but
okay,
Yeah, I was ready. No, listen, I remember
seeing some photos were a bunch of tornadoes ripped through Kansas and Oklahoma in the
spring of 1999. In some areas, neighborhoods were leveled
completely and houses were gone like a battlefield. Yeah, I
thought tornadoes never strike big cities, though. That's just a myth.
Tornadoes can happen anywhere. Yeah, that's like the myth about how you can out
drive a tornado. You mean you can't drive faster than a tornado?
Yeah, man, Listen, tornadoes can pick up cars and tossed
around like it's nothing. In fact, if you're in front of a tornado,
get out of the car and run the other way, haul it to a safe place. Alright, guys, Its
showtime free going to you first. Let's go, people.
Yeah, that's okay for the
Swiss. Okay, guys, get ready. Today I show it
on tornadoes. Chef. Yes, I got my
tapes. Yes, ideo Sure. E
o great bowling.
Alright, alright. Ready? Camera one AM.
Okay, 10 seconds.
Yeah, right.
Five, 432 Take
everyone. Hi, I'm Frieda refs today and I'm
actually Campbell reporting live for D t v a student video.
Siri's created exclusively for behind the scenes investigative
reports on natural disasters today.
Tornadoes and lightning. We opened our program with tornadoes.
Most of us have seen pictures of tornadoes, but how much do we really know about
them? A tornado is a violently rotating column of
air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most
violent tornadoes have rotating winds of 250
MPH or more tornadoes occurring every state and at any
time of the year, although they happen more often in the spring and summer
to find out how a tornado is formed, Let's go into our science reporter,
Gabby Christian. Thanks, very. During my visit
to the Tornado tracking Center, I learned some very interesting things.
First of all, tornadoes start to form when cold air pushes
against warm air in what is called a front. The cool air
slides underneath the warm air, which is pushed upwards and water
fast. Growing clouds called thunderheads develop along the front,
producing storms with lightning and thunder. Strong winds
blowing above the thunderheads. Slower winds closer to the ground
make the air in the thunderhead spin. If the rising Aaron A
thunderhead spins the column of spinning winds is called a
mesocyclone, a faster spinning column of air forms
inside the bottom of the mesocyclone. It sucks up warm,
moist air to form a whirling cloud called a funnel cloud. When a
funnel cloud touches the ground, it's called a tornado. So,
gabby, if you see a funnel cloud touched down from a thunderhead, it may mean
a tornado is on its way. But are all tornadoes shaped like funnel?
Well, no Ashley. Tornadoes could be shaped like jars or have
more than one funnel or look like big clouds moving along the ground.
Thanks for that report. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.
The
next segment is already in tornadoes, and Gabby's up on that.
5432 good again.
I'm here at the Whirlwind Institute with Dr Khan, who's going to tell us a
little bit about how he and other scientists right and measure tornado.
Dr. Khan. Thank you, Gabby. The Fujita Pearson
or F scale rates tornadoes on damage, not the size of the funnel or
wind speed. The scale converts the degree of damage after the
tornado into an estimation of wind speeds. Take a look at
this. Yeah.
All right. Here. Way. Have the damage resulting from an F zero or
Gail Tornado the weakest type. See how branches have broken off of
trees. Sign boards. Damage. Not much else.
Now here's the damage from an F one or a moderate tornado.
Winds between 73 112 MPH.
See that roof surfaces repealed off and the mobile homes in this
trailer park have been pushed off their foundations.
Okay, now here's an example of an F three or severe tornado
with winds from 158 to 206
MPH. See how these houses were demolished? And here are some
uprooted trees. See that car? That car was lifted
off the ground and thrown. Incredible.
How about one more question? Two.
Tornadoes get more severe than an F three. They can, although
luckily F four and F five tornadoes Air uncommon in an incredible
tornado with winds up to 318 MPH,
asphalt is scoured off the road. House is air lifted off of their
foundations, carried away in disintegrated trees, air de barked and
automobile sized objects are hurled through the air.
Well, this has been so interesting. Thank you so much. And back to
you guys in the studio. We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right
back. Right? Um real quick
experiment. It's over there on the second shelf. Go. Do you hear that
crazy thing he was talking about? With tornadoes, you'll never get me
up close and personal interview. You know, it's weird, though, is what Dr Concept
about they're so big. And there's so much debris. Sometimes you can't even tell.
It's a funnel cloud. What to do? Segment is up next.
Got my tape? Shep? Yes, Ideo. Alright, Roll the tape. Their
role. 10 seconds in studio.
Ready camera one. So I am right. Right. Oh, sorry.
That's right. Here. And in five, four,
three, take everyone. How
would you know if the possibility of a tornado existed and that you may
be in danger? The National Weather Service does provide alert
warnings or watch. I could never keep them straight to clear up that
dilemma and mawr once again. Here's Gabby I field reporter.
