2006 — April 2, Tornadoes/high-wind storms, AR, IL, IN, MO, esp. northwest TN –29-30

— 30  Wikipedia. “April 2, 2006 tornado outbreak.” 6-11-2015 modification.[1]

— 29  Blanchard tally based on State breakouts below.

— 29  Wikipedia. “April 2, 2006 Central [US] tornado outbreak.” 4-27-2012 modification.[2]

— 28  AP. “Massive Cleanup After Deadly Storms as Towns Mourn 28 Victims.” 2006.

— 27  Lutzak, Philip. The Deadly Tornado Outbreak of April 2, 2006. PA State University.

— 27  NOAA, NCDC. Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters. 6-17-2011.

 

Breakout of Fatalities by State

 

Illinois             (  2)

— 1  Castlewood, tree fall. NOAA, NWS SPC. 20060402’s Storm Reports. 4-9-2006.

— 1  Fairview Heights, St. Clair County, April 2. F2 Tornado; store collapse; male, 54.[3]

 

Missouri          (  3)

— 4  Wikipedia. “April 2, 2006 Central United States tornado outbreak.” 4-27-2012 mod.[4]

— 3  State, strong wind. AP. “Massive Cleanup…Deadly Storms…Mourn 28 Victims.” 2006.

— 2  Braggadocio, Pemiscot Co., April 2. Female, 93, and Male, 69, “Vehicle/Towed Trailer.”[5]

— 1  Circle City, Stoddard Co., tree fall.  NOAA, NWS SPC. 20060402’s Storm Reports. 4-9-06.

— 1  St. Louis County. Wikipedia. “April 2, 2006 Central [US] tornado outbreak.” 4-27-2012.

 

Tennessee       ( 24)

–24  State.  AP. “Massive Cleanup After Deadly Storms as Towns Mourn 28 Victims.” 2006.

–24      “     Lutzak, Philip. The Deadly Tornado Outbreak of April 2, 2006. PA State University.

–24      “     NWS WFO, Memphis, TN. April 2, 2006 Storm Damage Surveys. 4-11-2006.

—  8  ~Bradford, Gibson County. NOAA, NWS SPC. 20060402’s Storm Reports. 4-9-2006. [6]

—  6  Bradford, Gibson Co. NCDC. Storm Events Database. F2 Tornado, TN, Gibson, April 2.

Female, 61, mobile/trailer home.        Male, 28, permanent home.

Female, 53, permanent home.             Male, 3, permanent home.

Female, 29, permanent home.             Male, 5, permanent home.

–16  Dyer Co. NWS WFO, Memphis, TN. April 2, 2006 Storm Damage Surveys. 4-11-2006.[7]

Male, 27, mobile/trailer home.           Male, less than 1, permanent home.

Male, 37, mobile/trailer home.           Male, 57, permanent home.

Male, 13, mobile/trailer home.           Male, 66, permanent home.

Female, 26, mobile/trailer home.        Male, 69, permanent home.

Female, 40, mobile/trailer home.        Female, 47, permanent home.

Female, 63, mobile/trailer home.        Female, 57, permanent home.

Male, 35, mobile/trailer home.           Female, 87, permanent home.

Male, 77, permanent home.                Female, 67, permanent home.

—  1  Millsfield.  AP. “Massive Cleanup…Deadly Storms as Towns Mourn 28 Victims.” 2006.

—  2  ~Rutherford, Gibson Co. Females, 44 and 57 in permanent homes.[8]

 

Narrative Information

 

NWS: “04/02/2006  Dyer TN…11 Fatal…In the Navoo community along Hwy 2 houses destroyed. Power knocked out. Fatalities on Biffle Road near Jimmy Dean plant in Newbern.  Additional fatalities occurred in the Bogata area.”  (NWS WFO, Memphis, TN.  Storm Reports from April 2, 2006. 9-28-2009)

 

NWS: “04/02/2006 F3 Gibson TN…8 fatal, 50 inj…Fatalities occurred in the Rutherford/ Bradford area. Tornadic damage was rated a F1 on the Fujita scale with up to F3 damage in Bradford…Especially on Taylor Road just east of Highway 45.  A second tornado touched down just south of the Obion County line and just north of Rutherford.  This tornado then moved southeast tracking approximately 10 miles and dissipated near the intersection of China Grove Road and Highway 105.  Preliminary assessments rate this tornado as an F3 with winds of 200 MPH.”  (NWS WFO, Memphis, TN. Storm Reports from April 2, 2006. 9-28-2009)

 

NWS: “A second tornado formed just east of the Mississippi River in Dyer County [TN].  This tornado traveled 18 miles before dissipating just east of Newbern Tennessee.  This strong F3 tornado had winds around 200 mph.  Numerous homes were destroyed with additional property damage noted.  There were 16 fatalities with this storm…”  (National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Memphis, TN. April 2, 2006 Storm Damage Surveys. 4-11-2006.)

