If you had to choose between riding out a tornado or hurricane, which would you pick? Perhaps even more importantly, where would you go for shelter? While neither scenario is desirable, understanding the dangers of both malevolent maelstroms could help you survive either storm. When comparing disastrous weather events across the full spectrum of collateral damage, it’s easy to overlook the nuances of these powerful weather systems. Hurricanes originate over warm ocean water before gathering strength and making landfall. Forecasters usually have ample time to warn residents to seek shelter. Tornadoes are more insidious in nature as they strike with little to no advance warning. Even with the advantages of modern meteorology, thousands of people have fallen victim to these whirlwinds of destruction. For purposes of science and posterity, we will examine the innate differences between each to determine which is worse, a hurricane or tornado?
Which Storm Causes More Damage and Destruction?
While tornadoes are more sinister in their approach of sneaking up on unsuspecting residents, hurricanes are far more destructive. Hurricanes with well-formed eyewalls can support diameters of up to 300 miles wide! These behemoth storms can also inflict more damage across a greater area of land over an extended period of time. One hidden danger that many people overlook in preparing for a hurricane is the propensity for flooding. Powerful sea surges from incoming hurricane will often overwhelm levies and natural barriers, as the case with Hurricane Katrina. With nothing to slow down the sudden torrent of water, millions of residents can become refugees or victims of drowning in a matter of seconds. There’s another more insidious and calculating aspect of hurricanes: panic. Because hurricanes also impact greater areas of land and distance, they affect greater multitudes of people who are prone to panic. Mass hysteria in the leadup and aftermath of a storm leads to pandemonium, rioting and even looting. In the end, it’s not just Mother Nature you have to save yourself from, it’s also the animalistic side of humanity.
The Hidden Dangers of Tornadoes
Tornadoes on the other hand are more confined in their swath of destruction. While the beleaguering destruction of a hurricane can continue for days, tornadoes form and then disappear in the matter of minutes. Tornadoes also tend to affect only a few square miles as opposed to the thousands of miles of coastlines that hurricanes threat annually. But because the formation is more sudden, tornadoes often cause more death than hurricanes because they come with very little warning. When it comes to their chosen destination, tornadoes aren’t too picky either. While coastal communities remain the prime target for hurricanes, tornadoes can strike almost anywhere, especially the heart of America in ‘Tornado Alley.’ Another terrifying attribute of either storm is that they often happen in tandem. The lashing outer bands of a hurricane are typically the storm’s vanguard that can commonly spawn of-shoot tornadoes, making a perilous situation even worse. Tornadoes are more akin to atomic bombs than any other force of nature. Because their scope of destruction is so refined, tornadoes can inflict a greater degree of damage on smaller communities and towns. Have you ever seen photos of towns flattened by tornadoes in Oklahoma and Texas? While hurricanes can possess the same magnitudes of force as a tornado, they are more rare. There’s a reason meteorologists name hurricanes instead of tornadoes. They would exhaust the list of possible names before reaching May every storm season!
Which Is Easier to Protect Your Family From?
As we have outlined, tornadoes and hurricanes are deadly in their own right. Each storm system presents very specific threats that you must account for. Both destructive tyrants can unleash a fury of wind driven objects and projectiles that can damage well-fortified homes and structures. While these storms may differ in many ways, how you protect yourself from either cataclysm does not. Our steel-gauge above ground storm rooms are ideal for sheltering from both tornadoes and hurricanes. Fortified from years of quality engineering experience and the finest and toughest materials on the market, we have crafted industry heralded storm rooms that can withstand the pulverizing forces of both storms. To back-up our claims, we even sent a couple of our models to the Wind Institute at Texas Tech University. There, engineers subjected our shelters to a battery of integrity tests, including launching 2 x 4’s at our shelter doors at 250 miles per hour! Needless to say, our shelters withstood the worse they could throw at them and achieved the stamp of approval from industry experts. Don’t believe us? Check out the video below!