relatively small area. When they say "path of destruction" it really is just that. You drive one block off and everything looks normal and fine.
Several have affected the town I live in.
https://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=21721319
https://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=21733412
And we have helped in the clean up of many more in areas round about. Including the really bad ones that hit Tuscaloosa 13 years ago (almost to the day BTW).
Ultimately saying no one should live in the mid-west due to tornados is a like saying no one should swim in the ocean because of sharks. Sure if you stayed out of the mid-west (ocean) you would never die in a tornado (shark attack).
Hurricane damage is more widespread, but very much less frequent, and the bulk of the destruction is right along coast.