...Tornadoes David Griswold April 20, 2014 Natural Disasters ES117-01-77 DR. Brazell Tornadoes A tornado is one of the few natural disasters that have taken place in the Midwest, but its effects can cause devastation that can be felt worldwide. Tornadoes destroy entire towns. In some cases they will level an entire block, but leave one house standing almost untouched. Their paths can be unpredictable, and cost of the destruction almost immeasurable. A major natural disaster such as this could wipe out people’s way of life and a food supply that helps to feed the world. In many cases flooding accompanies tornadoes. These super cell storms can drop several inches of water in a very short time. Tornadoes can also destroy water towers leaving communities without drinkable water, knock over power lines leaving communities in the dark and tear open gas lines creating a very high risk of fires and explosions. Tornadoes have been somewhat sensationalized in media. There have been books written about tornado events such as The Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman, the story of her cousin’s families bout with the June 3, 1980 Grand Island, Nebraska tornadoes, to movies such as the made for TV movie of the same name and The Wizard of Oz, not to mention the Blockbuster Twister. Although these movies are entertaining, they are far from accurate. “A storm chasers dream come true is to get close enough to a mile-wide tornado to shoot unique video of nature's extreme fury. Maybe even take some...
Words: 2257 - Pages: 10
...Tornadoes are one of the most violent and destructive natural occurring disasters known to man kind. They are one of the most powerful weather phenomena on land and can destroy an entire town in just minutes. They rank right along side hurricanes when it comes to destroying homes and ending lives each year. Statistically, tornadoes are the second ranked weather related cause for fatalities, heat comes in first. Tornadoes have been observed on all continents except Antarctica but are most common in the United States. (Glickman) In the United States alone there is an average total of around 1,300 touchdowns and 60 fatalities caused by tornadoes every year. A tornado is a rotating column of air, in contact with the surface, pendant from a cumuliform...
Words: 825 - Pages: 4
...Tornadogenesis Each year, over one thousand tornadoes touch down in the United States, much greater than any other country in the world (Edwards, 2013). Typically in the spring, the cool dry air from Canada meets with the warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico. These mixtures of air meet in the mid-west to create super-cell storms, ultimately leading to the formation of tornadoes. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, tornados are responsible for numerous deaths each year. In 2011, there were reported over 500 fatalities in the Unites States due to tornados (NOAA, 2013). Scientists are unfortunately unable to prevent potentially deadly tornados to ensure public safety. Tornadogenesis “deals with the different processes and features that help create tornadoes” (Howard, 2013). Understanding how these super-cells form may help scientists to minimize casualty loss as well as property damage from these deadly twisters. Tornadogenesis can be classified into many different types based on their complex formation processes. Centered on the recorded data of circulations and wind speeds, the tornado is the most powerful type of circulation detectable in the atmosphere (Lin, 2007). Type I tornados produced by super cellular mesocyclones, are among the most common and intense type of tornados (Agee, 2009). A super mesocyclone is a long-lived thunderstorm containing a continuous updraft of air within it. These thunderstorms will have a low-lying cloud that...
Words: 354 - Pages: 2
...of extreme weather like tornadoes, hurricanes floods, and many more. When there is an extreme weather phenomenon happens there is usually a high cost that comes with it not only economical but also personal. One type of extreme weather is hurricanes. Hurricanes are also known as typhoons and cyclones. It is a powerful rotating storm that involves thunder, lightning, and rain. Hurricanes are one of the most damaging and powerful forces there are among the other types of extreme weather. Hurricanes are a major hazard to buildings, people, and the environment. A hurricane has killed more people than any other storm there is. In order for a tropical storm to be classified as a hurricane its wind speed has to reach 74mph but usually reaches higher wind speed than that. Some examples of hurricanes over the last couple of years are hurricane Ivan and Katrina. Hurricane Ivan made its appearance on the gulf shores of Alabama. This hurricane started at 2:10am Thursday September 16 2004. Hurricanes Ivan’s strength was estimated to be around 130 mph which made it a category 3 hurricane. Ivan cost a lot of damages, it was estimated that there was around 123 fatalities and the cost damage it caused was estimated at $18 million making it the fifth costliest hurricane ever to strike the country. There was also hurricane Katrina which was in New Orleans are and Mississippi coast; it was one of the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history. It is also one of the most deadly hurricanes to strike...
