On May 11, 1953, a tornado touched down on the northern outskirts of San Angelo at 2:30 p.m. Eleven people were killed, 159 injured and damage was estimated at $3 million. Dozens of homes along with a theater and high school were demolished. May 11, 1953 -

A devastating tornado, rated f5 on the Fujita Scale, tore through downtown Waco, Texas. 114 people were killed and 597 were injured. Total damage was $41 million. Another tornado (f4) virtually leveled 15 square blocks of San Angelo, Texas with 13 people killed and 159 injured.

On the evening of May 11, 1970, a tornado with winds in excess of 260 mph hit Lubbock, killing 26 people, injuring 1,500 people and causing damage estimated at $250 million. The funnel carved out a mile-and-a-half-wide path of destruction running eight miles from near downtown to the Lubbock International Airport. Approximately 1,000 homes and apartments were destroyed, while ten times that many were damaged. The strength of the storm was so intense it twisted the 16-story Great Plains Life Building, which tenants later abandoned for safety reasons. Approximately one-quarter of the city´s downtown area was heavily damaged. May 11, 1970 -

Lubbock, Texas was struck by a tornado rated f5 on the Fujita Scale. 26 people were killed and 500 were injured. The total damage was estimated at $135 million which was considered conservative. 600 apartment units were destroyed along with 430 houses. 250 businesses were damaged or destroyed. 80 percent of the windows in the downtown area were broken.

Image Courtesy of National Climatic Data Center This image is from May 28, 1995 at 2300 UTC or 1600 LST. The white box surrounds the storm that caused the hail damage in and around San Angelo, Texas. At the southern end of the box is the most intense part of the storm, which is also the approximate location of San Angelo.

Homestead, Florida following Hurricane Andrew in 1992. (Photo courtesy of NOAA).

Below are statistics complied by the Miami Herald:43 - Killed.Housing Units Destroyed - 28,000.Housing Units with Major Damage - 52,340.Businesses Damaged or Destroyed - 82,000.Hospital Damaged - 9.Public Schools Destroyed - 10.Public Schools Damaged - 23.($300 million loss).Traffic & Street Lights Destroyed - 7,200.Number of Military at Peak Deployment- 29,300.Damage to Agriculture - $1 billion.Number of People Lost Job - 86,000.Number of People Homeless - 160,000.700,000 people evacuated35 million tons of garbage created (30 years worth).

 

The Challenger blew up 73 seconds after lift off and it killed the crew of seven astronauts. The Challenger disaster happened on the 28th January, 1986.