Famous Tornadoes

A tornado is described as a huge rotating air cone that connects the air and the earth. Tornadoes can vary in sizes, as they are generally enveloped by the dust and debris, that they pick up during their movement. Scientists still do not entirely know the how tornadoes are formed. A thunder called as supercell, generally forms the basis of these violent air funnels. A tornado can have a wind speed of between 40 mph (64 km/h) and 110 mph (177 km/h) and can reach a height of 250 feet (75 m). Tornadoes mostly hit Canada, south-central and eastern Asia, east-central South America, northwestern and southeast Europe, western and southeastern Australia, New Zealand and Southern Africa.

Famous Tornadoes

Tornado Outbreak
This devastating tornado struck US on the 3-4 April 1974. The tornado had 148 twisters, which touched 13 American states. This deadly storm, took 330 lives, left 5484 people injured and destroyed a stretch of 2500 miles. The 'National Weather Service' had seen and detected green blobs on their radar system, but could do nothing due to the lack of communication. The tornado hit the states of Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Waco Tornado
This devious column of air, struck Waco, Texas on 11 May 1953. The killer tornado, hit Texas at 9:30 am when storms began making an outflow boundary. By 4:10 pm the tornado had touched southwest Texas and had then began moving in the northeastern direction. The tornado measured 1/3 mile in width. Due to torrential rainfall, people could not see the tornado coming and hence couldn't run for cover. By the time it dissipated, it had devastated the 23 miles on it way.

The Flint Beecher Tornado
The Flint and Beecher communities of Michigan suffered tremendously when this tornado struck them at 8:30 pm on 8 June 1953. The dark night was made all the more worse for the people because of the heavy rain and strong winds brought on by the raging tornado. The width of the tornado was 833 yards and it stretched across 27 miles. The tornado claimed 166 lives; a five month old being the youngest and an eighty year old man being the oldest. The Flint Beecher Tornado injured about 850 people.

The New Richmond Tornado
This historic tornado hit New Richmond, Wisconsin on 12 June, 1899. It originated over the Lake St. Croix. It moved north towards New Richmond and actually lifted a 3000 pound block. The tornado destroyed 300 buildings and left 26 families from the town, in hell. The tornado took the lives of 117 people and a score of 150 were injured. It struck the town at 5:40 pm, when the entire town was at the newly arrived circus.

What makes a tornado famous, cannot be defined? Is it the number of people it kills, or the number of houses it destroys? Or is it the speed at which is occurs? In fact, scientists are still studying how tornadoes are created in nature.