Tornado outbreak of April 4-6, 2017 (WMHB TG)

The Tornado Outbreak of April 4-6, 2017 was a record-breaking, catastrophic tornado outbreak that dropped many tornadoes in over 2/3 of the Contiguous United States. The outbreak led to an EF5 tornado touchdown in Georgia, the first ever recorded in the state. Similarly, in South Carolina, their first ever EF5 tornado touched down. In the overall storm complex itself, heavy, slow-moving rains caused moderate to major flooding in some portions of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

Inola, Oklahoma
A supercell developed over the Coweta area around 3:32 pm local time, moving NE at 28 mph. Just 3 minutes later, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Wagoner and Rogers Counties until 4:00 pm (CDT). Softball-sized hail was reported in Northern Wagoner County, not too much before NWS Tulsa issued a tornado warning after reports of rotation over rural Wagoner County. This tornado warning was issued to expire at 4:15 pm (CDT), and sirens sounded in the Inola area. However, the siren in Inola had malfunctioned and stopped working, and it was concluded that it was out of date. The City of Inola was unable to pay for a new tornado siren due to being economically poor. A debris ball began to appear on radar around 3:52 pm (CDT), and a confirmed touchdown came less than a minute later. The tornado struck the town of Inola at 3:55 pm (CDT). The tornado inflicted the worst damage on poorly-built homes, but the overall damage to some of the more well-built buildings was consistent with high-end EF2 damage. Due to the malfunctioning of the tornado sirens, a total of 16 fatalities occurred, mainly due to the unawareness of the tornado warning. At 3:57, the tornado moved out of Inola, and later lifted at 4:01 pm just to the northeast.