Words: 1149 - Pages: 5
...around 5:10 p.m. CDT (2210 UTC), a very large and exceptionally destructive tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[38] About 40 minutes later, the same tornado struck the northern suburbs of Birmingham. A tornado emergency was issued for both cities, and many other tornado emergencies were issued that day. Many local TV stations, including WBRC and WBMA-LD/WCFT/WJSU, as well as CBS affiliate WIAT (channel 42), captured footage of this long-track tornado in both Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. A debris ball was observed by the Birmingham NEXRAD,[39] indicating that the tornado was causing extreme damage. Photos from the damage path showed total devastation. The path of this tornado struck the same small communities as the F4 storm on April 1956 Birmingham tornado, and the F5 storms on April 1977 Birmingham tornado and April 1998 Birmingham tornado. The supercell responsible for the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham EF4 tornado originated in Newton County, Mississippi at 2:54 pm CDT and tracked 380 miles (610 km) to Macon County, North Carolina where it dissipated at 10:18 pm CDT. The supercell also produced the Shoal Creek Valley/Ohatchee, Alabama EF4 and an EF3 NE of Cartersville, Georgia. By the morning of April 30, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency had...
Words: 2231 - Pages: 9
...California, Texas, Haiti, Thailand or Japan; Mother Nature holds no punches when it comes to dishing out her forms of friendly storms. Natural disasters have made a major financial, physical and mental impact on the people of the world. When disaster strikes and people are forced out of there neighborhood and homes, people want to know that when something like this happens, there is someone there to have their back; a piece of mind. In 1979, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was formed to help with state and local governments within the United States and the International Association of Emergency Managers was formed to help state, federal and governments ensure that their people have peace of mind. Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II. Hurricane Katrina 4 III. Natural disasters in the United States 6 IV. Earthquake and tsunami in Japan 8 V. Natural disasters in the world 9 VI. Closing 11 VII. Reference 13 I. INTRODUCTIONS The environment is always changing and the people of the United States should always be aware of what could happen to them if they are not prepared for what Mother Nature do to their surroundings with no notice. There are several types of natural disasters that can maim and destroy communities and people lives. To name a few, they are hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, earthquakes, mudslides, flooding wildfires, tsunamis and volcanoes. Hurricanes are usually formed in the southern...
Words: 3320 - Pages: 14
...frost faces, ice blossoms, rabbit ice and ice castles. This amazing natural phenomenon occurs when long-stemmed plants exude frozen ice or sap into patterns that curl just like the petals of regular flowers. Similar results also happen when frost columns are extruded from the soil or when ice crystals from water surfaces form intricate patterns in cold conditions where salinity and other chemicals are common. The latter formations are usually found in the Arctic regions. Frost flowers, however, can occur anywhere that the ground isn't frozen. The sap in the plants' stems expands, which cracks the stem along its length. The plant draws water through capillary action, which freezes when it comes in contact with the air and forms a petal. The most common plants subject to forming frost flowers include frostweed, white crownbeard and yellow ironweed. 10. Moonbows [ http://www.thinkstockphotos.co.uk/image/stock-photo-moonbow/502685967/popup?sq=undefined ] [ http://www.thinkstockphotos.co.uk/image/stock-photo-moon-ring-ultra-wide-angle/472168713/popup?sq=undefined ] Moonbows, which are lunar rainbows, come from moonlight reflected from water and ice particles in the air. Rainbows, which are similar, come from the same amazing natural phenomena when sunlight reflects off of water particles in the air. Moonbows are rare because they can only occur when the astronomical and atmospheric conditions align in a certain way. Yosemite Falls, which sends water droplets into the air at all times...
Words: 1069 - Pages: 5
...3: The Power of Faith & Hope ............................................. 11 Chapter 4: Hey, Chuck Norris! . ........................................................ 14 Chapter 5: We’ve Been Expecting You! ............................................ 18 Chapter 6: On the Road to Jerusalem ................................................ 24 Chapter 7: Jerusalem . ........................................................................ 28 Chapter 8: But, I’m not a Catholic .................................................... 32 Chapter 9: America... here I come ...................................................... 37 Chapter 10: My Friend, John . ............................................................41 Chapter 11: Finding God in the Storm . ............................................ 45 Chapter 12: Trusting God in the War Zone ...................................... 49 Chapter 13: Jahzal . ............................................................................ 52 Chapter 14: The Steadfast Faithfulness of God ................................. 57 Chapter 15: Confrontational Love in the Concrete Jungle ................ 63 Chapter 16: Desperate Times, Desperate Prayers ............................ 68 Chapter 17: Betrayed ......................................................................... 72 Chapter 18: Stumbling Toward the Light ......................................... 78 Chapter 19: How I Captured Osama ................................................. 84 Chapter...
