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EF4 tornado in Bledsoe County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Bledsoe County, Tennessee

EF4
Rating
24.2 mi
Whole path
880 yd
Path width
4
Deaths
10
Injuries
$15.2M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Sequatchie County → Bledsoe County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF4 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF4 is devastating damage: well-built houses levelled, consistent with estimated gusts of 166–200 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

New Harmony Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported a tornado path in Sequatchie county and continued its track northeast into and across southeastern Bledsoe County. It had a path length of 16.3 miles in Bledsoe county and a 1/2 mile path width. The 190 mph wind destroyed several homes up on Waldens Ridge, with continuous damage noted into Rhea county. Numerous trees and barns were also downed in the path of the large tornado. Vehicles were picked up and thrown.

Four people died in the Pitts Gap area just before the tornado reached New Harmony. The fatalities included a married couple--a 43 year old woman and a 39 year old man in their mobile home. A man, his wife (64 years old), and her sister (70 years old, visiting from Nashville) were in a camper, camping on Waldens Ridge when the tornado struck, killing the two sisters, and injuring the man. Another 10 people were injured.

The wider storm

Favorable atmospheric conditions resulted in a deadly tornado outbreak across east Tennessee on the 27th. The thunderstorms produced more than 50 tornadoes across the east Tennessee area with 32 deaths and more than 200 injured. The tornadoes produced from light to heavy damage to hundreds of homes and businesses. Hail as large as baseballs was also reported.

Began near Hendon (35.3969, -85.3253).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Hamilton County 20 deadEF4 Blount CountyEF4 Rhea CountyEF3 Greene County 6 deadEF3 Greene County 2 deadEF2 Bradley County 4 deadEF2 Johnson County 2 deadEF2 Hamilton CountyEF2 Monroe CountyEF2 Sequatchie CountyEF2 Marion CountyEF2 Monroe CountyEF2 Washington CountyEF2 Bradley CountyEF1 Bradley County 1 deadEF1 Hamilton CountyEF1 Cocke CountyEF1 Cocke CountyEF1 Hamilton CountyEF1 Hamilton CountyEF1 Hamilton CountyEF1 Knox CountyEF1 Marion CountyEF1 McMinn CountyEF1 Monroe CountyEF1 Monroe CountyEF1 Monroe CountyEF1 Rhea CountyEF1 Sequatchie CountyEF0 Bradley Countyand 20 more

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 300460. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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