Killer twisters likely among largest and strongest ever!
WASHINGTON - April 29, 2011 - Some of the killer tornadoes that ripped across the South may have been among the largest and most powerful ever recorded, experts suggested, leaving a death toll that is approaching that of a tragic "super outbreak" of storms almost 40 years ago.
"There's a pretty good chance some of these were a mile wide, on the ground for tens of miles and had wind speeds over 200 mph," said Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma.
It may have been a single long-ranging twister that battered Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and then covered the 60 miles to Birmingham, said Brooks.
Only 1% of twisters reach the most powerful readings, but Brooks thinks several of those that left death and destruction in Alabama and five other states last Wednesday fall into that category.
That speculation hasn't been confirmed yet, but if it is, it's no wonder so many homes were flattened and scores were killed.
Most tornadoes are weak, so most reasonably built structures survive them. The typical tornado is on the ground for a couple of miles and is a couple hundred yards wide with half the wind speed of the storms that barreled through the region on Wednesday.
It was the deadliest day for tornadoes since a series of twisters killed more than 300 people in 11 states in 1974, Brooks added. The death toll from Wednesday has surpassed 250 and is rising. The worst day in recorded history for storm fatalities is March 18, 1925, with 747 deaths.
