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EF3 tornado in Greene County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Greene County, Tennessee

EF3
Rating
15.8 mi
Whole path
1,500 yd
Path width
6
Deaths
33
Injuries
$8.0M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,500 yards (0.85 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

Camp Creek Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported an EF3 tornado touched down in the Camp Creek area. It tracked into Washington county where it dissipated. It had a path width of 1500 yards and path length of 16 miles. There were 6 fatalities in the Camp Creek, 3 on Rambo Road, 2 on Ricker Road, and 1 on Tabor road--all within one mile of each other. There were approximately 220 injuries from this tornado. The fatalities included a 58 year old man and his 56 year old wife who died in their home. In addition, a 70 year old man died in his home. A 47 year old man died in his mobile home. A 63 year old man also died in his home. A 47 year old woman died in her home.

The max wind of 150 mph did significant damage in the area including destroying 40 houses, 35 moble homes, 60 structures on farms, and one public building. Over 100 houses received damage.

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 Flag Branch (36.0350, -82.8080).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Hamilton County 20 deadEF4 Bledsoe County 4 deadEF4 Blount CountyEF4 Rhea CountyEF3 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 347518. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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