Tornado, Tattnall
- When
- May 12, 2:45 AM CST
- Where
- Tattnall County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 9.4 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 7 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 31.930, -81.930
Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Georgia, May 12, 1974
4 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 3
- Injuries
- 18
- Property damage
- $3.0 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Event by event
4 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Bulloch
- When
- May 12, 3:30 AM CST
- Where
- Bulloch County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.5 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Injuries
- 6 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 32.280, -81.720
Tornado, Long
- When
- May 12, 4:00 AM CST
- Where
- Long County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 0.6 mi
- Path width
- 40 yd
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 31.830, -81.700
Tornado, Effingham
- When
- May 12, 4:30 AM CST
- Where
- Effingham County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 2 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 3 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 32.300, -81.230
Thunderstorm Wind, Chatham
- When
- May 12, 5:15 AM CST
- Where
- Chatham County
- Coordinates
- 32.000, -80.880
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado, Effingham | 1974-05-12 | Direct |
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 12, 1974
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 12, 1974
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Virginia, May 12, 1974
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Maryland, May 12, 1974
- Damaging Winds in Delaware, May 12, 1974
- Damaging Winds in New York, May 12, 1974
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, May 12, 1974
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, May 12, 1974
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 12, 1974
- Damaging Wind in Massachusetts, May 12, 1974
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, May 12, 1974
More
Every storm in Georgia in 1974Every state in 1974This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Georgia, 1974
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 9994577, 9994578, 9994579, 9994580, 9994581.