Tornadoes: Nature's Phenomenon
hat is a Tornado?

A tornado is "a violent, destructive, whirling wind accompanied by a funnel-shaped cloud that progresses in a narrow path over the land" (Merriam-ebster, Incorporated, 2012).

Tornadoes can develop in mere seconds and destroy everything in their path

Sometimes, a tornado will happen so quickly that there is little or no sign before it starts (Federal Emergency Management Association, 2012). A tornado can have the strongest winds on earth, up to 300 MPH, and can cause "fantastic destruction and great loss of life, mainly from flying debris and collapsing structures" (Snow, 2012).

How and hat of Tornadoes

How, hat

The National Severe Storms Laboratory studies tornadoes and says that tornadoes come from thunderstorms. Before the thunderstorm, the wind changes direction, becomes faster and becomes higher. Then it becomes an invisible spinning wind going horizontally in the lower atmosphere. hile the thunderstorm is happening, air rises inside it and tilts the spinning….

TORNADOES
What causes a tornado?

Tornado' comes in English from a Spanish word 'tornada' that means 'thunderstorm'. As defined by Nation Weather Service, a tornado is a 'violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and pendant from a thunderstorm'. Tornadoes result when there is stuffiest amount of moisture in the atmosphere at lower and mid levels, and when this condition gets combined with warm unstable air that rises above due to a lifting force. Initially, there should be some reason to cause air to flow upwards and to contribute in the formation of a tornado. This happens due to the fact that warm air is considerably lighter in weight than cold air (Earthbulletin). The buoyant air is produced as atmosphere gets heated near the ground surface. The heated air, which is warm and light, begins to rise upward and if during this phenomenon, a thrust of cool air is….

Today, however society has an extremely advanced ability to be forewarned of a possible or actual tornado sighting before it ever touches ground. One method commonly used is a Doppler radar system that can detect a tornado while it is still in the sky and warn those in its path to take cover before it touches down. There are times that it won't touch down but is swirling in the sky. In addition to the Doppler radar system there are technologies.
Even with today's technologies at society disposal one of the most relied on methods for tornado warnings is the use of trained human storm chasers and spotters. The tornado spotters are trained to go out into weather that is capable of producing tornadoes, follow those storms and report in by phone if one is seen on the ground. They are able to detect it on the ground whereas the….

Tri-State tornado of 1925 is known to be one of the most lethal natural phenomena that has hit the U.S. especially because it found the residents of the three states that it affected totally unprepared and the path of the tornado was also long and wide in its coverage. It is estimated that the tornado took around only three and a half hours to cause the massive destruction that would dent the economy and livelihoods of the three states for decades. It is known to be the deadliest twister to hit the heartland in history. The path of the tornado ripped through Illinois, Indiana and down to Missouri. It is estimated to have destroyed well above 15,000 homes leaving approximately 700 people dead with the largest casualty being in Illinois which saw 613 people dead and another 2,000 people with injuries (Nguyen T.C., 2007).
The reason behind such a massive death….

Seconds later the twister struck. The kitchen door fell on the husband, pinning him to the ground. After the roof blew away, hail battered his face and body. The house disintegrated, but he survived and so did the dog. The woman, however, was crushed in the debris (osenfeld 179).
By coincidence, researchers from the University of Oklahoma were just outside Spencer before the tornado hit, which is one reason authors like osenfeld know so much about the tornado that destroyed Spencer. He writes, "Just a mile outside town, scientists from the University of Oklahoma had parked a small truck full of computers and meteorological equipment. They had driven more than 300 miles to document Spencer's tornado with their Doppler radar" (osenfeld 180). These were professional storm chasers, who knew how to follow the weather that often predicts tornadoes.

In recent years, "storm chasing" has become a popular recreational pastime. Professional storm….

Tornadoes in the United States
Every state in the union has experienced them, and the destruction caused by tornadoes each year can climb into the billions of dollars. Scientists have learned a great deal about tornadoes over the past several decades, though, and warning systems are now able to prevent many of the casualties that tornadoes used to cause. To determine what has been learned and what steps have been taken for warning systems, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning tornadoes, followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air that reach from a cloud to the earth's surface (What is a tornado?, 2014). The spring months of April, May, and June are the period in which the majority of tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere are formed (Cavendish, 2000). During these months, the sun….

Tennessee Tornadoes
On January 24, 1997, a supercell resulted in a tornado outbreak that spurred 13 tornadoes across middle Tennessee with an estimated damage in excess of nine million dollars across the counties of Rutherford, Cannon, Wilson and Smith with more than 300 buildings damaged or destroyed completely which included homes, businesses, and public facilities. Reports state that 31 individuals were injured during the tornados, which are reported to have ranged from F2 to F4 in intensity. There were amazingly, no fatalities. The following table shows the Tennessee Counties in which Tornados occurred on January 24, 1997, with corresponding information on damages caused by the Tornados.

Figure 1 - Tennessee January 24, 1997,

Tornado History Project

Description of the Event and Responsiveness of Media Personnel

Reports state that severe weather was identified as a threat early in the afternoon of January 23, 1997 and that a special weather statement was issued reporting the threat to….

