Introduction:
Although New Zealand does not have as many tornadoes as other countries, it still can get dangerous and will have unexpected twisters from time to time. Tornado resistant materials should be implemented into new homes to mitigate the harmful effects of a tornado.This report will address what causes a tornado, the risk it possesses and solutions to mitigate the effects of it.
What Is A Tornado?
A tornado is a fast spinning column of air. Because the air is invisible, a tornado is really hard to see unless it forms a funnel made of water droplets, dust etc.The wind speed of a tornado can go up to 500 kilometeres per hour. A tornado can blow away a pathway 1 kilometer wide and 80 kilometers long. Some tornados are clearly visible while others can be blocked or hard to see because of rain or low hanging clouds.
Tornados develop in warm, moist and areas having unstable air due to the heat. During late spring, this is the time where tornadic thunderstorms form in southern high plains which can develop tornados. Tornados are every where in the world, New Zealand has about 20 tornados each year. On the west coast, from Taranaki to Northland, they have been particularly affected by tornadoes occurring.
Tornados can range from light to incredibly destruction taking down houses in minutes and leaving them with nothing but also killing people through their rampage.
What Are The Costs To Repair Damage Done By A Tornado?
To repair the damage made by a tornado, it averages from $4.6k - $17k. There are many things a tornado can destroy but the stronger it is, the more it will cost to repair the damage done. The strongest tornados have potential to cost damaged homes a billion dollars with how much damage it can do. Some tornados can even set houses to a matchstick with how much it can blow away and suck up in it’s path.
From 2010 - 2020 tornados have cost homes around $2.5 million in some countries. These tornado’s have taken out a lot of people and left homes with not that much to live off. As tornados come through they tear off a lot of homes and kill families.The goverment in the past, has given $100,00 to help rebuild a tornado that hit Auckland just last year. In 2006 a tornado devastated central parts of the southern states. The tornado outbreak started at April 6th, 3:47pm and ended on April 8th. To repair damages, it was $7.4 Million USD ( $11.4 Million NZD ).
What Can Stop A Tornado?
To get a tornado to vanish, the updraft has to come to an end, once the updraft ends so does the tornado as it slowly disappears into air. Tornados can come to a stop when the clouds holding the thunderstorm which is holding the tornado start to break which leaves room for the tornado to break. As the cloud breaks, so will the tornado which will soon vanish into nothing.
Another way tornadoes could vanish or die out is when they move over cold ground. After being over the ground with low levels of temperature for a good amount of time, the tornado will slowly die out to the temperature as the tornado damages no more. To end a tornado you could try heating the atmosphere infront of the tornado so it can be divetrted. You can do this with microwave satellites or a giant orbiting mirror that reflects energy from the sun.
Photo of how a orbiting mirror called a “Space Mirror” could work to heat up a tornado.
How Does A Tornado Affect The Land Around It?
A tornado cuts down trees, destroys animal habitats in an instant. With these high speeds, a tornado can usually lead to many injuries and even lives lost while the tornado rips through cities, nature but it also let’s invasive species take the destroyed ground.
After a tornado has destroyed homes and nature, there is an immediate danger from hazardous cleaning products found around the home. These products when contaminated on soil or water could make the environment very toxic for everyone in the area. These items become exposed during the destruction of towns and cities. Due to the destroyed urban areas, these cleaning products can become very hazardous to native plants and animals in the area.
For the economy, powerful tornados can cause significant economic losses that can be classified as indirect or direct losses. Through destroyed assets of a city, it could decrease their value and/or income due to the destroyed assets. Indirect losses relate to the wider impact but also including loss of production and sales. The increase of commute times, an increase of transportation costs and a decrease in tourist activity due to what the tornado has done.
What Are The Government Doing To Stop Tornadoes?
The government are lending money to cities to repair damages and to help the cities get back on their feet after disasterous tornadoes have hit. Last year, they donated $100k to help auckland recover from a tornado that hit the city.
As a tornado is approaching, the government will provide you with details through mobile text messages. These messages include what to stay away from, what to do when a tornado hits, where to go and how to protect yourself. After a tornado has hit, make sure to listen to your local radio stations for advice on what to do with the situation the tornado has left you in. Remember to contact your council if your house has been severely damaged throughout the storm.
The government are trying to mitigate these effects that tornadoes and other natural hazards do by identifiying natural hazards on planning maps. This can help people better understand where the natural hazards will occur the most and it will help them understand it better.
What Are Solutions To Mitigate The Effects Of A Tornado?
Some ways to mitigate the effects of a tornado include, for new buildings, try and make the buildings out of tornado resistant materials such as ICF ( Insulated Concrete Forms ). These tornado resistant materials maintain their integrity with high winds blowing about. These materials can stand up to 200mph of strong winds blowing on them. ICF is not that much as it is 3-5% more than to build the average house.
A way we can prepare for tornados, practice tornado drills in local communities and in schools. This will help ensure the town will know what to do when they hear a tornado coming into town.You could download an emergency system which can alert you when a tornado is approaching and it will help you prepare for the tornado and get ready for when it tries to destroy your home. This alert app could work as a warning system when a tornado is near approaching in the coming days.
Labelled photo of what an ICF block looks like
Numerical Data:
This graph shows that in the U.S, there were a devastating amount of deaths in 2011 with 553 left dead from the tornado that striked. Throughout the 21 years, it appears that most of the death tolls stayed around the same numbers.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I believe ICF will be a great use as they can stand high winds. They aren’t that expensive to build with and they are good for the environment. A funnel of strong winds blowing about. Easily, these can destroy many things but ICF will not be that easy to destroy. It only costs approximately $20 - $75 more than the average house to build. As long as we make our new homes with ICF, it will mitigate the effects of what a tornado can do to homes.
Bibliography:
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