Natural Hazards

Introduction

Tornadoes are a huge problem all around the world and although New Zealand isn't greatly affected by tornadoes that doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying to mitigate the effects of them. How can we mitigate the negative effects of a Tornado? That is the question I will be attempting to answer in the report. I will talk about the causes of a tornado, how climate change factors into tornadoes and how those can be minimized, and how we can lessen the effects of tornadoes altogether. I will also take a deep dive into the case study of the Daulatpur-Saturia tornado.

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A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. What exactly causes a tornado? 1.  A large thunderstorm occurs in a cumulonimbus cloud. 2. A change in wind direction and wind speed at high altitudes causes the air to swirl horizontally. 3. Rising air from the ground pushes up on the swirling air and tips it over. 4. The funnel of swirling air begins to suck up more warm air from the ground. 5. The funnel grows longer and stretches toward the ground. 6. When the funnel touches the ground it becomes a tornado. For this inquiry, I chose to research the case study of the Daulatpur-Saturia tornado, which killed about 1,300 people and injured 12,000 and is regarded as the worst tornado in record history. What effect did the Daulatpur-Saturia tornado have on the land and man-made features? In the aftermath of the tornado, numerous trees were uprooted, and every house within a six-square-kilometer radius of the tornado's path was entirely demolished, resulting in significant damage. An article in the Bangladesh Observer stated, "The devastation was so complete, that barring some skeletons of trees, there were no signs of standing infrastructures". About 80,000 people were left without somewhere to live. The Bangladeshi economy suffered long-term harm as a result of the tornado. Bangladesh is now considered to be one of the world's poorest countries in need of aid as a result of the Daulatpur-Saturia Tornado and subsequent tornadoes, storms, and floods that followed it.

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The Daulatpur-Saturia tornado absolutely devastated the Manikganj District of Bangladesh but exactly what effect did the Daulatpur-Saturia Tornado have on the people and society of the Manikganj District? Following the Daulatpur-Saturia tornado, widespread starvation and sickness struck the Manikganj District. Hunger and sickness overtook parts of the Manikganj District, and survivors were fighting for the limited supplies of food, water, and medicine that were left. Like most other tornadoes, it was restricted to a relatively narrow area, and despite being short-lived, it completely wiped out every building within a 2.5 square mile (6 square km) radius. Tens of thousands of people were left homeless, and towns were in ruins. This obviously had some huge effects on the people and it’s likely they needed assistance in this tough time. How did people respond to and deal with the Daulatpur-Saturia Tornado? Even though the Daulatpur-Saturia tornado was the deadliest in the world, a lack of data and an insufficient amount of recount doesn't state anything about any emergency services responding to the disaster. This is very sad as Bangladesh is such a tornado-prone country and probably needs these services more than any country in the world. As well as a lack of emergency services, the area that was hit by the Daulatpur-Saturia tornado, since it was such a poor area, had no warning systems of any kind so nobody had any idea that they were about to be hit by the worst tornado in recorded history. I think this likely is the reason that the death toll was as high as it was.

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Tornadoes are obviously a threat that nobody in their right mind would ever want to experience. Knowing this, how can the effects of tornadoes be minimized? To minimize the effects of tornadoes, communities should focus on preparedness and mitigation measures. This includes implementing early warning systems, educating the public on tornado safety, enforcing building codes and zoning regulations, constructing storm shelters, using resilient building materials, conducting tornado drills, investing in meteorological research, promoting emergency preparedness kits, ensuring insurance coverage, and having well-prepared post-disaster response plans. Taking these steps can greatly reduce the impact of tornadoes on lives and property. My expert Dr. Bob Drost of MSU says ‘Mitigation efforts for tornadoes have been published by agencies like NOAA. Since we can’t stop tornadoes from forming, awareness, adherence to watches and warnings and preparation are the best plans.’ And I have to say with all of the research I have done that he is definitely correct. Climate change by itself is an enormous problem but could it have an effect on tornadoes? How does climate change affect tornadoes and how can the impacts of that be minimized? Because tornadoes have too small an area to be adequately represented by climate models, this presents an additional challenge in predicting future tornado frequency and intensity due to climate change. Models can, however, replicate some of the factors that go into the development of powerful thunderstorms that frequently produce tornadoes. The basic elements of tornadoes, such as atmospheric instability and wind shear, are being studied to better understand how they change as a result of global warming. A warmer, more humid environment is probably more suited to instability, while it's also likely that it reduces wind shear. According to numerous studies, global warming increases the likelihood of the conditions that result in the most violent thunderstorms from which tornadoes can occur. My expert Dr. Bob Drost commented saying, ‘Climate change can impact tornadoes by allowing/creating the conditions necessary for their formation – warmer atmosphere, higher water vapor content – unstable air.’ This cleared up quite a few things for me so I was grateful for this information.

Conclusion

Tornadoes are a huge problem all around the world and although New Zealand isn't greatly affected by tornadoes that doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying to mitigate the effects of them. How can we mitigate the negative effects of a Tornado? That is the question I have been working to answer for the last two weeks, and I think that I've finally reached a conclusion. To mitigate the effects of tornadoes, we must inform everyone about what to do in the event of a tornado, adhere to the warnings and watches, and we need to be prepared. If we do all of these things it is much more likely that there will be much less devastation caused by these freaks of nature and we will therefore mitigate the effects of them. Thank you for reading.