Missouri Just Had The Worst Year for Tornadoes In Decades

You guys have definitely heard about tornadoes this past year. Seems like we hear about them so often, we've become a little desensitized to them.

So I thought, ahead of tornado season, let's look and see how the year went, and maybe see how it will affect us this year.

via GIPHY

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has all this information too, but I also consulted with this site, so I can show you my work.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which has been tracking weather for decades, reports that since 1950, Missouri has had 2,953 confirmed tornados. Since then, these things have caused an estimated total property damage amount of $5,362,306,470 with total crop damage at $22,282,000.

Meanwhile this year alone, we've had 111 confirmed tornadoes here in Missouri, causing about $7,121,000 in total damage. That's the second highest it has ever been.

via GIPHY

Which seems high, right? Well, let's look at what it was, for comparison. In 2006, there were 143 (!!) tornadoes that year, with a estimated property damage value at $152,655,500. But, that wasn't the worst year in terms of property damage.

The most damage in one year from tornadoes in Missouri has been 2003. In that year, we got about $284,450,500 in damages, with $7,000,000 in crop damage. But we only had 109 tornadoes that year. So really, it makes a huge difference where the tornado strikes and when, it always varies in terms of what kind of damage it can do.

Get our free mobile app

In Missouri, there are counties that are more vulnerable than others when it comes to tornadoes. In fact, a national roofing company does an assessment every year, and they've compiled data from all over the country. While Illinois' Cook County is deemed "most vulnerable", St Louis City and Jackson County round out the top five.

So then, I took their research and isolated it for Missouri. Here are the 21 most vulnerable counties in Missouri:
4 St. Louis City
5 Jackson County
10 St. Louis County
48 Jasper County
53 Clay County
56 Jefferson County
64 Greene County
65 St. Charles County
86 Buchanan County
125 Boone County
127 Butler County
135 Scott County
170 Cass County
189 Newton County
210 Platte County
263 Franklin County
286 Cole County
304 St. Francois County
311 Barry County MO
313 Lawrence County MO
364 Pettis County MO

Yeeep, there we are, down at 364. Now, that's definitely not the worst, but it's not the best either. It's out of 946 counties that were assessed.

What do you think? What do you do to prepare for tornado season, if anything?

Naderly yours,
Behka

KEEP READING: What to do after a tornado strikes

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF