Tornadoes at night are twice as deadly as their daytime counterparts.
The number of people killed by nighttime tornadoes has increased by 20% over the last 104 years according to updated research by Villanova University.
Like so many recent examples, the tornado that killed over a dozen people in Rolling Fork Mississippi happened under darkness on March 24.
The EF4 was more dangerous than identical-strength tornados in other parts of the country because it lasted for a long time through a poor region at night.
Many parts of the country are vulnerable to tornadoes, but nowhere else is more at risk than the southeast.
While Texas and Oklahoma come to mind most for tornadoes since they do get hit more, the highest fatalities are in Alabama and Mississippi.
The Rolling Fork tornado hit at the epicenter where tornado risk and socioeconomic vulnerability are greatest, in Mississippi.
Rural communities typically don’t have adequate warning systems and many small-town areas have poverty-stricken hardships that increase tornado danger.
Sprawling mobile homes and manufactured homes throughout the southeast are inadequate shelters that fail to hold up to tornadoes.
During the day people are typically at school or work in stronger block or steel buildings which offer greater protection than homes.
Photo: Mean decadal percentage of all fatalities at night.