Imagine this: A nice town populated with about 50 000 people and nestled in the south of America. Now imagine that just a few hours later inside this nice calm town a severe destruction occur:~ Debris decorating the ground and air, Upside down cars, telephone poles strung down like dominoes, houses in bits and pieces, buildings trampled as if by a giant monster and trees struck down, splintered and broken with very high speed wind blowing things away in the air~! That is what can happen during and after a tornado touchdown. In fact the scene you were just imagining did happen in the city of Joplin, Missouri. An EF5 tornado destroyed almost everything in its path on the 22nd of May 2011.

So many people’s lives were lost or shattered that day and workplaces and homes alike destroyed all because of that EF5 tornado. So what do we know about Tornadoes? Tornadoes are technically giant funnels of air in rotation that come from storms. When hot and cold air mixes it basically creates a tornado. According to the web weather for kids, in the tornado forming process; once a funnel cloud is created, the rain and hail in the thunderstorm cause the funnel to touch down creating what you see ~a tornado. I’m not simply talking about those tiny whirling cones of leaves that you might see twirling around on the pavement on a windy day, I’m talking about big masses of violent winds in the classic shape of a funnel.

There is a way to classify tornadoes. This is called the Fujita scale. The Fujita scale is made up of six levels from EF0 to EF5. An EF0 tornado would not cause much damage at all, maybe wrecking television antennas. An EF5 tornado though would be able to lift houses off their foundations, damage trees and overturn and pummel vehicles.

Tornadoes are also called twisters and sometimes cyclones. Most of the tornadoes happen in tornado alley which is in the United States. It stretches along Texas to Nebraska and Iowa but still tornadoes can happen almost anywhere in the world. In fact although tornadoes mostly occur in America, guess who has the second most tornadoes in the world? Antarctica! Kidding! Canada does. We get about 80 tornados a year. The only EF5 tornado we have ever had was in Elie, Manitoba but mostly we only have EF0 to EF1 level tornadoes. You can catch the glimpse of the Manitoba one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UbkH-gIlDU from TVNweather site.

Lately in school in French and Geography classes, I have been learning all about these scary but wondrous tornadoes as well as hurricanes, floods volcanoes and earthquakes. I really liked learning about how it all occurred and worked so I decided to write about this to my fellow Watotoz and readers could learn or refresh while enjoying the amazement of the Mother Nature.

Even though tornadoes are deadly and not to be taken lightly, there are so many ways to prevent being hurt or killed when there is one. First of all a Tornado Warning will be released just like when there was an EF2 tornado on June 17 2014 in Angus, Ontario that traveled all the way to the south of Barrie, just north of us. Also you can hide in your basement or if you live in a place where tornadoes usually occur, a storm cellar. If you are outside find a sturdy shelter or hide in a ditch.

Here is a comprehensive quoted safety rules: (as Adapted from NOAA by web weather for kids)

  • In a home or building, move to a shelter, such as a basement or to a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor and get under a sturdy piece of furniture. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside. Stay away from windows.
  • If caught outside in a vehicle, do not try to outrun a tornado. Get out of the vehicle and seek safe shelter. Lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands.
  • Be aware of flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most deaths and injuries.
  • Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes. You should leave a mobile home and go to the lowest floor of a sturdy nearby building or a storm shelter.
  • Occasionally, tornadoes develop so rapidly that advance warning is not possible. Remain alert for signs of an approaching tornado such as a dark, often greenish sky, large hail, or a loud roar similar to a freight train.

In general, Tornadoes are deemed the worst natural disaster that Mother Nature throws our way but you can be the judge of that. There are tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, massive floods and more. Well, I can go on and on as there is a lot to know about tornadoes but there won’t be enough space so I will end this article here by asking you this… What do you think is either the most fascinating or devastating natural disaster from Mother Nature?

Serena Wambura