Thanks, Ashleigh. A tornado watch indicates that conditions are
favorable for the formation of tornadoes. It's important to be alert
for changing weather conditions that accompanies severe thunderstorms.
Look for large hail blowing debris or the sound of an approaching
tornado, which people say sounds like a freight train.
Tornado warning is telling you that tornadoes have been spotted in the area.
You should go to a safe place immediately that it back to
you. Thanks, Gabby. But what if you aren't around a TV,
radio or siren? Here's some weather clues provided by Mother Nature to alert
you that a tornado may happen. The first foods, often a greenish or very
dark sky. The green color comes from heavy hail falling somewhere else.
Not all tornadoes produce hail, but some do another clues of
wall cloud eight cloud dipping down to touch the ground, especially if it's rotating.
Also. Ah, large hail or cloud of swirling debris is
another sign. Of course, funnel clouds are danger
signs, and so is a roaring noise. If you see or
hear those dangerous signs and there is a tornado warning, here's what you should do
when you hear a tornado warning or even suspect that a tornado, maybe in
the area immediately go to a safe place to protect yourself.
In fact, if you see any of those weather clues we just described.
Even if you don't hear warning, take cover in a safe place.
This place could be the lowest level of your home. Ah, hallway or a
closet and stay away from windows if you
can get under a sturdy piece of furniture like a heavy table and
hold on if you're outside, like in a car or playing ball,
find sturdy shelter like a house or building. Get inside and go to
the lowest level. If you're in a mobile home, get out of it and find
more sturdy shelter. If you can't find sturdy shelter, life
flat in a low spot and use your arms and hands to protect your head and
that's bad. It back to you guys. Take a quick break and
we'll be right back talking about you have to find it.
All right, break Next segment is lightning segment.
That's up next. Hey, guys, somebody told me once that you could sit
in the car during a thunderstorm because the rubber wheels ground you. Is that
true? I can't believe that method still around. That's like the method. Lightning doesn't strike
the same place twice. Lightning strikes when it wants where it wants. And
if it once, it'll strike the same place more than once. But we're gonna get back to
that after the show. All right, well, the tapes,
10 seconds in studio.
We're back now. Continue our coverage on tornadoes and lightning. We
shift our attention toe lightning. Lightning is
electricity a tremendous spark in the sky. That balance is the
difference between positive and negative charges and two clouds
One cloud or between a cloud and the ground. The
negative charge of the cloud is attracted instantly to the positive charge of the
Earth's surface. That's why they say that if you're about to get hit by lightning,
you might feel your hair raise up on your head. Positive electricity is flowing
through you trying to reach the negative electricity in the cloud. By the
way, if that ever happens to you, drop to the ground right away.
Now, actually is gonna tell you how lightning occurs, Ashley. Okay.
To begin with Ah, powerful surge of negative electricity made
up of zigzagging steps called a step Leaders come
down from a thunderstorm and in less than a second is close enough to the
ground to meet the positive charge. Coming from the Earth. The
connection sends so much electrical energy back up into the cloud,
we see a bright flash that's ground to cloud lightning or
pork light. Are there any other kinds of lightning? Ashley. There
certainly are. Besides forked lightning, there is sheet lightning,
which looks like a white flash over a big section of the sky.
Its actually the reflection cloud to cloud lightning
strike that's hidden by clouds. After doing some research,
we found that that lightning is very unpredictable, which is why it is a
major threat. During a thunderstorm, 75 to 100 people are
killed every year in the United States by lightning, and hundreds more injured
actually checked into when the potential for danger from lightning exists. You
are in danger from lightning when you hear thunder. Because light travels
so much faster than sound, you always hear thunder after
the flash of lightning. That's a lot slower, so it's safe to assume
that lightning and thunder occurring close together indicates lightning is striking
nearby, absolutely free to estimate the number of miles
you are away from a lightning strike. Count the number of seconds between the
flash and the next clap of thunder. Divide this number by
five. So if you count like 20 seconds between flash and bang,
then you are four miles from the lightning strike. Use a 30
30 rule for a lightning safety. If the period between the flash and the
bank is 30 seconds or less, get to a safe place.
If you're indoors, stay off the telephone. Since telephone
lines can conduct electricity, unplug your televisions and
computers and other appliances. Another thing is to stay
away from running water, like in a shower or bathtub,
because lightning consent a strong charge through the plumbing and shock you.
Now if you're outside during a thunderstorm, stay away from water.
Water is an excellent conductor of electricity. Get the land,
get off the beach and find shelter. Try to get into a building.
If you're in the woods, find an area protected by a low clump of
trees. Never stand underneath the single tall tree in the open,
and that's it for a lightning safety.
Well, that's our show for today on tornadoes. Enlightening. I'm Parada reps today
and I'm actually Campbell from all of us here at D TV. Thanks for watching.
Yeah,
way I see Masters of
disaster spot.
So the master,
we're here to draw some.