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 floodplane, 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 (saferooms and understanding areas at risk), survive (brace position) and be safe after (stay clear of powerlines).