Effects That Tornadoes Leave

Tornadoes occur most frequently in the spring and summer in the United States. It is common for 800 tornadoes to be reported in any given year, some with wind speeds up to 250 miles per hour. While most people in tornado-prone areas of the country are consistently advised to make advance preparations during tornado season for safety, the after-effects of tornadoes cannot be fully planned for due to the unpredictability of tornadoes in a storm.

Destruction

• A tornado extends from the clouds to the ground, with the strong rotation of the tornado slamming into anything in its path and often causing particles of an object to swirl inside of the tornado -- sometimes for hundreds of miles. Those objects are eventually tossed out of the rotation, causing them to slam into other objects such as homes and businesses, resulting in massive destruction. While many people assume it is the rotating motion of the tornado that causes the extensive destruction on the ground, in reality it is the projectile force of the materials being thrown through the air by the tornado that creates most of the ground damage.

Injury and Death

• Texas Tech University notes that in the United States an average of 80 people lose their lives every year due to tornadoes. However, tornadoes also cause an estimated 1,500 injuries. Moreover, because tornadic storms are also associated with flash flooding, lightning and thunderstorms, the effects of tornadoes on human life are even more devastating. Flash flooding is responsible for an excess of 70 deaths each year; lightning is associated with 55 deaths; and high winds connected to thunderstorms result in 31 deaths annually.

Traumatic Stress

• Tornadoes often affect human mental health by causing traumatic stress. Following a tornado, many people become extremely nervous or sad. Some children may begin to withdraw from others, demonstrate behavioral problems or show signs of anxiety. These symptoms are sometimes so overwhelming that the individuals are incapable of coping in their everyday lives.

Other Effects

• Thunderstorms that produce tornadoes often also produce hail, with some hail being golf-ball- to grapefruit-sized balls of hard ice. As the storm pelts the ground with the hail, cars and buildings are damaged, with hail damage reported in the millions of dollars each year. In addition, tornadoes regularly bring with them flash floods and lightning. Flash floods are caused by excessive and rapid rain that accompanies the tornado, while one tornadic storm can produce thousands of lightning strikes in one hour. Both flash floods and lightning strikes can cost a community thousands of dollars in damage, making the effects of a tornado potentially long-lasting.