Tornadoes, Hurricanes, and Floods

Tornadoes are rotating columns of air that extend down from a storm cloud in the shape of a funnel.

Anything in the path of a tornado, including houses, cars, forests, and other ecosystems, are often completely destroyed. Tornadoes usually have a narrow path of destruction.

Tornadoes are formed where warm, moist air meets cool dry air.

Tornadoes

F5 Tornado hit Moore in 2013.

Moore, OK

Measuring Tornadoes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmWh9jV_1ac

Take a minute to discuss with a neighbor what to do during a tornado if you are in a house, car, or on foot.

We will take a couple of minutes to discuss, and if you have had a personal experience with a tornado we would like to hear your story!

How do tornadoes form?

Hurricanes have sustained winds of over 75 mph and form in warm, tropical waters in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Storm surges associated with hurricanes can lead to erosion of shorelines and destruction of coastal habitats, such as wetlands.

Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005, was only a category three storm but was the most expensive (in terms of damage) and third most deadly (approximately 1,500 deaths) storm in recorded history.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes Katrina and Hugo

Saffir-Simpson scale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajwUb2yNsvk

Take a minute to discuss with a neighbor how to prepare for a hurricane. How does this differ from how you would prepare for a tornado?

We will take a couple of minutes to discuss, and if you have had a personal experience with a hurricane we would like to hear your story!

How do hurricanes form?

Floods occur when the ground, creeks, streams, and rivers can no longer absorb and hold the amount of water being produced by a rain event.

Buildings with basements, tunnels, or houses at low elevations are susceptible to flooding.

This moving water erodes sediment and can uproot plants and trees, destroy roads and destroy buildings.

After the waters subside, all this sediment can deposit, leading to a reshaping of the area’s topography.

Floods

Flooding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBzHS5y2eak

Take a minute to discuss with a neighbor how to prepare for a flood.

We will take a couple of minutes to discuss, and if you have had a personal experience with flooding we would like to hear your story!

Floods