Published: April 22,2015
Considering typical severe thunderstorm wind gusts from 60-70 mph are capable of structural damage, it's not surprising wind speeds of 150 mph or higher in stronger tornadoes are capable of incredible, and incredibly strange damage.
(MORE: 7 Things You Should Never Forget When Tornadoes Strike | Tornado Central)
In strong tornadoes, it's not just the wind that is damaging, but also wind-lofted debris such as wall studs and tree branches, that can become projectiles, puncturing buildings, vehicles, basically anything that gets in their way.
Speaking of which, a typical 2-ton vehicle is little obstacle for a tornado's violent winds.
The April 27, 2011, Smithville, Mississippi, EF5 tornado carried a Ford Explorer roughly one-half mile before colliding it with the town's water tower. The vehicle then traveled another quarter mile before coming to rest. Vehicles in a violent tornado (EF4+) can resemble crushed soda cans, almost unrecognizable to the owner, should they ever find it.
The strongest tornadoes, and their debris fields, can also scour the ground, sometimes to a depth of a couple of feet, leaving a swath of bare soil behind.
(MORE: Strangest Tornado Locations | Where Tornadoes Occur Worldwide)
Severe weather expert Dr. Greg Forbes shared some more oddities of tornado damage:
- A house was turned on its side in Michigan in 1976, but remained otherwise intact. The residents had to use a ladder to get in the front door.
- A petroleum storage tank was rolled from its base, crushing buildings and coming to rest on a road in Sharon, Pennsylvania, during the May 31, 1985, tornado outbreak.
- Thirty chickens were stripped of their feathers, but survived the Lansing, Michigan, tornado of June 1, 1943.
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