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Tornado Awareness

 

Tornadoes are nature’s most violent storms. Spawned from powerful thunderstorms, tornadoes can cause fatalities and devastate a neighborhood in seconds. A tornado appears as a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground with whirling winds that can reach 300 miles per hour.

 

Click the Images for more information about tornado safety.

What Could Be Expected?

EF0 Gale Tornado

  • 65-85 MPH Winds

  • Minor Damage

  • Peels surface off some roofs; some damage to gutters or siding; branches broken off trees; shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  • Confirmed tornadoes with no reported damage (i.e., those that remain in open fields) are always rated EF0
     

EF1 Moderate Tornado

  • 86-110 MPH Winds

  • Moderate Damage

  • Roofs severely stripped; mobile homes overturned or badly damaged; loss of exterior doors; windows and other glass broken.
     

EF2 Significant Tornado

  • 111-135 MPH Winds

  • Considerable Damage

  • Roofs torn off well-constructed houses; foundations of frame homes shifted; mobile homes completely destroyed; large trees snapped or uprooted; light-object missiles generated; cars lifted off ground.
     

EF3 Severe Tornado

  • 136-165 MPH Winds

  • Severe Damage

  • Entires stories of well- constructed houses destroyed; severe damage to large buildings such as shopping malls; trains overturned; trees debarked; heavy cars lifted off the ground and thrown; strucutres with weak foundations blown away some distance.
     

EF4 Devestating Tornado

  • 166-200 MPH Winds

  • Devestating Damage

  • Well- constructed houses and whole frame houses completely leveled; cars thrown and small missiles generated
     

EF5 Torndao

  • Greater than 200 MPH Winds

  • Extreme Damage

  • Strong frame houses leveled off foundations and swept away; steel-reinforced concrete structure badly damaged; high-rise buildings have significant structural deformation.

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