Main > Everything Else
Tornadoes
shmokes:
Hurricanes have way more potential to do damage. The biggest hurricanes are blowing sustained tornado speed winds but instead of cutting a relatively narrow swath of destruction the hurricane is typically 300 miles wide. But the tornado is kind of scarier. It just pops up out of nowhere. At least with a hurricane you've had your eye on it for a few days and the day before it hits ground you have a really good idea if it's gonna hit you. And, of course, only the biggest hurricanes come with wind speeds that get into tornado territory.
Le Chuck:
--- Quote from: shmokes on March 05, 2012, 04:55:53 pm ---Hurricanes have way more potential to do damage. The biggest hurricanes are blowing sustained tornado speed winds but instead of cutting a relatively narrow swath of destruction the hurricane is typically 300 miles wide. But the tornado is kind of scarier. It just pops up out of nowhere. At least with a hurricane you've had your eye on it for a few days and the day before it hits ground you have a really good idea if it's gonna hit you. And, of course, only the biggest hurricanes come with wind speeds that get into tornado territory.
--- End quote ---
I'll agree that one on one a tornado can't compare to a full force hurricane but when you take into account that there were 1,688 confirmed tornadoes last year alone, six of which went EF5, and the average citizen gets less than 5 minutes of warning before strike it's really a wash. They are both terrible terrible things to live through. Having weathered my fare share of EF4s back in MO and KS and been stationed in the path of Rita and Katrina I'll tell you neither is something I want to go through ever again.
I roomed with a Meteorology major when I went to MU back in the '90s and he was a storm chaser. Craziest group of folk I have ever met.
hypernova:
--- Quote from: shmokes on March 05, 2012, 04:55:53 pm ---Hurricanes have way more potential to do damage. The biggest hurricanes are blowing sustained tornado speed winds but instead of cutting a relatively narrow swath of destruction the hurricane is typically 300 miles wide.
--- End quote ---
The biggest (category 5) hurricanes are only about equivalent to an F3 tornado. (158-206 mph on Tornado's Fujita scale, and >= 156 mph on the hurricane's Saffir-Simpson scale). But yes, the key word is the sustained winds. Tornadoes are over and done with after only a few minutes, while some extremely strong hurricane winds can last hours upon hours.
Fortunately, as usual, our area of Ohio between Dayton and Cincinnati where I've always lived lucked out. I've never had the (dis)pleasure of seeing a tornado up close. Many areas around us in all three states got hit pretty hard.
Howard_Casto:
I think my problem with predicatable natural disasters (not something unprecidented like this was) is that in many cases it is kind of the people's own fault.
I know in WV we have a few areas in the state that regularly get flooding severe enough to destroy homes. You'll see this people on the news and feel bad for them.. people will dontate tons of money for the uninsured and when they've got enough to rebuild what do they do? The rebuild it in the exact same place that gets flooded every year! Here's a pro tip.... if the area you live in regularly has floods, tornadoes, earthquakes or hurricanes as soon as you can scrape up enough money... MOVE!!!! And yeah I'm not insensitive to the fact that some people can't afford to move but when you get that insurance check and/or enough dontations to completely rebuild your home, why not go the extra mile and rebuild it somewhere safer?
hypernova:
We had some pretty bitchin' winds when the remnants of Ike came north through Ohio a few years back. I think they did hit around the mid 70s in gusting. It was pretty crazy. Especially when houses weren't prepared for it, nor built for it.
You could tell the houses (and roofs) that were built well. They still had all their siding and/or shingles intact.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version