Top 10 Deadliest Tornadoes in American History

Ruins of the Longfellow School where 17 children were killed March 18, 1925. The Tri-State Tornado was the longest- lived - and had the longest path - of any recorded tornado. It travelled 300 miles from Missouri to Indiana and killed over 600. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce

1. March 18, 1925, Tri-State (Missouri, Illinois, Indiana), 689 lives lost
2. May 6, 1840, Natchez, Miss., 317
3. May 27, 1896, St. Louis, Mo., 255
4. April 5, 1936, Tupelo, Miss., 216
5. April 6, 1936, Gainesville, Ga., 203
6. April 9, 1947, Woodward, Okla., 181
7. April 24, 1908, Amite La.; Purvis, Miss., 143
8. May 22, 2011, Joplin, Mo., 122
9. June 12, 1899, New Richmond, Wis., 117
10. June 8, 1953, Flint, Mich., 115

(Source: Infoplease)