1. SUPER TORNADO OUTBREAK
148 TORNADOES IN 18 HOURS
DEATHS
$3.5 BILLION (2005 DOLLARS)
APRIL 3-4, 1974
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

2. CAUSE A powerful spring-time low pressure system that developed across the North American Interior Plains on April 1st was intensified when it collided with a system of very moist cold air creating a large contrast in temperature.

3. SUPER TORNADO OUTBEAK: APRIL 3-4, 1974

4. STATES IMPACTED BY THE 1974 TORNADO OUTBREAK: APRIL 3-4
Illinois
Indiana
Ohio
Kentucky
Michigan
Tennessee

5. STATES IMPACTED BY THE 1974 TORNADO OUTBREAK: APRIL 3-4
Alabama
Mississippi
Georgia
North Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia
New York

6. DIMENSIONS OF THE TORNADO OUTBREAK
DURATION: 18 HOURS
MAXIMUM: F5
AREA OF IMPACT: 13 STATES
DAMAGE: $3.5 BILLION (2005 DOLLARS)

7. DISTRIBUTION OF STORMS IN THE 1974 OUTBREAK
6 F5’s (Including the Xenia storm)
24 F4’s
34 F3’s
32 F2’s
33 F1’s

8. XENIA, OHIO: ONE OF THE WORST TORNADOES IN HISTORY
The tornado formed near Bellbrook, Ohio at 4:30 pm EDT, and reached Xenia as a F5 storm at 4:40 pm.

9. THE TORNADO DESTROYED XENIA

10. NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH EVACUATION IS TYPICAL
FLOODS
GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAY
HURRICANES
ADVANCE WARNING FOR TORNADOES IS INADEQUATE EXCEPT FOR GOING TO A SAFE ROOM IN THE HOUSE
TYPHOONS
TSUNAMIS
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
WILDFIRES