Words: 28698 - Pages: 115
...weather and the crops. There was too much sun, or too much rain, or the threat of floods in the lowlands, or the rising prices of seed and fertilizer, or the uncertainties of the markets. On the most perfect of days, my mother would quietly say to me, "Don't worry. The men will find something to worry about." Pappy, my grandfather, was worried about the price for labor when we went searching for the hill people. They were paid for every hundred pounds of cotton they picked. The previous year, according to him, it was $1.50 per hundred. He'd already heard rumors that a farmer over in Lake City was offering $1.60. This played heavily on his mind as we rode to town. He never talked when he drove, and this was because, according to my mother, not much of a driver herself, he was afraid of motorized vehicles. His truck was a 1939 Ford, and with the exception of our old John Deere tractor, it was our sole means of transportation. This was no particular problem except when we drove to church and my mother and grandmother were forced to sit snugly together up front in their Sunday best while my father and I rode in the back, engulfed in dust. Modern sedans were scarce in rural Arkansas. Pappy drove thirty-seven miles per hour. His theory was that every automobile had a speed at which it ran most efficiently, and through some vaguely defined method he had...
Words: 119442 - Pages: 478
...weather and the crops. There was too much sun, or too much rain, or the threat of floods in the lowlands, or the rising prices of seed and fertilizer, or the uncertainties of the markets. On the most perfect of days, my mother would quietly say to me, "Don't worry. The men will find something to worry about." Pappy, my grandfather, was worried about the price for labor when we went searching for the hill people. They were paid for every hundred pounds of cotton they picked. The previous year, according to him, it was $1.50 per hundred. He'd already heard rumors that a farmer over in Lake City was offering $1.60. This played heavily on his mind as we rode to town. He never talked when he drove, and this was because, according to my mother, not much of a driver herself, he was afraid of motorized vehicles. His truck was a 1939 Ford, and with the exception of our old John Deere tractor, it was our sole means of transportation. This was no particular problem except when we drove to church and my mother and grandmother were forced to sit snugly together up front in their Sunday best while my father and I rode in the back, engulfed in dust. Modern sedans were scarce in rural Arkansas. Pappy drove thirty-seven miles per hour. His theory was that every automobile had a speed at which it ran most efficiently, and through some vaguely defined method he had...
Words: 119442 - Pages: 478
...and Jim Barrington. Thanks also to Connie and Dick Brown, the U.S. Intelligence Policy Documentation Project, Suzanne O’Neill, Margie Wachtel, Morey Stettner, Owen King, Alison McKinnell, Mary and Stephen Gorman, Dr. Karl Singer, Dr. Michael I. Latz of Scripps Institute of Oceanography, April at Micron Electronics, Esther Sung, the National Air and Space Museum, Dr. Gene Allmendinger, the incomparable Heide Lange at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, and John Pike at the Federation of American Scientists. Author’s Note The Delta Force, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Space Frontier Foundation are real organizations. All technologies described in this novel exist. “If this discovery is confirmed, it will surely be one of the most stunning insights into our universe that science has ever uncovered. Its implications are as far-reaching and awe-inspiring as can be imagined. Even as it promises answers to some of our oldest questions, it poses still others even more fundamental.” President Bill Clinton, in a press conference following a discovery known as ALH84001 on August 7, 1997 Prologue Death, in this forsaken place, could come in countless forms. Geologist Charles Brophy had endured the savage splendor of this terrain for years, and yet nothing could prepare him for a fate as barbarous and unnatural as the one about to befall him. As...
Words: 144469 - Pages: 578
...also to Connie and Dick Brown, the U.S. Intelligence Policy Documentation Project, Suzanne O'Neill, Margie Wachtel, Morey Stettner, Owen King, Alison McKinnell, Mary and Stephen Gorman, Dr. Karl Singer, Dr. Michael I. Latz of Scripps Institute of Oceanography, April at Micron Electronics, Esther Sung, the National Air and Space Museum, Dr. Gene Allmendinger, the incomparable Heide Lange at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, and John Pike at the Federation of American Scientists. Author's Note The Delta Force, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Space Frontier Foundation are real organizations. All technologies described in this novel exist. If this discovery is confirmed, it will surely be one of the most stunning insights into our universe that science has ever uncovered. Its implications are as far-reaching and awe-inspiring as can be imagined. Even as it promises answers to some of our oldest questions, it poses still others even more fundamental. —President Bill Clinton, in a press conference following a discovery known as ALH84001 on August 7, 1997 Prologue Death, in this forsaken place, could come in countless forms. Geologist Charles Brophy had endured the savage splendor of this terrain for years, and yet nothing could prepare him for a fate as barbarous and unnatural as the one about to...
