Outbreak ranks second in recorded history for the number of tornadoes to occur in a single outbreak (148 in total).
Cars and debris lay strewn over Xenia, Ohio after a tornado ripped through the area the previous day. The Super Outbreak ranks first in recorded history for the number of F4 and F5 tornadoes in a single outbreak with 30 total recorded, with seven F5s and 23 F4s.
A boy removes clothing and shoes from a house that has lost its roof after a tornado touched down on April 3, 1974 near Decatur, Ill. At one point during the outbreak, 15 tornadoes were on the ground at the same time across the outbreak area.
School buses rest on April 5, 1974 upon the remains of the high school where they were tossed in Xenia, Ohio, by a tornado that went through the town. If you added up all of the paths of all of the tornadoes that occurred, the total path length would be around 2,500 miles.
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Shawn Moynihan
Shawn Moynihan is Editor-in-Chief of National Underwriter Property & Casualty. A St. John’s University alum, Moynihan has earned 11 Jesse H. Neal Awards, the Pulitzers of the business press; seven Azbee Awards, from the American Society of Business Press Editors; two Folio Awards; and a SABEW award, from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers. Prior to joining ALM, he served as Managing Editor/Online Editor of journalism institution Editor & Publisher, the trade bible of the newspaper industry. Moynihan also has held editorial positions with AOL, Metro New York, and Newhouse Newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].
