No other types of storms are so powerful and destructive as tornado. They are often called “twisters” as they are made up of twisting columns of air. They achieve incredible wind speeds, in fact, the highest on earth. The extreme wind force is believed to be the main reason for the enormous damage that is associated with tornados.

Proof of this exists in the manner in which buildings collapse when they are struck by a tornado. The walls on the southwest, which are normally exposed to the strongest winds, fall inward from the pressure of continued winds.

It is often difficult for scientists to predict precisely when and where a tornado is likely to appear. Due to this uncertainty, it is difficult to provide sufficient warning in time to save lives. From the moment a tornado forms until it reaches the ground, it is usually not much more than a few minutes. At first, the funnel of the tornado is mainly a white-like color.

Seen from the ground, it looks like an enormous cloud moving from the sky toward the earth. Once a tornado has touched down, it becomes darker because of all the material it sucks up. This can include rocks, branches of trees, cars, and even parts of buildings, or houses. The low-pressure center of a tornado is such a powerful vacuum that it can tear the roofs from houses or suck the corks from bottles.

An average tornado usually moves in an easterly direction at a speed of kilometers per hour. However, speeds of more than 400 kilometers have been recorded. As a tornado tears along, it cuts a narrow path like a knife and completely destroys everything in its way. Because tornados are usually not very wide, they may totally destroy all of the houses on one side of a road while leaving those on the other side intact.

Each year, the USA is hit by about a thousand tornados, mainly in the early spring. The most devastating one took place on March 18, Traveling at 100 km per hour, it lasted for three and a half hours and left an enormous path of destruction. When the tornado finally scattered, it had covered a distance of 219 miles across three states, so it became notoriously known as the Tri-State Tornado.

People who witnessed the tornado said it looked like a giant cone with lightning flying through it. It touched down with a thunderous roaring noise, just like an enormous freight train speeding through. Four towns were completely destroyed and six more were damaged. 695 people were killed, 2,000 were injured, 11,000 were made homeless and the damage was over 50 million dollars, in today’s terms.

During another deadly tornado, a power line was blown down onto a fence, electrocuting fifteen cows. According to a witness, the fence “became illuminated like the heating element in a toaster.” Further along its path, it popped open the doors of a car, pulled the driver and the three passengers out and then tore the vehicle into little pieces, which were scattered several miles along the road.

A less disastrous incident involved a little girl who was sucked up by a tornado while she was riding her pony. Miraculously, the girl suffered only minor bruises while the pony was left unharmed.

It is almost impossible to eliminate the damage that tornados cause. However, new technology and scientific research might help reduce their intensity.