How High Is Damage from Tornado?
The strength of a tornado has a scale that shows the wind speed and shows the tornado damage. We will also talk about other damages that may be caused by a natural phenomenon and different tornado categories.
Gale Tornado (F0)
Wind speeds up to 75 miles per hour with such a tornado. It is not life-threatening and does not carry a deadly threat. Such a tornado can cause minor damage to chimneys and trees. This category is most prevalent in southern Florida. The category of these tornadoes is about 65% there, but the proportion of deaths and injuries is less than 5%.
Moderate Tornado (F1)
In 23% of cases, such tornadoes cause traumatic and fatal damage in 20% of cases. The wind reaches 113 miles per hour and does not cause high damage. Can an f1 tornado pick up a car? Yes, and not only. Such a tornado can blow cars off the road and destroy roofs of houses, as well as turn over mobile homes.
Significant Tornado (F2)
With 8% of such tornadoes, there are 31% of victims. The wind reaches 158 miles per hour and causes quite powerful damage. They easily lift cars into the air, tear down the roofs of houses and cars. Large trees have absolutely no chance to resist the elements, and the wind carries mobile homes.
Severe Tornado (F3)
One percent of such tornadoes account for 44 percent of casualties. The wind reaches 207 miles per hour, causing severe damage to surrounding houses, a huge number of trees, and even pulling heavy train cars off the ground.
Devastating Tornado (F4)
Before we used South Florida statistics, so this time we can’t say how many percent of people died because the tornado of such power has never been there. The wind reaches 261 miles per hour, causing very severe damage. The wind can pull houses out of the ground even with a good foundation, and those buildings that do not have a foundation tolerate a fatal outcome.
Incredible Tornado (F5)
The tornado has never been so powerful in the Southern state either. However, such a tornado can reach wind speeds of up to 320 miles per hour and cause very serious damage. It sweeps homes from their foundations and takes them very far. Cars travel long distances in the air, and the wind carries trees in a circle. Such a tornado is a global cataclysm.
We looked at all the tornado categories. Each of them is very unpleasant, even though each one has different damages. They all carry a great deal of danger. Let’s look at how tornadoes affect the economy.
- The most deadly tornado caused damage to 2.9 billion dollars. It was in 2011 in Joplin, Missouri. This has not happened again since 1950. The tornado took the lives of 160 people, and there were over 1000 injured. Enterprises and workers were also affected.
- The wind speed exceeded 200 miles per hour and wide was just under a mile.
- The most expensive tornado season was in 2011, from 25 to 27 April. During this period, there were about 365 tornadoes. In total, the hurricanes caused damage to 11 billion dollars. Several of these hurricanes were F5 categories and exceeded wind speeds of 210 miles per hour.
- More than 320 people died during the tornado season, and most of the deaths were in Alabama. There are disputes about if global warming is affecting the damage that tornadoes are causing. Some say the change reduces the activity of the element, while others say the opposite. However, some scientists have created computer technology that claims that global warming is a strong modification for tornadoes.
There are many ways how to make your home resistant to tornadoes. Read more about in our article about Tornado Proof House
