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Natural
Disasters - Tornadoes
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Tornadoes:
A tornado
is a violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm
to the ground. The most violent tornadoes have rotating winds of 250
miles per hour or more. They are capable of causing extreme
destruction, including uprooting trees and well-made structures, and
turning normally harmless objects into deadly missiles. Most tornadoes
are just a few dozen yards wide and only briefly touch down, but
some may carve paths more than a mile wide and more than 50 miles long.
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Tornados develop from severe |
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thunderstorms in warm, moist,
unstable air along and ahead of cold fronts.
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Land falling tropical storms and |
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hurricanes also generate tornadoes. Such tornadoes are usually
common ahead of the storm's path and
near the storm's center as it comes ashore.
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Be Prepared!
Florida has the highest frequency of tornadoes
per square mile in the United States. Tornadoes can occur with
little or no warning, at any time of the day or night. You may have
only minutes to make life or death decisions. To improve your chances
learn basic tornado safety.
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Don't wait unit a warning is issued to |
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begin planning how you will respond.
Take responsibility for your safety and plan now.
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Have a plan. Meet with household |
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members to discuss how to respond to an approaching
tornado. Hold tornado drills. Learn how to turn off the water, gas
and electricity at the main switches. |
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During a Tornado: |
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Listen to the radio, local television, weather channel, or |
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National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) radio for information.
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The safest place to go during a tornado is underground in |
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a basement or
storm cellar. If you don't have a basement, go to an inner hallway
or smaller inner room without windows, such as a bathroom or closet.
Go to the center of the room.
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Protect yourself. Try to find
something sturdy to get under |
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and hold onto to
protect yourself from flying debris and/or collapsed roof. Use your
arms to protect your head and neck.
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Stay
away from windows and objects that might fall.
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If you live in a mobile home park, talk to management |
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about the availability of a nearby shelter. If no shelter
is available, go outside and lie on the ground, if possible in a
ditch or depression. Use your arms to protect your head and neck and
wait for the storm to pass. While waiting, be alert for flash floods
that sometime accompany tornadoes. |
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Be Alert to Your Surroundings:
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If
there is a watch or warning
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posted, consider hail storms a real danger sign.
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An approaching cloud of debris
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can
mark the location of a tornado, even if a funnel is not visible.
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Tornadoes generally occur
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near
the trailing edge of a thunderstorm. It is typical to see clear,
sunlit skies behind a tornado.
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