Portal:Tornadoes/Anniversaries/May 26

May 26

• 1917 – One of the deadliest events of a larger outbreak sequence, a catastrophic tornado family moved across parts of Illinois and Indiana. It was previously cited as the longest recorded track of a single tornado at 293 miles (472 km). The deadliest member of this family, which itself may have been three or more tornadoes, killed 101 people and injured more than 600. The tornado destroyed almost every building in northern Mattoon, Illinois, where 53 people were killed, and another 38 died in the devastation of Charleston.
• 1924 – A significant tornado outbreak resulted in 38 deaths across Mississippi and Alabama, with multiple deaths in several families. One tornado family killed nine people in Collins, Mississippi and Brewer, Mississippi, including seven in one home. An F3 tornado killed ten people near Bay Springs and Increase, Mississippi, including another 7 in one family. An brief but devastating F3 tornado killed eight people in a poorly-built home near Elkmont, Alabama, all in one family. Deadly tornadoes continued into the early morning of May 27 with another 15 deaths. Eleven of these deaths, eight of which were in one family, were from an F3 tornado that hit small communities near Empire, Alabama.