 

AP: “Newbern, Tenn. (AP) — The death toll from swarms of violent thunderstorms and tornadoes that devastated communities across eight states rose to 28 with the discovery of the last unaccounted-for resident in Tennessee, the governor said Tuesday. “The wrath of God is the only way I can describe it,” Gov. Phil Bredesen said after a helicopter tour of the damaged region.  He said Tennessee was up to 24 deaths and 1,000 homes destroyed by Sunday’s storms. The latest victim was found in the rubble of a home in the community of Millsfield, officials said. Emergency crews were still out searching for possible victims, but no one else was known to be missing, Bredesen said.  “I have never seen anything like this, and I’ve been through several tornadoes. I’m used to seeing roofs off houses, houses blown over — these houses were down to their foundations, stripped clean,” Bredesen said. “It really stripped the earth clean.”….

 

“U.S. Rep. John Tanner, who accompanied Bredesen on the tour, said his cousin Janie King, 57, was killed by a tornado that destroyed her home near Newbern.  “When you have 20-something fatalities, that’s just a number. This really puts a face to it,” Tanner said, visibly shaken.

 

“The storms destroyed homes and buildings across parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas. Strong wind was blamed for at least three deaths in Missouri, and one man died in a store collapse in southern Illinois.

 

“In Tennessee’s Dyer and Gibson counties, the hardest hit areas, rescue workers were still searching the rubble of brick buildings and mobile homes. At least 75 people were injured, 17 of them critically, Bredesen said.  The Democratic governor said he had requested a federal disaster declaration for the two counties. He said hadn’t gotten a reply yet Tuesday morning but said he had been assured the request would be processed quickly and that the area would get some help.

 

“The storms developed when a cold front approaching from the West slammed into a mass of warm, humid air, said Memphis meteorologist Jody Aaron. Preliminary reports indicated a swarm of 64 tornadoes touched down in seven of the eight states, the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center said. Ohio had extensive wind damage but no confirmed tornadoes.

 

“Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher compared the destruction to “Sherman’s march” through the South during the Civil War.

 

“Part of K&G Fashion Superstore’s roof and wall collapsed in Fairview Heights, Ill., killing Delancey Moore, 54. His best friend, Doug Young, an off-duty police officer working security, was freed from the wreckage after about 45 minutes….

 

“The violent weather injured dozens of Arkansans and destroyed numerous homes and businesses. Gov. Mike Huckabee authorized the National Guard to help clean up the town of Marmaduke, where brick shells were all that remained of some houses. He also declared emergencies in seven counties to allow residents to seek state aid.

 

“In Newbern, Larry Taylor, who owns the town’s only funeral home, planned to hold services later this week for his son and daughter-in-law and the couple’s two young sons.  “I have to,” Taylor said of his task of preparing their bodies for burial. “I’d give everything I had for that not to have happened. Those little boys were my life”.”  (AP, Louisville, KY. “Massive Cleanup After Deadly Storms as Towns Mourn 28 Victims.” 2006.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Massive Cleanup After Deadly Storms as Towns Mourn 28 Victims.” 2006. Accessed at:  http://www.wave3.com/global/story.asp?s=4723780

 

Lutzak, Philip. The Deadly Tornado Outbreak of April 2, 2006. PA State University. Accessed 6-2-2012 at: http://www.philip-lutzak.com/weather/meteo361/PROJECT_3.htm

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters. NCDC, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 6-17-2011. At: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/reports/billionz.html

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F2, Illinois, St. Clair County, April 2, 2006. Accessed 9-7-2015: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5501074

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Missouri, Pemiscot County, April 2, 2006. Accessed 9-7-2015: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5506267

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Tennessee, Dyer County, April 2-2006. Accessed 9-7-2015: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5506368

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F2, Tennessee, Gibson, April 2, 2006. Accessed 9-7-2015: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5506369

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Tennessee, Gibson County, April 2, 2006. Accessed 9-7-2015: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5506443

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Memphis, TN. April 2, 2006 Storm Damage Surveys and Survey Photos. 4-11-2006. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/meg/?n=apr22006tornadooutbreak

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Memphis, TN. Storm Reports from April 2, 2006. 9-28-2009. Accessed at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/meg/?n=apr22006stormreports

 

Storm Prediction Center, National Weather Service, NOAA. 060402’s Storm Reports. 4-9-2006.  Accessed 8-6-2011 at:  http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/060402_rpts.html

 

Wikipedia. “April 2, 2006 Central United States Tornado Outbreak.” 7-16-2011. Accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2,_2006_Central_United_States_tornado_outbreak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Notes in sidebar that there were 28 direct and 2 “non-tornadic” fatalities, though no citation is provided.

[2] “…27 tornado-related deaths plus two other deaths from straight-line winds.”

[3] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F2, Illinois, St. Clair County, April 2, 2006.

[4] Highlighted in yellow to indicate we are not using in that we have not found confirmation. Think it is possible that the Fairview Heights, IL tornado death may be included in that Fairview Heights is close to St. Louis.

[5] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Missouri, Pemiscot County, April 2, 2006. Writes that 130 people were injured and that in southern portion of Caruthersville 226 homes were destroyed and 542 damaged.

[6] Also: NWS WFO, Memphis, TN. April 2, 2006 Storm Damage Surveys. 4-11-2006.

[7] Also: NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Tennessee, Dyer County, April 2-2006, from which the fatality details noted below derive.

[8] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Tornado, F3, Tennessee, Gibson County, April 2, 2006.