2025 Year in Review: Billion-Dollar Disasters From February Through April

From flash flooding to large tornadoes, February through April had some of the costliest and most deadly billion dollar disasters of 2025. 

Southeastern Severe Storms – February 15 & 16

A major storm system brought an onslaught of severe weather to the southeastern portion of the U.S. on February 15th and 16th. Twenty-seven tornadoes were reported over Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Two of those tornadoes, in Gibson, Tenn., and Franklin Ala., were EF-2 and both tracked about four miles. Multiple buildings were damaged which included a large silo collapsing and roofs torn.

Another part of this system caused major flooding from northwestern Tennessee to southern West Virginia. Around 4 to 8 inches of rain caused significant flooding which led to two nursing homes being evacuated, multiple landslides, and over 1,000 water rescues. Fourteen people were killed from the floodwaters in Kentucky alone with 18 lives lost total. The storm system cost US$1.6 billion in damage.

Southern Severe Storms - March 3-5

A powerful weather system produced a wide swath of high winds, large hail and tornadoes across the southern U.S. from central Texas and Oklahoma to the Mid-Atlantic. Over 30 tornadoes were reported along with hundreds of wind damage reports. One of those reports included a 78-mph gust at Dallas Love Field Airport and an 85-mph gust near Ada, Okla. In fact, straight-line winds knocked out power to over 400,000 people in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. This weather system sadly took six lives and cost US$1.4 billion dollars.

Central Tornado Outbreak - March 14-16

All the descriptors, terrorizing, scary, destructive, unprecedented - check the boxes for what will be remembered as March’s record, largest tornado outbreak in U.S. history! A multi-day event covering the Middle and Lower Mississippi valleys and Deep South to the eastern Great Lakes led to more than 115 confirmed tornadoes between March 14 and 16th, 2025. These tornadoes tragically claimed 23 lives and injured more than 65, often occurring late in the day or at night.

People who shared stories and experiences described hearing freight-train-like winds, having little time to help neighbors or secure pets in addition to reaching safe shelter with minutes to spare. Even in the aftermath, residents struggled to cope with storm anxiety! Storm anxiety is real, just like these stats from Iowa to Texas, Louisiana, and as far north as New York and as far east as in the Carolinas:

• A staggering 802 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued.
• There were 335 Tornado Warnings issued, particularly across the Midwest and Southeast.

A large, long-track, violent tornado, stayed on the ground for an hour and 22 minutes in Mississippi on March 15th. At peak EF-4 intensity shortly before dissipating in Covington County in the southern part of the state, it flattened a well-built wood home. Similar EF4 intensity was found northwest of Tylertown, Miss., earlier in the storm’s life cycle. Five lives and nine injuries were directly related to this tornado. An EF2 tornado crossed a St. Louis Lambert International Airport runway while a plane was taking off, while a high-end EF4 caused catastrophic damage to a neighborhood in Diaz, Ark., on March 14th. The outbreak produced US$11 billion dollars in damage.

Texas Hailstorms and Flooding - March 25-28

A surprise would be a big understatement regarding Texas’ Rio Grande Valley historic flooding event late in March 2025. Whether it was 2 hours or over a 2-day period, NOAA’s Atlas 14 indicated a range from 1-in-50 to as high as 1-in-500. For context, this means those impacted by such ridiculous rainfall totals would occur once in 50 years or once in 500 years!

Flash Flood Emergencies are reserved for the most significant, life-threatening events, and a number of them were issued on March 27th. This included western Cameron, including Harlingen, San Benito, Rio Hondo, La Feria, and Santa Rosa, Texas, late that evening. Earlier around 6:30 p.m. that evening along a populated part of Interstate 2 from Pharr to Mercedes, Texas, hundreds of motorists were overwhelmed by rising flood waters.

A flash drought combined with repetitive thunderstorms led to rapid runoff and record-high river/stream gauge levels for late March along the Cameron County-Tamaulipas border. Madness it was from eastern Starr County to southern Hidalgo County and northern Cameron County. This is where daily, multi-daily, and monthly records were crushed. A widespread 6 to 12 inches inundated this part of Texas, with locally up to 15 to 25 inches measured between March 26-28th.

More than 1,000 buildings were left ruined in inches to more than a foot of water. A similar number of vehicles were flooded, and hundreds of roads were closed.

