1 Tornado Twists Its Way through Mississippi City It was after noon on May 7 1840 in Natchez Mississippi A thunderstorm had just passed through the city People sat on their porches enjoying a cooling rain No one could know a tornado was coming Their first warning was a huge roar It came from the nearby Mississippi River The approaching tornado churned the water into giant waves Steamboats were scattered and smashed People on board were thrown into the air Most drowned upon falling into the water Some boats sank to the river bottom The tornado’s path was one mile 1.6 km wide The twister carried debris as it traveled Uprooted trees and fragments of boats swirled through the air In the city houses Only four men survived when the steamboat Hinds was sunk by the tornado
The Liberty Advocate reported the details of the tornado on June 18 1840 were blown apart Businesses were flattened In just half an hour the tornado left the city in ruins The official fatality count was 317 people Most were merchants and passengers in boats The actual 60 Number of flat-bottomed steamboats destroyed No one had warning of the approaching tornado The twister’s path was one mile 1 6 km wide The official death count did not include enslaved people number of dead was much higher At this time in the American South enslaved black people were not included in death counts Newspapers estimated that hundreds died So the Great Natchez Tornado probably killed more than 500 people It is still the second deadliest tornado in US history THINK ABOUT IT Why do you think enslaved black people weren’t included in the death toll How does this reflect on the culture of the American South at this time
2 Tornadic Waterspouts Devastate Italian Island Tornadic and fair weather waterspouts form at the same time on the water 165 Diameter in feet 50 m of average waterspout There are two types of waterspouts fair weather and tornadic In 1851 twin waterspouts transformed into destructive tornadoes The twisters eventually moved out to sea
One of the worst tornadoes to hit Europe formed from two waterspouts Waterspouts are also called sea tornadoes They form when a column of air rotates above water There are two types Fair weather waterspouts develop on the surface of the water and grow upwards Tornadic waterspouts descend from the sky during storms They are more dangerous than fair weather waterspouts Two tornadic waterspouts hit the Italian island of Sicily in 1851 Waterspouts usually stay in the ocean This pair went ashore and became powerful tornadoes The twisters crossed the island They tore apart homes and thrashed farmlands Rain and hail added to the damage An estimated 500 people were killed Hundreds more were injured After devastating Sicily the twisters moved back to the sea Few eyewitness accounts exist of the Sicily tornadoes A single tornado with two vortexes may have caused the damage Two distinct THINK ABOUT IT Why would a tornadic waterspout be more dangerous than a fair weather waterspout What might it have to do with how each type is formed An artist’s illustration of how the waterspouts looked once they funnels could also have been responsible Whether one twister or two the storm is among the deadliest in European history hit land
