Omaha Tornado of 1975

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This article is about the 1975 tornado. For the Easter Sunday tornado of 1913, see here.
Omaha Tornado of 1975
Date of tornado outbreak: May 6-7, 1975
Duration1: ~2 1/2 days
Maximum rated tornado2: F4 tornado
Tornadoes caused: 36
Damages: unknown
Fatalities: 3
Areas affected: Central and Southern United States

1Time from first tornado to last tornado
2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale


The Omaha Tornado of 1975 is a violent tornado that hit the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area. Part of a two-day outbreak that struck the Midwest and Southern United States on May 6-7, 1975, ending in the very early hours of May 8 across Louisiana. South Dakota, Iowa, Texas and Mississippi were also hit by several tornadoes. In total, 36 tornadoes touched down across 6 states. The outbreak killed 3 people all from the Omaha tornado while injuring hundreds more.

Contents

[edit] Tornado event

During the early afternoon of May 6, 1975, a tornado watch was issued much of eastern Nebraska. Initial tornado activity started in northeast Nebraska throughout the first half of the afternoon. At around 4:15 PM, a tornado warning was issued for the Omaha area and an F4 tornado touched down about 15 minutes later in Sarpy County, Nebraska. The storm then moved north-east, cutting into Douglas County crossing Interstate 80 (injuring several motorists) and through west-central sections of the city of Omaha. The tornado chopped a path across 10 miles of streets and residences, crossing the city's busiest intersection at 72nd & Dodge before lifting at 4:58 PM.

Three people were killed and 133 reported injured. One of the fatalities was thrown several feet by the tornado from her home to the backyard of a flattened home about 4 or 5 homes away.[1] Over 4,000 buildings were damaged and 287 were destroyed. In terms of damage, it was the costliest tornado in American history to that date, with insurance costs estimated at up to $1.1 billion (in 1975 dollars). Today, it still remains as the second costliest tornado ever behind the Oklahoma City area F5 tornado on May 3, 1999.

[edit] Tornado table

Confirmed
Total		 Confirmed
F0		 Confirmed
F1		 Confirmed
F2		 Confirmed
F3		 Confirmed
F4		 Confirmed
F5
36 9 9 15 2 2 0

[edit] Confirmed tornadoes

[edit] May 6 event

F# Location County Time (UTC) Path length Damage
South Dakota
F0 SW of Kimball Brule 1705 12.4 miles
(19.8 km)
F1 SW of Tabor Bon Homme 1946 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F0 SW of Tripp Bon Homme 2010 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
Nebraska
F4 N of Pierce Pierce 1905 4.1 miles
(6.6 km)
F3 E of Pierce to W of Menominee Pierce, Cedar, Knox 1915 44.8 miles
(71.7 km)
F0 SW of Bloomfield Knox 1930 5.4 miles
(8.6 km)
F3 N of Stanton Stanton, Wayne 1945 15.9 miles
(25.4 km)
F0 SE of Colon Saunders 2100 3.4 miles
(5.4 km)
F0 S of Waterbury Dixon 2130 3 miles
(4.8 km)
F4 Omaha area Sarpy, Douglas 2133 8 miles
(12.8 km)		 3 deaths
Iowa
F2 NE of Crescent Pottawattamie, Harrison 2200 12.8 miles
(20.5 km)
F2 W of Beebeetown Pottawattamie, Harrison 2220 10.6 miles
(17 km)
Source:

Tornado History Project - Storm Data for May 6, 1975

[edit] May 7 event

F# Location County Time (UTC) Path length Damage
Mississippi
F1 N of Natchez Adams 1145 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)
F1 Hattiesburg area Forrest 1710 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)
F1 N of McSwain Perry 1750 9.7 miles
(15.5 km)
F2 S of Eatonville Forrest, Jones 1930 5.4 miles
(8.6 km)
South Dakota
F0 SE of Capa Jones 1655 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F1 E of Wendte Stanley 1800 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F0 W of Onida Sully 1955 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F0 SW of Onida Sully 2130 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F0 N of Mission Ridge Sully 2220 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
Texas
F2 NE of Kingsland Travis 2200 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F1 N of Leander Williamson 2300 1 miles
(1.6 km)
F2 NW of Nolanville Bell 2300 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
Iowa
F2 SE of Manteno Crawford 2330 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F2 NW of Jacksonville Shelby 0000 9.9 miles
(15.8 km)
F0 Creston area Union 0015 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F2 SW of Van Wert Decatur 0100 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F2 Osceola area Clarke 0130 10 miles
(16 km)
Louisiana
F2 W of Clare Sabine 0400 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
F2 Welsh area Jefferson Parish 0605 1 miles
(1.6 km)
F1 Mansfield area De Soto 0615 0.7 miles
(1.1 km)
F2 SW of Estherwood Acadia 0700 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)
F1 S of Duson Lafayette 0730 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)
F2 Baton Roughe East Baton Rouge 0730 6.2 miles
(9.9 km)
F2 NW of Jack St. Helena 0800 (05/08) 0.1 miles
(0.16 km)
Source:

Tornado History Project - Storm Data for May 7, 1975, Tornado History Project - Storm Data for May 8, 1975

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Omaha 5/6/75

[edit] External links

v • d • e
10 costliest US tornadoes
Rank Area affected Date Damage 1 Adjusted Damage 2
1 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma May 3, 1999 1000 963
2 Wichita Falls, Texas April 10, 1979 400 884
3 Omaha, Nebraska May 6, 1975 250 745
4 Lubbock, Texas Tornado May 11, 1970 135 558
5 Topeka, Kansas Tornado June 8, 1966 100 494
6 Windsor Locks/Poquonock, Connecticut October 3, 1979 200 442
7 St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado May 27, 1896 12 380
8 Xenia, Ohio April 3, 1974 100 325
9 North-central Georgia March 31, 1973 89 321
10 Worcester, MA June 9, 1953 52 311
Source: Brooks, Harold E.; C.A. Doswell (Feb 2001). "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 1890–1999". Weather and Forecasting 16 (1): 168-76. American Meteorological Society.  3
1. These are the unadjusted damage totals in millions of US dollars.
2. Raw damage totals adjusted for inflation, in thousands of 1997 USD.
3. Search of NCDC Storm Data indicates no tornadoes since 1999 have caused more than $210 million in damage, so this source is up-to-date.