How harmful is the tornado?

Tornado is a kind of strong wind vortex accompanied by a funnel-shaped cloud column rotating at high speed, which is caused by strong convective movement of air in extremely unstable weather.

Tornadoes have a strange appearance. Its upper part is black or thick gray cumulonimbus clouds, and its lower part is a drooping funnel-shaped cloud column shaped like an elephant's nose. The wind speed is generally 50 meters per second to 100 meters, and sometimes it can reach 300 meters per second. The wind speed near the tornado center is several times higher than the maximum wind speed near the typhoon center at sea.

Tornadoes are extremely destructive. When they pass by, they often pull up trees, overturn vehicles, destroy buildings, etc., and even suck people and livestock together. Although the tornado affected a small area, it caused a huge disaster.

1On May 27th, 999, four counties in central Texas, including Austin, the capital, were hit by a tornado, killing at least 32 people and injuring dozens.

In February, 2008, when a tornado struck Lianshi, Casta, Tennessee, USA, a baby was thrown out of 100 meters by the tornado and fell face down in the mud, and survived. Unfortunately, the baby's mother died in a tornado.

Tornadoes are terrible, but they are not mysterious. This is just an extreme weather phenomenon. We can't control it at present. But we can study its causes, make predictions in advance, and minimize its harm to human beings.