Tornado outbreak of April 1977
|duration= parameter from the infobox header or from another 'History' box instead.F5 damage to homes in the Smithfield neighborhood | |
| Tornado outbreak | |
|---|---|
| Tornadoes | 22 |
| Maximum rating | F5 tornado |
| Duration | April 4–5, 1977 |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 24 (+72 non-tornadic) |
| Injuries | 158 (+22 non-tornadic injuries) |
| Damage | $32,723,500 ($173,860,000 in 2025 USD) |
| Areas affected | Southeastern United States, particularly Alabama and Georgia |
Part of the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1977 | |
A violent severe weather outbreak struck the Southeast on April 4–5, 1977. A total of 22 tornadoes touched down with the strongest ones occurring in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. The strongest was a catastrophic F5 tornado that struck the northern Birmingham, Alabama, suburbs during the afternoon of Monday, April 4. In addition to this tornado, several other tornadoes were reported from the same system in the Midwest, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina. One tornado in Floyd County, Georgia, killed one person, and another fatality was reported east of Birmingham in St. Clair County. In the end, the entire outbreak directly caused 24 deaths and 158 injuries. The storm system also caused the crash of Southern Airways Flight 242, which killed 72 and injured 22.