Assignment No.2, 2nd Draft by Joontae Kim

                               The Deadly Wind that Whirls Around

      Imagine a death toll of 695, over 2000 injuries, and property damage of over 16.5 million dollars. It is the statistics that indicates the aftermath of the deadliest tornado, a tornado that broke out in Mussouri, Illinois and Indiana called 'The Tri State Tornado'. Although this kind of violent tornado only count for 2% of all tornadoes, we should be aware of what effects can tornadoes bring about and learn about ways to prepare for it. A tornado, a funnel-shaped whirling wind accompanied by the thunderstorm when hot and cold air are mixed, can bring about phsycial and psychological damage on human being as well as severe property damages.

      One of the major effects of the tornadoes is the physical effect on us, the human beings. As I have mentioned above, the violent tornadoes bring about hundreds and thousands of deaths and injuries. Although people normally imagine that the whirling wind itself is the main cause of those inuries and deaths, the flying debris actually are accountable for those casualties. The wind force of a tornado is so powerful that it can tear apart the roofing materials, parts of cars and other heavy objects. The deaths and severe injuries occur when people are hit by these debris
carried out by the tornadoes. For instance, an outbreak of tornado in Minnesota, USA lifted up a 88 ton railroad coach and threw it away for almost 30 meters. Can you imagine how damaging small pieces of furniture and other household materials could have been?

      Also, there is a long-lasting psychological effect on people. Those who were fortunate enough to survive from severe tornado still may suffer from what is called as the post traumatic stress disorder. It is a disorder that develops when people have experienced very traumatic events such as wars, plane crashes, or natural calamities such as an earthquake, a tornado, and a hurricane. Even with proper treatment, people may frequently recollect the moment they barely survived the tornado, avoid the situation such as going out on a very windy day that reminds them of the incident, and feel extremely anxious for the rest of their lives.

      Last but not least, there is the property damage. The strong wind force of tornado completely destructs the whole area that is affected by it. Although weak tornadoes may bring about minor damages such as a broken window or partial destruction of house, the most violent tornades can even destruct the structure of 100 meter tall buildings. In case of the widest tornado that occured recently in Nebraska, the tornado destructed 95% of all houses and buildings that were located in the area. Even though it was occurred in a rural area, it resulted in the property damage of 175 million dollars. Furthermore, the property damage includes the effort people must put into restore the damages that has been done. It takes months and months to rebuild the houses and buildings, restore the infrastructure such as water supply, electricity as well as traffic and others. Not only the contractors for the restoration work but also residents of the area have to put countless hours into the rebuilding of the area.

      A tornado is weather phenomenon that can bring about devasting results: physical effect such as deaths and severe injuries, long-lasting psychological effect such as post traumatic stress disorder as well as enormous damage on personal property and social infrastructure. Since it is a natural phenomenon, we cannot prevent from occurring in the first place. I, however, believe that we can minimize the death tolls and injuries by proceeding a campaign on tornades including information such as what are the indicators of upcoming tornado, how to react to it, where is the nearest emergency shelter, and others.