 The first tornado at EF3 intensity in Bowling Green, where it would directly kill sixteen people. | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Duration | December 11, 2021 |
| Tornado family | |
| Tornadoes | 2 |
| Maximum rating | EF3 tornado |
| Duration | 29 minutes (total) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 16 (+1 indirect) |
| Injuries | 63 |
| Damage | >$2.5 million (2021 USD) |
| Areas affected | Warren County, Kentucky, Edmonson County, Kentucky |
| Power outages | >1,500 |
Part of the Tornadoes of 2021 | |
In the early hours of December 11, 2021, two large and strong tornadoes would hit the city of Bowling Green, located in Warren County, Kentucky. The first tornado cut a swath of EF3 damage through city and directly killed sixteen people, while the second tornado produced EF2 damage but no injuries or fataliites. The tornadoes touched down as part of a larger tornado outbreak that hit the southern United States, and the first tornado was the second-deadliest of the entire outbreak.
The first tornado would touch down to the west of Rockfield, slowly becoming more intense as it crossed over KY 1083. One person would be killed near Rockfield before the tornado moved on, tracking towards Bowling Green. Seven people, all members of the Brown family, were killed as the tornado completely destroyed the family's home along Moss Creek Avenue at EF3 intensity.
In this area, the tornado heavily damaged or destroyed many homes and killed fourteen people. The tornado would then exit the Bowling Green area, moving over rural properties and passing south of Plum Springs, before directly impacting the industrial community of Sunnyside at high-end EF3 intensity, producing major damage caused by winds estimated at 165 miles per hour (266 km/h). The tornado would continue to damage structures at a lesser intensity in rural Warren County before lifting twenty-nine minutes after touching down. The tornado killed a direct total of sixteen people, and an indirect death caused by cardiac arrest during recovery efforts was also attributed to the tornado .
The second tornado formed shortly after the first, touching down to the west of the Bowling Green–Warren County Regional Airport before tracking to the south of Bowling Green, where it would produce EF2 damage to areas around the Barren River. Despite heavily damaging several structures, including at the NCM Motorsports Park, the second tornado was only on the ground for five minutes and caused no injuries or deaths.
The tornadoes devastated multiple areas in and around Bowling Green, leaving over 1,500 people without power in the weeks following the event. Seventeen people were killed in total, and sixty-three others were injured; every casualty was a result of the initial EF3 tornado.[note 1] Monetary damage from both tornadoes would total over $2.5 million (2021 USD), and an intensive recovery effort followed, with federal funding being sent to Warren County which would help with the cleanup after the tornadoes. The city of Bowling Green also applied for a Disaster Recovery Grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which planned to install additional storm shelters in Bowling Green in the event of another tornado.
After the tornadoes, the Bowling Green-Warren County Long Term Recovery Group was set up to help fund recovery efforts, and is still active as of December 2024. Several other large companies like Dollar General also donated to the city of Bowling Green.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).