Portal:Tornadoes/Anniversaries/May 22

May 22

• 1987 – A short-lived but devastating F4 tornado destroyed 85% of Saragosa, Texas, killing 30 people, including 22 in building where a Head Start graduation was about to take place. Many of the dead were parents or grandparents who died shielding the children from debris.
• 2004 – An F4 tornado caused major damage in and near Wilber and Hallam, Nebraska, killing one person and injuring 28. At one point the tornado was 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide, making it, at the time, the widest tornado ever recorded. This record was later surpassed by the 2.6-mile (4.2 km)-wide 2013 El Reno tornado.
• 2011 – A catastrophic EF5 tornado devastated the southern portions of Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and injuring 1,150. It was the deadliest tornado to hit the United States since 1947 and the costliest in U.S. history with $2.8 billion in damage.