TORNADOES WAYS TO SECURE YOUR HOME AND STORM CHASERS

Michael S. Schlossberg

What is a Tornado? A tornado is a column of air that is moving

with high speeds of that is coming from a thunderstorm

Tornadoes are found in flat plain areas because there is no mountains to restrict the movement of air

The funnel cloud may have speeds of up to 300 MPH!

Tornadoes form over land but can form as Waterspouts over water which are much weaker

Wizard of Oz and Tornadoes

This is an exaggeration, while tornadoes can displace debris everywhere, they aren’t quite strong enough to lift a house thousands of meters into the atmosphere, as seen in the famous movie “Wizard of Oz”

Tornado Safety Tornadoes are measured on the Fujita

Scale, which ranges from 1-5 Before a tornado is coming, you should

have a plan of where to go Get under a table or go into a basement

so you are at a low lying area STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

Securing your Home

-Avoid building houses right next to big trees

- Houses built near trees are prone to have big and old trees to collapse on the house

Types of Building Materials Concrete Bricks are the preferable type of

material when building a home in a tornado prone area

It is strongly reinforced as opposed to houses that are built with wood

New innovative thinkers have started to reinforce their homes with Styrofoam as opposed to sheetrock

Roof Structure Roofs have to offer interior support with

5/8 “ thick plywood or bigger When building a roof, it should be nailed

into the rafters of the home (what supports the house)

The roof should be slanted on all faces so strong winds will have a smaller concentrated area to hit

Inside and Outside of the Home The house should have no more than two

stories Each story should not be taller than 10

feet The house shouldn’t be more than 60 feet

in length because the structure is weaker When building the shape of the house

should have similar dimensions (length, width and height)

Storm Safe Room Typically these rooms are made of steel

and are made to stand up after being hit by a tornado even if the rest of the house crumples

These rooms are usually built in the middle of the home

Storm Chasers! There are two types: professional

scientists who are doing experiments and collecting data and average people just chasing it for the thrill

The goal for chasers is to get as close to the funnel cloud without getting in harms way

Equipment Used The professionals drive in a truck which

gives them ample room to set up the computer equipment

On the back of the truck is a satellite which is used for GPS and internet connection

“Mobile Threat Net” is the system used on computers to keep track of air pressure, wind speed and moisture content

Accounts of Chris Caldwell, professional Storm Chaser for KOCO TV

5, Oklahoma

The only way to become a storm chaser professionally is through years of chasing and getting hired from there

His favorite part of the job is reporting where the tornado’s path will hit next

The hardest tornadoes to chase are one’s at night because only the lighting of the truck and lightning can help illuminate it

Discovery Channel’s “Storm Chasers”

A show with multiple seasons that chronicled the men and women who followed around Tornadoes

Their vehicle had 600 horsepower and 6 tons of metal armor

The show highlights how hard it is for the chasers to know exactly where to go to get the best looks at the tornados