u/SadJuice8529

11,000 damage indicators. That's how many I placed by hand over the weeks it took to create this survey. applying the enhanced fujita scale based on my knowledge and the official survey done by the NWS, I have been able to make a comprehensive survey of the true scale of the disaster.

LINKS:

Drive downloads

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1akvkgLQt-sOoTz0qy6HBYRq3J55Z8HVk?usp=sharing

Google earth web link:

https://earth.google.com/earth/d/1GHcWv8fmUOmCjgHdRTO8IV3uG7TMYYEu?usp=sharing

The Tuscaloosa tornado, despite not getting the EF5 rating, was the costliest, most impactful and widely remembered tornado out of the over 300 that touched down on April 27. The reason is simple. Two of the largest metro areas in the state of Alabama were directly struck by a single, violent tornado. over 1,000 structures were completely destroyed, 1,500 were injured and unfortunately, 64 real people would lose their lives. This includes college students, mothers, and even infant children. All respect goes to the families of those lost. This was a disaster like never seen up to this point, with $2.4 Billion in damages estimated.

One thing that will stand out to a number of people: Why are there no EF5 damage indicators? although it took much debate, I came to the conclusion that despite hitting as many structures as it did, construction quality was on average low, with many CMU or straight nailed homes present. though the tornado was 100% capable of EF5 calibre damage, cost cutting and the general lower-middle income nature of the areas hit means that properly applying the EF scale, no structures should in theory gain the rating.

I hope this was insightful to some, as I made an attempt to make the survey as accurate and realistic as possible, please leave an upvote if possible as this has been a very long process to create this.

never forget those we lost that day.

SOURCES:

Images sourced from:

https://geodesy.noaa.gov/storm_archive/storms/apr11_tornado/index.html

https://youtu.be/G6giQ3csbUg?si=5v5XL_qctIoJultY

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjuM5zfd

https://apps.dat.noaa.gov/stormdamage/damageviewer/

Papers/References:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327022714_THE_ENHANCED_FUJITA_EF_SCALE

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327022726_BUILDING_DAMAGE_ISSUES_IN_TORNADOES

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326995556_Performance_of_Concrete_Masonry_Unit_CMU_Buildings_in_the_Joplin_MO_Tornado

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273432605_Automated_Tornado_Damage_Assessment_and_Wind_Speed_Estimation_Based_on_Terrestrial_Laser_Scanning