February 1971 Mississippi Delta tornado outbreak

This devastating, long-lived tornado—of F5 intensity in Louisiana, F4 in Mississippi—first appeared aloft northwest of Crowville, Louisiana—about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Delhi—before touching down over eastern Madison Parish southwest of Delhi.[6][18][19][4] The tornado then moved northeast through the small community of Waverly, about 3 mi (4.8 km) east of Delhi, where it was first reported operationally.[4][18] In this area, along and northeast of U.S. Route 80, the tornado completely leveled many small homes at F5 intensity, killing 10 people in a family of 12 on a farmstead near Joes Bayou, five of whose bodies were thrown into nearby swamps and were not located for weeks.[6][18][19][4] The tornado continued northeast, destroying seven homes and two trailers in the mostly-rural town of Alsatia/Melbourne, south of Transylvania, before crossing the Mississippi River into Mississippi.[4] The tornado passed near Mayersville, gradually weakening until entering northern Sharkey County, where it may have reformed into a new, F4 tornado before hitting Delta City, destroying the entire community and killing seven people.[4][6][3] The tornado continued northeast, killing two people near Cameta and two more west of Isola.[16][4] Afterward, it entered the town of Inverness as a large tornado, destroying 125 homes and 40 other structures—80–90% of the community—killing 21 people, and injuring 200 more.[20][4][18] The tornado destroyed the entire central business district, city hall, the three largest churches in town, and entire blocks of frail homes in the black section of town; many of these homes were "obliterated."[20][12] Hundreds of people were left homeless, and railroad cars were tipped onto their sides.[12] The tornado then leveled the northwest side of Moorehead, killing four people there before dissipating.[4] In all, the tornado destroyed hundreds of homes along its path. It is the only official F5/EF5 to have hit the state of Louisiana since official tornado records began in 1950 and the only F5/EF5 tornado ever recorded in the month of February, although the F5 rating is disputed as many of the houses were small and frail. Until an EF5 tornado on April 27, 2011 killed 72 people, it was also the deadliest F5 tornado since the Candlestick Park tornado in 1966 killed 58 people across Mississippi and Alabama.[6]

The deadliest and longest-lived of the three long-tracked violent tornadoes was likely a tornado family.[4] It first touched down just southeast of Fitler and moved northeast into Cary,[18] destroying the entire community.[3] Just south of Cary, the tornado destroyed the Evanna plantation, killing 14 people in the area.[4] Continuing to the northeast,[18] the tornado crossed Gooden Lake as a waterspout, killing seven people there and two more nearby at "Mound Lake Plantation."[4] The tornado then passed through and completely destroyed the "Pugh City" plantation, reducing frail, low-income housing to "splinters," rolling farm machinery, and killing at least 21 people.[4][18][16] Extensive wind-rowing occurred as frame homes were completely swept away.[21] The tornado killed two more people in Swiftown, six in Morgan City, two 2 mi (3.2 km) west of Greenwood (near Fort Loring), and four near Money.[4] The tornado may have weakened and reformed into a new tornado, 200 yd (183 m) wide,[20] that passed in or near Avalon, Oxberry, Cascilla, and Tillatoba, causing scattered damage in those communities.[4][20][22] This tornado then lifted and reformed into one or more tornadoes west of Oxford, destroying more than 31 mobile homes in trailer parks, passing near the University of Mississippi campus, and producing a path at least 10 mi (16 km) long into the Holly Springs National Forest.[4][16][23] Areas in and near Oxford reported $500,000 in damage, the worst natural disaster in local history.[23] Yet another or more tornadoes may have caused damage from Benton County[16] into Tennessee, where F3 damage occurred 5 mi (8.0 km) southwest of Middleton; there, three homes were damaged and one was destroyed with $40,000 in damage.[4] The tornado dissipated shortly thereafter. Its path was just a few miles east of the areas affected by the F5 tornado for most of its path, and several counties were affected by both tornadoes. With 58 fatalities, the tornado is the deadliest in Mississippi since 1950;[6] however, the deadliest Mississippi tornado on record in the 20th century killed 216 people in 1936.

The final long-lived violent tornado of the outbreak touched down south-southwest of Bovina, where it was seen approaching .5 mi (0.80 km) away.[20] The tornado destroyed barns and homes, including a guest house, as well as hundreds of trees. One home was completely leveled, with only concrete blocks remaining on its foundation, and two people died of injuries.[4] Next, the tornado passed through and destroyed Little Yazoo,[3] where many homes and other buildings were leveled and swept away.[24] Near Little Yazoo and Bentonia, the tornado leveled a dozen more homes, killing 11 people.[4] In Holmes County, the tornado extensively damaged homes, barns, chicken coops, and sheds before dissipating.[20] In all, the tornado leveled many homes along the path and injured 182 people.[4]

• Grazulis, Thomas (1993), Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events, St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films, ISBN 1-879362-03-1
• Grazulis, Thomas (2001), The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm, Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0
• NOAA (1971a), "Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena", Storm Data, Asheville, North Carolina: United States Department of Commerce, 13 (2)
• NOAA; Saltsman, E. J. (1971), written at Jackson, Mississippi, "Special Weather Summary", Climatological Data, Asheville, North Carolina: United States Department of Commerce, 76 (2): 15–8
• NOAA (July 1971b), Mississippi Delta Tornadoes of February 21, 1971 (PDF), NOAA Natural Disaster Survey Report 71-2, Rockville, Maryland: United States Department of Commerce