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Pinellas not immune from deadly storms
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007 |
PINELLAS COUNTY – Although Pinellas County isn’t in the record books when it comes to deadly tornadoes, it has had its fair share of storms over the years.
According to a search at www.tornadohistoryproject.com, between the years of 1950 and 2005, 120 tornadoes were recorded in Pinellas. Fortunately, not many resulted in deaths or widespread destruction.
However, as officials preach during hurricane season, the weather is unpredictable and it only takes one to devastate an area.
The worst tornado ever recorded involving Pinellas happened on April 4, 1966 when a storm passed through this county and traveled on through Hillsborough, Polk, Osceola and Okeechobee counties, resulting in 11 deaths and 530 injuries.
Second in severity occurred on May 4, 1978 when three people were killed and 95 injured in Pinellas.
The third worst happened on Oct. 3, 1992 when a tornado killed three and injured 75 in this county.
Looking for storms in the months of February, March and April, which officials said were historically the most devastating, the records showed 13. Fifty-five people were injured when a tornado passed through Pinellas, Hillsborough and Polk counties on Feb. 19, 1974. A tornado on Feb. 2, 1983 injured one in Pinellas. One person was injured during a tornado on March 20, 1964.
Other parts of the state have not been as lucky. According to records at the Florida Division of Emergency Management’s Web site, central Florida was the site of the most deadly tornado event ever recorded with 42 deaths from seven tornadoes passing through Volusia, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.
The second most deadly tornado occurred on March 31, 1962 when 17 people were killed near Milton.
The Tornado History Project is a searchable, sortable database of tornado statistics based on the official National Weather Service tornado records from 1950-2005. Plus, by combining data from the official records with Google Maps, the Tornado History Project has made it possible to view the location (and path if avaiilable) of each and every tornado.
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Article published on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007
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