1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak
| Type | Tornado outbreak |
|---|---|
| Duration | April 5–6, 1936 |
| Tornadoes confirmed | ≥ 14 |
| Max. rating1 | F5 tornado |
| Duration of tornado outbreak2 | 18 hours |
| Fatalities | ≥ 454 fatalities, >2,498 injuries |
| Damage | ≥ $15.9 million (1936 USD) ≥ $360 million (2025 USD) |
| Areas affected | Southern United States |
| 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado | |
On April 5–6, 1936, an outbreak of at least 14 tornadoes struck the Southeastern United States, killing at least 454 people (with 419 of those deaths caused by just two tornadoes) and injuring at least 2,500 others. Over 200 people died in Georgia alone, making it the deadliest disaster ever recorded in the state.
Although the outbreak is often centered on the violent tornadoes in Tupelo, Mississippi (with an estimated F5 rating), and Gainesville, Georgia (estimated F4 rating), there were other destructive tornadoes in the cities of Columbia, Tennessee; Acworth, Georgia; and Anderson, South Carolina. One long-track F4 tornado killed six people in rural parts of Tennessee, and two other long-track tornadoes (rated F3) killed an additional 13 people in southern Tennessee and northern Alabama. Another pair of F3 tornadoes touched down in Mississippi, claiming an additional eight lives.
This is the second deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history (after that of the Tri-state tornado in 1925) and the only one in which two separate tornadoes killed more than 200 people each.