May 4 event May 5 event May 6 event May 7 event May 8 event May 9 event May 10 event Tompkinsville–Sewell–Cundiff–Russell Springs, Kentucky A
tornado family killed 16 people and destroyed 60 homes in Tompkinsville, striking the southern portion of the city and devastating
African-American communities. Bodies were found away, and the swath of damage was wide. Farther northeast, the tornado killed two more people, at
Sewell. Across Monroe County 50 injuries were reported. The tornado may have weakened as it headed northeastward, causing two injuries in Cumberland County and two more deaths near
Cundiff in Adair County. Afterward, the tornado restrengthened and widened to as it neared Russell Springs. The tornado passed within of downtown Russell Springs, leveling 100 or more homes on the southeastern edge of town. At least 14 and possibly as many as 20 fatalities occurred in or near Russell Springs. Outside Russell Springs, chickens were reportedly left featherless. At least 87 people were injured and losses totaled $245,000. As many as 100 injuries may have occurred in Russell County alone. At that time, this tornado was the third-deadliest on record in the Commonwealth of Kentucky after the
Louisville tornado of 1890, which took 76 lives, and the
Fulton County-Bondurant tornado of 1917 when 65 people were killed. However, after 58 people were killed during the
Western Kentucky tornado of 2021, this tornado would become the fourth-deadliest on record.
Beatty Swamps, Tennessee Around midnight local time, a violent tornado touched down approximately north of Livingston and headed northeast, paralleling Big Eagle Creek and passing northwest of
Bethsaida. The tornado subsequently struck the small settlement of
Beatty Swamps, obliterating every home and causing 33 fatalities there, including an entire family of nine. Little debris was left in the vicinity, a
reaper-binder was thrown , and cars were moved hundreds of feet. Almost everyone in Beatty Swamps was either injured or killed. After devastating Beatty Swamps, the tornado continued through Bethsaida and past
West Fork before dissipating near Byrdstown. In Pickett County the tornado caused only minor damage to properties and trees. Estimates of the path length vary from . Heavy rainfall, suggestive of a
high-precipitation supercell, immediately preceded the tornado. Another violent tornado did not hit the area until
April 3, 1974. ==See also==