The thirty most damaging tornadoes since 1890

Rank Date Location Raw Adjusted
1 May 3, 1999 Oklahoma City, OK 1000 963
2 April 10, 1979 Wichita Falls, TX 400 884
3 May 6, 1975 Omaha, NE 250 745
4 May 11, 1970 Lubbock, TX 135 558
5 June 8, 1966 Topeka, KS 100 494
6 October 3, 1979 Windsor Locks, CT 200 442
7 May 27, 1896 St. Louis, MO - E. St. Louis, IL 12 380
8 April 3, 1974 Xenia, OH 100 325
9 March 31, 1973 Conyers, GA 89 321
10 June 9, 1953 Worcester, MA 52 311
11 June 3, 1980 Grand Island, NE 140 273
T12 May 11, 1953 Waco, TX 41 246
T12 December 3, 1978 Bossier City, LA 100 246
14 May 20, 1957 Ruskin Heights, MO 40 228
T15 September 29, 1927 St. Louis, MO 22 203
T15 August 28, 1990 Plainfield, IL 165 203
17 April 11, 1965 Branch County, MI 35 178
18 March 24, 1975 Atlanta, GA 56 167
19 May 29, 1982 Marion, IL 100 166
20 April 3, 1974 Monticello, IN 50 163
T21 March 18, 1925 Tri-State (MO-IL-IN) 16 151
T21 April 6, 1936 Gainesville, GA 13 151
23 December 5, 1953 Vicksburg, MS 25 150
24 May 31, 1985 Niles, OH - Wheatland, PA 100 149
25 April 4, 1966 Polk County, FL 30 148
26 April 21, 1967 Oak Lawn, IL 30 144
T27 April 23, 1968 Falmouth, KY - Ripley, OH 30 138
T27 May 15, 1968 Charles City, IA 30 138
29 June 23, 1944 southwestern PA 15 137
30 November 15, 1989 Huntsville, AL 100 129

Table 2: Thirty most damaging tornadoes in United States (1890-1999) adjusted for inflation. Location is the city or area most affected by the tornado. "Raw" is the raw damage amount in dollars and "Adjusted" is the amount adjusted to 1997 dollars. T indicates tie in rank.

Rank Date Location Raw Adjusted
1 May 27, 1896 St. Louis, MO-E. St. Louis, IL 12 2916 (2167)
2 September 29, 1927 St. Louis, MO 22 1797
3 March 18, 1925 Tri-State (MO-IL-IN) 16 1392
4 April 10, 1979 Wichita Falls, TX 400 1141
5 June 9, 1953 Worcester, MA 52 1140
6 May 6, 1975 Omaha, NE 250 1127
7 June 8, 1966 Topeka, KS 100 1126
8 April 6, 1936 Gainesville, GA 13 1111
9 May 11, 1970 Lubbock, TX 135 1081
10 June 28, 1924 Lorain-Sandusky, OH 12 1023 (1071)
11 May 3, 1999 Oklahoma City, OK 1000 909 (963)
12 May 11, 1953 Waco, TX 41 899
13 March 27, 1890 Louisville, KY 3 836 (586)
14 June 23, 1944 Southwestern PA 15 697
15 May 20, 1957 Ruskin Heights, MO 40 685
16 March 23, 1913 Omaha, NE 5 589 (769)
17 October 3, 1979 Windsor Locks, CT 200 570
18 December 5, 1953 Vicksburg, MS 25 548
19 March 31, 1973 Conyers, GA 89 515
20 April 3, 1974 Xenia, OH 100 491
21 January 11, 1898 Fort Smit, AR 2 440 (349)
22 April 11, 1965 Branch County, MI 35 410
23 June 8, 1953 Flint, MI 19 400
24 June 22, 1919 Fergus Fall, MN 4 354 (296)
25 June 3, 1980 Grand Island, NE 140 337
26 April 4, 1966 Polk County, FL 30 324
27 April 30, 1953 Warner-Robins, GA 15 316
28 December 3, 1978 Bossier City, LA 100 314
29 April 21, 1967 Oak Lawn, IL 30 301
30 April 11, 1965 Toledo, OH 25 293

Table 3: Thirty most damaging tornadoes in United States (1890-1999) adjusted for wealth. Italicized events occurred outside the range of the wealth data. First value under "Adjusted" assumes that all wealth changes before 1925 can be modelled using changes in the Gross National Product and after 1997 can be modelled using the rate of increase from 1990-1997. The parenthetical value models wealth changes by assuming that all wealth changes before 1925 and after 1997 can be modelled just with inflation.