Words: 144424 - Pages: 578
...Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Introduction Chapter 1 - Priming Chapter 2 - Confabulation Chapter 3 - Confirmation Bias Chapter 4 - Hindsight Bias Chapter 5 - The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy Chapter 6 - Procrastination Chapter 7 - Normalcy Bias Chapter 8 - Introspection Chapter 9 - The Availability Heuristic Chapter 10 - The Bystander Effect Chapter 11 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect Chapter 12 - Apophenia Chapter 13 - Brand Loyalty Chapter 14 - The Argument from Authority Chapter 15 - The Argument from Ignorance Chapter 16 - The Straw Man Fallacy Chapter 17 - The Ad Hominem Fallacy Chapter 18 - The Just-World Fallacy Chapter 19 - The Public Goods Game Chapter 20 - The Ultimatum Game Chapter 21 - Subjective Validation Chapter 22 - Cult Indoctrination Chapter 23 - Groupthink Chapter 24 - Supernormal Releasers Chapter 25 - The Affect Heuristic Chapter 26 - Dunbar’s Number Chapter 27 - Selling Out Chapter 28 - Self-Serving Bias Chapter 29 - The Spotlight Effect Chapter 30 - The Third Person Effect Chapter 31 - Catharsis Chapter 32 - The Misinformation Effect Chapter 33 - Conformity Chapter 34 - Extinction Burst Chapter 35 - Social Loafing Chapter 36 - The Illusion of Transparency Chapter 37 - Learned Helplessness Chapter 38 - Embodied Cognition Chapter 39 - The Anchoring Effect Chapter 40 - Attention Chapter 41 - Self-Handicapping Chapter 42 - Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Chapter 43 - The Moment Chapter 44 - Consistency...
Words: 84394 - Pages: 338
...62118 0/nm 1/n1 2/nm 3/nm 4/nm 5/nm 6/nm 7/nm 8/nm 9/nm 1990s 0th/pt 1st/p 1th/tc 2nd/p 2th/tc 3rd/p 3th/tc 4th/pt 5th/pt 6th/pt 7th/pt 8th/pt 9th/pt 0s/pt a A AA AAA Aachen/M aardvark/SM Aaren/M Aarhus/M Aarika/M Aaron/M AB aback abacus/SM abaft Abagael/M Abagail/M abalone/SM abandoner/M abandon/LGDRS abandonment/SM abase/LGDSR abasement/S abaser/M abashed/UY abashment/MS abash/SDLG abate/DSRLG abated/U abatement/MS abater/M abattoir/SM Abba/M Abbe/M abbé/S abbess/SM Abbey/M abbey/MS Abbie/M Abbi/M Abbot/M abbot/MS Abbott/M abbr abbrev abbreviated/UA abbreviates/A abbreviate/XDSNG abbreviating/A abbreviation/M Abbye/M Abby/M ABC/M Abdel/M abdicate/NGDSX abdication/M abdomen/SM abdominal/YS abduct/DGS abduction/SM abductor/SM Abdul/M ab/DY abeam Abelard/M Abel/M Abelson/M Abe/M Aberdeen/M Abernathy/M aberrant/YS aberrational aberration/SM abet/S abetted abetting abettor/SM Abeu/M abeyance/MS abeyant Abey/M abhorred abhorrence/MS abhorrent/Y abhorrer/M abhorring abhor/S abidance/MS abide/JGSR abider/M abiding/Y Abidjan/M Abie/M Abigael/M Abigail/M Abigale/M Abilene/M ability/IMES abjection/MS abjectness/SM abject/SGPDY abjuration/SM abjuratory abjurer/M abjure/ZGSRD ablate/VGNSDX ablation/M ablative/SY ablaze abler/E ables/E ablest able/U abloom ablution/MS Ab/M ABM/S abnegate/NGSDX abnegation/M Abner/M abnormality/SM abnormal/SY aboard ...
Words: 113589 - Pages: 455
