Early-May 1933 tornado outbreak sequence

The Early-May 1933 tornado outbreak sequence was a severe weather event that occurred from May 4–10, 1933, and produced at least 27 tornadoes. Among them was the Beatty Swamps tornado, a violent F4 that struck shortly after midnight CST on May 11, 1933, in Overton County, Tennessee, killing 35 people and devastating the unincorporated community of Beatty Swamps (also known as Bethsaida). The storm was the second-deadliest tornado in the history of Middle Tennessee, even though it struck a sparsely populated, rural area. There were $100,000 in damages from the tornado ($1.5 million in 2005 when adjusted for inflation). The community of Beatty Swamps ceased to exist and does not appear on any current maps. The only landmark that alludes to the former community is Beatty Swamp Road, whichs intersects Highway 111 in the northeast corner of Overton County.

Tornado table

Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating

F0	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	Total
?	?	16	8	3	0	≥ 27

May 4

May 4, 1933
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Comments/Damage
Arkansas
F2	N of Calico Rock	Izard	2100	6 miles (9.7 km)	Two barns were destroyed.
Louisiana
F2	S of Monroe	Ouachita	2300	unknown	A tornado destroyed a plantation home and six tenant homes near Bosco.
F3	E of Tallulah	Madison	0030	10 miles (16 km)	1 death — A tornado destroyed both large and small homes as it passed 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Tallulah.
Mississippi
F2	SE of Valley Park	Issaquena, Sharkey	0200	5 miles (8.0 km)	Four homes and a church were destroyed.
Sources: Grazulis, Significant, pp. 850–851

May 5

May 5, 1933
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Comments/Damage
Alabama
F3	NW of Pennington to Demopolis	Choctaw, Sumter, Marengo	0620	35 miles (56 km)	4 deaths — 50 homes were destroyed, three people killed, and 200 people left homeless as a tornado hit Demopolis. One other death occurred near Edna in Choctaw County.
F4	S of Brent to N of Pelham	Bibb, Shelby	0830	35 miles (56 km)	21 deaths — Homes were leveled near Brent, southeast of Centreville, and near Coalmont. 14 people died and 150 were injured as the tornado destroyed most of Helena.
South Carolina
F3	N of Anderson to SE of Fountain Inn	Anderson, Greenville, Laurens	1930	45 miles (72 km)	19 deaths — 11 deaths occurred in frail homes in Belton. Four more deaths were in Greenville County and one more near Barksdale. Losses were at least $300,000, mainly to mills near Belton.
Sources: Grazulis, Significant, pp. 850–851

May 6

May 6, 1933
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Comments/Damage
Mississippi
F2	W of Starkville	Oktibbeha	0730	unknown	One home was destroyed.
F2	Southern Lee County	Lee	0730	unknown	Three small homes were destroyed.
Sources: Grazulis, Significant, pp. 850–851

May 7 event

May 7, 1933
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Comments/Damage
Iowa
F2	N of Somers to N of Barnum	Calhoun, Webster	unknown	12 miles (19 km)	A tornado destroyed two barns along its path.
F2	S of Remsen to SE of Alton	Plymouth, Sioux	1945	12 miles (19 km)	A tornado hit farms, destroying barns on three of them and doing lesser damage to other farms.
F2	W of Barnum	Webster	2200	unknown	A barn built upon cement blocks was destroyed.
F2	N of Bondurant to Maxwell area	Polk, Story	2200	12 miles (19 km)	A tornado destroyed two barns. One farm reportedly was hit for the third time in its history.
F2	Eagle Grove area	Wright	2230	2 miles (3.2 km)	A tornado destroyed "a barn, a machine shed, and a brooder house."
F2	E of Fort Dodge	Webster	unknown	unknown	One barn was destroyed.
Arkansas
F2	NE of Searcy	White	2130	unknown	A short-lived tornado destroyed barns.
F2	N of Harrisburg to Trumann area	Poinsett	2200	16 miles (26 km)	A tornado destroyed nine homes and a school in the Shady Grove community.
Tennessee
F3	S of Atoka to SE of Covington	Tipton	2345	15 miles (24 km)	6 deaths — Roughly 30 homes and 75 farm structures were reported damaged or destroyed. Four deaths occurred in a single home near Charleston. Two more deaths were in another home south of Covington.
Sources: Grazulis, Significant, pp. 850–851

May 9 event

May 9, 1933
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Comments/Damage
Indiana
F2	SW of Tipton	Tipton	0900	1 mile (1.6 km)	A large barn was destroyed.
F2	Lapel to Anderson area	Madison	0930	4 miles (6.4 km)	A tornado caused $40,000 roof and rain-related damage.
F3	S of Versailles	Ripley	2215	7 miles (11 km)	Four homes and many barns were destroyed.
F3	SE of Dillsboro	Ohio	2240	5 miles (8.0 km)	Three homes were destroyed, one of which had seven rooms and was nearly leveled. The tornado hit near Woods Ridge and South Fork.
Illinois
F3	N of Dale to SW of Norris City	Hamilton, White	0000	8 miles (13 km)	2 deaths — A "huge" tornado left only one wall standing on a homesite and killed two children east of Dale. It also destroyed other homes.
Kentucky
F4	SW of Tompkinsville to NE of Russell Springs	Monroe, Cumberland, Adair, Russell	0230	60 miles (97 km)	36 deaths — A major tornado family killed 18 people and destroyed 60 homes in Tompkinsville. It may have lifted in Cumberland County before reforming in Adair County. 14 more people died near Russell Springs as the tornado was said to be 1 mile (1.6 km) wide. It was the third-deadliest Kentucky tornado on record following one in 1917 (65 deaths) and another in 1890 (76 deaths). The 1974 Brandenburg tornado (28 deaths in-state) was the fourth deadliest.
F2	Columbia area	Metcalfe, Adair	0230	15 miles (24 km)	2 deaths — Five homes were destroyed and 12 others damaged in Columbia.
Tennessee
F3	N of Lebanon	Wilson	0430	5 miles (8.0 km)	2 deaths — Three homes were leveled and "swept away" with two people killed. Their bodies were moved 300 yd (900 ft). Other residents survived in underground storm shelters that had been built after tornadoes on March 14.
Sources: Grazulis, Significant, pp. 850–851

May 10

May 10, 1933
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Comments/Damage
Tennessee
F4	N of Livingston to S of Byrdstown	Overton, Pickett	0615	20 miles (32 km)	35 deaths — Every home in Beatty Swamps was destroyed with little debris left. 33 of the deaths occurred there, including an entire family of nine. "Much of the area was swept clean of debris," a reaper-binder was thrown 500 yards (1,500 ft), and cars were moved hundreds of feet. Another violent tornado did not hit the area until April 3, 1974.
Sources: Grazulis, Significant, pp. 850–851

See also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks

External links

• 20 Dead, Many Hurt in Overton Tornado, National Weather Service: article from the Livingston Enterprise (archived at archive.org)
• 70 Years Ago in Overton County