Last week, tornadoes battered the central and southern United States. On Wednesday, April 2, the National Weather Service issued the highest single-day count of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings since the infamous tornado outbreak on April 27, 2011. Both April 2 and March 14, 2025 ranked among the top five busiest days for tornado activity since 2014.  

Cotality analyzed the outbreak and can confirm that over 40 tornadoes occurred on Wednesday, April 2, alone. This count, which includes only EF-2 tornadoes and above within a 75-mile radius of NWS Doppler weather radar sites, suggests that the total number of tornadoes — including weaker or more distant events — could be even higher.  

Among the most destructive were several long-lived EF-3 tornadoes that tore through towns in Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee on Wednesday, April 2. These violent tornadoes not only uprooted trees and flattened structures but also disrupted local communities and strained emergency response resources.

Cotality identifies approximately 99,000 homes worth nearly $19B potentially within tornado paths

Cotality estimates that approximately 99,000 properties with a reconstruction cost value (RCV) of nearly $19 billion were potentially within the tornado paths across the country. Table 1 provides the number and total RCV of properties by state.

Table 1: Properties and estimated RCV within tornado paths from March 29 to April 3

Data source: Cotality, 2025

Cotality identified Kentucky as the hardest hit state, with nearly 17,000 properties at risk.

Catastrophic flooding

Heavy rainfall also triggered catastrophic flooding across several states. Rivers in the central U.S. swelled to record levels, inundating low-lying neighborhoods and forcing urgent evacuations. In Cincinnati, Ohio, flash floods on April 3 overwhelmed major roadways, stranding motorists and compelling emergency responders to launch dramatic rescue operations. Meanwhile, in Louisville, Kentucky, surging water flooded urban districts and damaged infrastructure.  

Visualize hazard footprints and manage your portfolio with Cotality Insight

Cotality Insight is an interactive, geospatial mapping solution that provides forecasting, as well as real-time and forensic weather data, to users on a single platform. Users can visualize storm warnings, watches, and alerts, as well as see impacts in the aftermath of activity. Such data includes tropical storm and hurricane wind speeds at the parcel level.

Tornado paths and hail swaths in Cotality Insight combine the best aspects of point observations — providing a high degree of accuracy — and radar technology to generate wind speed maps with neighborhood-level detail (500-meter resolution). These digital tools offer 100% coverage of the continental U.S.

Cotality will continue to monitor the impacts of the severe weather outbreak between March 29 and April 3.

‍