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F2 tornado in Overton County, Tennessee

Tornado March 16, 1996 · Overton County, Tennessee

F2
Rating
6.0 mi
Path length
400 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$5.5M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

The wider storm

Extensive damage in the Oak Grove and Alpine areas in the county. The Overton Co-op Gardening Center was destroyed and several businesses sustained minor damage. 10 homes were destroyed, 12 homes heavily damaged, 46 homes received minor damage, and 6 mobile homes destroyed. Many trees, power lines and telephone transmission lines were down from Livingston to Oak Grove and Alpine. Some of the worst damage in Livingston was on Howard and Clark Street area.There was roof damage to a Pizza Hut, video store and shoe store. State Highway 52 was closed east of Livingston to the Pickett county border due to numerous downed trees and power lines. This made rescue efforts difficult. This was the worst tornado for this area since April 3-4, 1974. The only injury was one man who received a broken arm.

Began near Livingston (36.3800, -85.3300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5548009. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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