173 Tornadoes Confirmed by the NWS in the Southern Plains and the Southeast

A total of 173 tornadoes have been confirmed in what is one of the worst tornado storm events on record. NOAA said it was the worst tornado outbreak since 1974, when storms killed 315 people. The deadliest tornado outbreak on record was on March 18, 1925, when 695 people died. About 350 people have died in this storm event.

Reuters reported:

Federal officials vowed urgent support on Sunday for a region devastated by the deadliest U.S. natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina, even as they acknowledged recovery would not be quick or easy.  President Barack Obama's administration is trying to show an effective response to the storms and twisters that killed about 350 people last week in seven southern states, reduced neighborhoods to rubble and caused damage expected to run into billions of dollars. Obama visited Alabama on Friday and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate, toured damage on Sunday. "I don't think words can fairly express the level of devastation here. I am not articulate enough," Napolitano said after seeing how killer storm winds had torn through Pratt City, Alabama.

Maps and storms reports for this major storm event are available from the Storm Prediction Center for April, 25, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 27, 2011 and April 28, 2011.

George Wright is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist for Wright Weather Consulting, Inc. Our website is WrightWeather.com. George is also a meteorologist with the ABC Television Network and Cablevision's News 12.