May 5, 2011 - Smithville, MS, U.S. - May 5, 2011 - Block after block of total destruction made familiar Smithville, Miss. scenes unrecognizable. Eyewitnesses saw cars flying and homes exploding as 205-mph winds destroyed 150 homes, the grocery store, gas station, post office, police station, medical clinic, restaurants, churches and town hall. At 3:47 p.m. on April 27, 2011, an EF

• Contributor: Zuma Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
• Image ID: DK8DTK
• File size: 17.7 MB (1.5 MB Compressed download)
• Releases: Model - no | Property - no
• Dimensions: 3048 x 2032 px | 25.8 x 17.2 cm | 10.2 x 6.8 inches | 300dpi
• Date taken: 5 May 2011
• Photographer: ZUMA

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May 5, 2011 - Smithville, MS, U.S. - May 5, 2011 - Block after block of total destruction made familiar Smithville, Miss. scenes unrecognizable. Eyewitnesses saw cars flying and homes exploding as 205-mph winds destroyed 150 homes, the grocery store, gas station, post office, police station, medical clinic, restaurants, churches and town hall. At 3:47 p.m. on April 27, 2011, an EF-5 tornado with wind speeds of more than 200 mph leveled the town of Smithville, Miss., population 942. Seventeen people died in Monroe County, about 130 miles southeast of Memphis. The tornado destroyed Town Hall, the police station, the post office, four churches, more than 150 homes and nearly every business. As the tiny town is coming back, what some townspeople described as the harrowing, heroic, even hallowed day changed their lives and their small-town way of life. (Credit Image: © Alan Spearman/The Commercial Appeal/ZUMAPRESS.com)