It is also noted within this same report that the Alabama Power reacted very promptly to the power outage by installing 6,000 distribution poles and placing well over 4 million feet of wire within the first seven days after the disaster.
Challenges and Public Health Issues

There were a few challenges that were experienced before, during and after the disaster that should be worked on in order to further lessen the human suffering during disasters. One of the most outstanding challenge that Alabama in general experienced was the issue of communication. It was noted that the lack of a common frequency that could be used by the response teams to coordinate the efforts was a hindrance to the rescue efforts. Logistics of moving donated items from one place to anther was yet another issue. This was made worse by the fact that most of the social venues that could be used….

convert it into "Green Town"
Overall Analysis of the ebuilding Process

The region of Greensburg is an agricultural community, which is located in south-central Kansas. The day of May 4, 2007, marked a great tragedy in Greensburg, when it witnessed an EF-5 tornado. The study by FEMA (2007) states that according to the standard meteorological scale this was the most severe tornado in terms of wind speed. The consequence of the Greensburg tornado were very brutal, it demolished the region. The report by Paul, Che, Stimers and Dutt (2009) provides a complete description of the tornado. The author writes that the winds had a speed of over two hundred miles per hour. Moreover, the tornado cut a swath twenty-two miles in length and one and a half miles in width through the region. After the tornado passed, the damage was analyzed and it was found that approximately ninety-five per cent of….

formation of a tornado; the composition, causes, kinds and magnitude of destruction this natural calamity is capable to bring about. Tornado, a mysterious and violently destructive windstorm, is a funnel-shaped cloud extending towards the ground with a dark cumulonimbus mass on its end facing the ground. The funnel twists about into a mad oscillation of 200-300 miles per hour and is capable of causing great destruction where it meets civilization. This paper unlocks the mysteries of how a tornado is formed and unveils a violent aspect of Mother Nature.
TONADO

Before we can understand how a tornado is formed, it is important that we discover and visualize the structure and mechanism of such a gigantic body. A tornado is a rotating column of air with a width of a few yards to more than a mile which spins at destructive high speeds accompanied by a conical downward extension of a cumulonimbus….

Interagency Cooperation of Incident ManagementSevere Tornado Outbreak in the Southern United States, April 2011Brief DescriptionOn 27-28th April 2011, America witnessed its severest tornado outbreak since the year 1974. The month became one among the most devastating, active, and fatal tornado months recorded for the nation, serving as a potential benchmark for future months. SPC (Storm Prediction Center) information reveals a total of 875 preliminary tornadoes were reported in that month, with the final count of tornadoes approaching an all-time high of 542 following completion of storm surveys (NOAA, 2011). The prior record for April was a total of 267 tornadoes in April of 1974, with the highest for all months being May 2003, which witnessed 542 tornadoes (NOAA, 2011). Regarding April tornadoes, the 3-decade average was 135 (NOAA, 2011). In April, a large number of major, multi-day outbreaks of tornadoes impacted the nation, with the regions being hit the hardest….

Joplin Tornado
The author of this report has been asked to focus on a single hurricane or tornado and how it impact human and societal life. Being that it is quite recent and it was very destructive, the author of this report has chosen the EF-5 tornado that decimated much of Joplin, Missouri in 2011. The author will cover how the tornado impacted the earth, the damage toll, the death toll, the economic impacts involved and any permanent consequences that have resulted. While the city of Joplin is certainly in recovery mode, that tornado hit that city head-on and levied a massive amount of destruction.

One account of the Joplin tornado that is quite exhaustive and informative would be that of the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, or NIST. The "EF-5" label mentioned in the introduction makes reference to the Fujita scale of tornado intensity. There are only five points on….

Coping with a Disaster or Traumatic Event
Disasters are realities and bearing this in mind, there is a requirement to have comprehensive plans to ensure that there are coping systems and mechanisms in place to deal with the physical, mental and emotional problems faced after any fortuitous events

The paper will commence with various facts and statistics regarding how 2011 has been a banner year in terms of the number of tornadoes that hit the United States. Thence, emphasis will be placed on two major tornadoes that wreak the most havoc -- the one in Alabama that occurred in April 2011 and the month thereafter, the Joplin, Missouri tornado.

The succeeding paragraph will introduce the thesis statement especially not only the death and destruction brought about by tornadoes but the physical, mental and emotional turmoil cause by these extraordinary events.

Physical Problems After Disaster or Traumatic Events

The section will deal with the physical injuries….

Disaster Preparedness Plan:
Georgia has been an area threatened by some of form of natural disaster that has a huge negative impact on the well-being of its residents and the personnel and financial resources of the emergency response agencies. The most common natural disaster that occurs in this area is tornadoes that have terrorized both the rural and urban areas while making everyone in danger of their perils. In the recent years, Georgia experienced deadly tornadoes that caused harm, damages, and deaths in approximately 15 counties within the state. Give the nature of these tragedies, residents of this state need to be prepared and planned on how to respond to such emergencies.

Tornadoes in Georgia:

Tornadoes are regarded as nature's most violent storms since they can generate wind speeds of over 250 mph and appear from nowhere with little warning ("March Marks Start of Active Tornado," n.d.). These natural disasters are the most….

Emergency Plan
Business Name: MWV located in Covington VA

Number of Employees 190

Emergency management plan entails a system of managing resources, information analysis and decision making in the event of a tornado hitting the facility (Hubbard, 2009). The emergency management plan acts a guide to the responsible personal, the staff and residents within the facility on the steps to take upon the occurrence of a tornado. The emergency plan gives a description of the role that the pre-appointed Emergency Management Group (EMG) is expected to carry out in the event of a tornado. The Emergency Management group will serve as the overall authority over the activities in the facility relating to the occurrence of a tornado.

The emergency management policy is to ensure the safety of every individual within the facility and bring the facility to normal operations after an accident.

The head of the Emergency Management group is an appointed Incident Commander (IC)….