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EF2 tornado in Giles County, Tennessee

Tornado May 8, 2024 · Giles County, Tennessee

EF2
Rating
5.9 mi
Path length
600 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$4.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 600 yards (0.34 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This EF-2 tornado touched down along Case Road southwest of Prospect where some trees were damaged. As the tornado continued east, a home sustained roof damage, and a tied-down manufactured home was completely removed from its base and destroyed. One person was critically injured in the manufactured home. As the tornado continued east, major tree damage occurred along Bethel Prospect Road, a metal shop building was destroyed, and another tied-down mobile was completely lifted off its base and wrapped around a tree with the remaining debris blown down a hillside. More trees continued to be blown down with roof damage to some homes and outbuildings as the tornado passed across the south edge of the town of Prospect and crossed Veto Road. The tornado continued to snap and uproot hundreds of trees as it moved up and down hills along El Reed Road before crossing the Elk River and dissipating. Damages are a rough estimate.

The wider storm

A widespread severe weather event impacted Middle Tennessee beginning in the early morning hours of May 8, 2024, and continued through the early morning hours of May 9th. During this time frame, numerous rounds of severe weather moved through the area, causing widespread wind damage in nearly every county in Middle Tennessee, hail up to 3 inches in diameter, and four tornadoes. One of these tornadoes in Columbia prompted a Tornado Emergency to be issued. In addition, major flash flooding also occurred with the worst flooding reported across Robertson and Sumner counties. With nearly nine inches of rain, Flash Flood Emergencies were issued for these counties. This is the first time National Weather Service Nashville issued both a Tornado Emergency and a Flash Flood Emergency in the same event. Unfortunately, this event claimed the lives of five individuals.

Began near Bethel (35.0232, -87.0405).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

3 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1167601. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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