April 5 event April 6 event Tupelo, Mississippi Making its way toward Tupelo, this massive tornado killed a family of 13 as their house was swept away, and injured many more before reaching Tupelo's west side. Retroactively rated F5 on the modern
Fujita scale, it caused total destruction along its path through the Willis Heights neighborhood. Dozens of large and well built mansions were swept completely away in this area. Although missing the
business district, the tornado moved through the residential areas of north Tupelo, destroying many homes, and killing whole families. The Gum Pond area of Tupelo was the worst hit. Homes along the pond were swept into the water with their victims. The majority of the bodies were found in Gum Pond, the area which is now Gumtree Park. Reportedly, many bodies were never recovered from the pond. Reports were that the winds were so strong, pine needles were embedded into trunks of trees. As the tornado exited the city's east side, the large concrete
Battle of Tupelo monument was toppled to the ground and destroyed. Two nearby brick gate posts were broken off at the base and blown over as well. East of town, granulated structural debris from the city was strewn and wind-rowed for miles through open fields. According to records, the Tupelo tornado leveled 48 city blocks and between 200–900 homes, killing at least 216 people and injuring at least 700 others. The tornado destroyed the water tower and produced numerous fires in its wake, though overnight rains which left knee-deep water in some streets contained the flames. Though 216 remained the final death toll, 100 persons were still hospitalized at the time it was set. Subsequently, the Mississippi State Geologist estimated a final, unofficial death toll of 233. Notably, among the survivors were one-year-old
Elvis Presley and his parents.
Gainesville, Georgia After producing the Tupelo tornado, the storm system moved through
Alabama overnight and reached Gainesville, Georgia, at around 8:30 a.m local
standard time. According to
Ted Fujita, this early morning tornado was a double tornado event: one tornado moved in from the
Atlanta highway, while the other moved in from the
Dawsonville highway. The two merged on Grove Street and destroyed everything throughout the downtown area, causing wreckage to pile high in some places. The worst tornado-caused death toll in a single building in U.S. history was at the Cooper Pants Factory. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke from a train platform in Gainesville on April 9, after the devastating tornado struck the town a few days earlier. ==See also==