Meanwhile, severe thunderstorms packed quarter to golf ball size hail or larger across northern Texas on March 25th, which included the Dallas Forth Worth Metroplex. In Plano, Texas, more than 25,000 properties were damaged by quarter-size hail or larger, while ping-pong sized hail accumulated several inches deep in Wylie, Texas. This led to extensive, significant roof damage in Wylie, Texas. The two March events teamed up to cost US$1.2 billion in property damage and two fatalities.

Central U.S. Tornado Outbreak - March 30-31

March did not go out like a lamb in 2025, as a powerful cold front unleashed severe thunderstorms and tornadoes from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. Golf ball- to baseball-sized hail caused considerable damage across parts of Arkansas and Missouri, while widespread damaging wind gusts toppled trees and power lines across Michigan, the Ohio Valley, and portions of the Lower Mississippi Valley. Wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph were common, with a few reports of extreme gusts reaching 80 to 85 mph in Illinois and Indiana. More than 40 tornadoes were confirmed between March 30 and March 31, including three rated EF2. On March 31, five students were injured when a tornado struck a school in Dothan, Alabama. Overall, the late-March severe weather outbreak resulted in six fatalities, eight injuries, and an estimated US$5.5 billion in damage.

Central Tornado Outbreak and Flooding - April 1-7 

A season’s clash, plentiful Gulf of Mexico moisture, and a barely budging front draped from Texas to the Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes delivered a multi-day tornado outbreak in addition to widespread, in many instances, record flooding. This all occurred over a six-day period, covering April 1st to 7th, 2025.

It’s hard to pick a single day of such a long-winded, traumatic outbreak, but throughout the day during Wednesday, April 2nd, to predawn on Thursday, April 3rd, there were 86 confirmed tornadoes. Six in this time were particularly damaging with an EF-3 rating, including Lake City, Ark., which led to 8 injuries but thankfully no deaths. Another sped through a Louisville, Ky., suburb in eastern Jefferson County shortly after Midnight. Three more occurred predawn that same Thursday morning in northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee. The Selmer, Tenn., EF3 remained on the ground for 29.5 miles and 33 minutes, causing devastation and leading to five deaths and 14 injuries. Two more fatalities and five injuries occurred in the Senatobia, Miss., and Slayden, Miss., to Grand Junction, Tenn., EF3 tornadoes.

Unfortunately, the same parts of western Tennessee and northern Mississippi withstood the worst of another severe storm outbreak on Saturday, April 5th. More than 205 damaging wind reports occurred that day, mainly from Mississippi to far southern Kentucky and 24 possible tornado touchdowns. By the end of the multi-day outbreak, more than 150 tornadoes varying in intensity from EF-U (unknown) to EF-3 carved damaging paths from near the central Gulf Coast to Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

Given thunderstorms were repetitive, rainfall totals from near and south Interstate 70 in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to Missouri’s Bootheel, much of Kentucky, western Tennessee, and Arkansas were impressive. Many rain gauges reported 10 to 15 inches, with locally higher totals nearing 18 inches. This led to record or near-record river flooding, with countless Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri peaking in major flood stage. For example, the Kentucky River at Frankfurt Lock, Ky., peaked at 48.3 feet which ended up just below the previous record of 48.5 feet. The same Kentucky River at Camp Nelson, Ky., produced record flooding at 47 feet, beating the previous 46-foot record.

Between the two, the damage was estimated at US$4.3 billion and led to 25 deaths over the course of the first week of April.

Central U.S. Tornado Outbreak - April 17-20

Mid-April is often characterized by episodes of severe weather, and 2025 proved to be no exception. A slow-moving upper-level disturbance triggered a widespread outbreak that produced more than 50 tornadoes, including four rated EF2 and one EF3. Thunderstorms erupted during the evening of April 17, delivering baseball-sized hail across parts of Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin, while a pair of supercell thunderstorms generated a family of tornadoes across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. One EF3 tornado caused significant damage just north of Omaha near Bennington and Nashville, Neb.

Another round of severe weather followed on April 19, producing several tornadoes across Texas and Oklahoma. One fatality was reported in Oklahoma when a tornado struck homes in the Spaulding area after dark. The outbreak culminated on Easter Sunday as a powerful squall line spawned numerous tornadoes from Illinois southward into Arkansas.

In addition to the tornado threat, flash flooding became a major concern as repeated rounds of heavy rainfall moved through the region. Rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches were recorded from Texas to Illinois, leading to multiple water rescues and washing out several roads and bridges in Texas. Altogether, the severe weather outbreak resulted in an estimated US$2.4 billion in total damage.

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Image Courtesy: National Weather Service (EF3 tornado damage near Plantersville, Alabama)