Joplin tornado: Will it be one of the Top 5 costliest?

2. Lubbock, Texas, 1970 – $1.6 billion

Courtesy of Topeka Capital Journal/File
This satellite image shows the path of the tornado that went through Lubbock, Texas, on May 11, 1970. The twister damaged 15 square miles of the city in about half an hour.

The tornado that killed 26 people in Lubbock, Texas, on May 11, 1970, was the second, and more severe, of two tornadoes to strike that evening. It touched down about 9:30 p.m., traveled northeast through the city, and lasted about half an hour. It injured more than 1,500 people. The F5 tornado was about 8.5 miles long and affected about 15 square miles of the city.

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