Tornadoes

• Tornadoes are concentrated vortexes of fast spinning air. They can be over a mile wide and wind speeds reach 300mph.
• Due to the low pressure, houses will expanding causing windows to shatter outwards and roofs to blow off.
• 80% of the worlds tornadoes are in the USA
• They are classed on the enhanced Fujita scale which is 0 to 5, with EF5 having wind speeds of 200mph plus.
• Tornado alley is central east USA, including states like Oklahoma and Kansas.

  
• The USA provides ideal environments for tornadoes due to the Rocky mountains providing cool air and the gulf of Mexico providing warm air.
• Warm air cant rise due to the denser cool air, the pushing down causes high pressure. This can cause the hot air to pierce through, which can cause a tornado due to updraft.
• A super cell forms when warm air is trying to get through the cold lid.
• A super cell becomes a tornado when wind shear occurs. Wind shear is when winds are coming from opposite directions, creating rotation which separates the up draft from the down draft.
• Due to updraft and downdraft being separate, a microburst can occur when a downdraft pushes one end of the cell down.
• Air rises quickly as is comes along due to the high pressure, aided by a microburst, and is therefore rapidly cooled meaning condensation occurs causing a cloud of spinning air.
• Rolling fork in Mississippi was hit by a Tornado in 2023. Due to the town being on a flood plane, basements weren't build. It was also a poor settlement with 21% living in mobile homes.
• Rolling Fork was hit at 20:00, meaning residents couldn't see it coming.
• An alternative of basements or saferooms is waterproofing, which is very expensive.
• Mayfield in Kentucky was hit in 2021. 76 people died with $3.5 billion in damages. It hit in December, meaning they were unprepared as it is usually a spring phenomenon.
• Moore in Oklahoma was hit twice in 2013 and 1999, the town had a 1% of being hit a second time. 2013 killed 23 people and 1999 killed 41 with wind speeds of 320mph.
• FEMA is the federal emergency management agency and provides information for public on what to do.
• FEMA educates Americans how to prepare (safe rooms and understanding areas at risk), survive (brace position) and be safe after (stay clear of power lines).