Tornados are not just an American phenomenal; they happen all over the world. But there are more of them in the US than any other country, and more in Texas than any other state with an average of 124 a year. There are written accounts of twisters and their damage going back to the 1550s when a tornado sank several ships in Malta. Extrapolating from the reports, modern meteorologists estimate the damage at T7 level, meaning a tornado powerful enough to knock over a locomotive, if there had been such a thing in the 1550s.
The deadliest tornado in US history moved through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925. It was called the Tri-State Tornado, and it left 695 people dead and more than two thousand injured. Its path of destruction went for 220 miles, and left entire towns flattened. But the deadliest tornado anywhere killed 1300 people in Bangladesh in 1989. Tornados tend to kill more people in Bangladesh because of population density and the quality of building construction. Read about all these and more, a total of ten particularly devastating tornados and their aftermaths, in a list at Mental Floss.
(Image credit: Jackson County Historical Society, Murphysboro, Illinois)
