SPC Stats
Path length: 6.1 miles
Width: 10 yards
Fatalities: 7
Injuries: 0
Rating: F2
County: Grenada
This tornado was one of eight that occurred on February 4, 1971. It was given a rating of F2, and tragically seven members of one family were killed when their mobile home was hit.
The tornado developed two miles SE of Gore Springs, MS. Per the survey, it lifted after one mile and then “touched down” again near Highway 8 about 15 miles East of Grenada. The main damage was to this trailer. The other damage was to timber.
Per a newspaper article in the Hattiesburg American from February 5, 1971, the wife and three children of Christopher Hankins, a Grenada policeman, were killed. Officer Hankins was returning home from duty when the trailer was hit. The three other victims were his sister, niece, and mother-in-law. His wife Mary Helen had returned from the hospital a day before the tornado with a new baby. He was one of the victims.
Per the article, “wreckage of the trailer was scattered as far away as one mile, authorities said, and one body was found three-fourths of a mile from the trailer site.”
Tornado Path
Click Map To Enlarge
SPC coordinates: Start: 33.72 / -89.6 End: 33.77 / -89.52
Corrected Coordinates based on damage reports:
Start: 33.732654/-89.595238 End: 33.799125/-89.506114
Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.
Newspaper Clippings
Discrepancies:
We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the February 1971 Storm Data Publication and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:
Width:
- SPC/NCDC have a 10 yard width.
- Storm Data and Grazulis list a 100 yard width.
Sources:
February 1971 Storm Data Publication
Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 1120.
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