Wisconsin Hazard Assessment

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Wisconsin Wisconsin is vulnerable to a wide range of hazards, Natural hazards such as floods, tornadoes, winter storms and excessive heat have caused injuries, loss of life, disruption of essential services, considerable property damage and crop damage. Being as though Wisconsin tends to have more tornadoes than any of these other hazards (according to sources), I am going to focus on what a tornado is and how they affect the state of Wisconsin. A tornado is a relatively short- lived storm composed of an intense rotating column of air, extending from a thunderstorm cloud system. It is nearly always visible as a funnel, although its lower end does not necessarily touch the ground. Average winds in a tornado are somewhere between 100 and 200 miles per hour, but some may have winds exceeding 300 miles per hour. A tornado path averages four miles, but may reach up to 300 miles in length. Widths average 300-400 yards, but severe tornadoes have cut paths a mile or more in width, or have formed groups of two or three funnels traveling together. On the average, tornadoes move between 25 and 45 miles per hour. Tornadoes hardly ever last more than a couple of minutes over a spot or more than 15-20 minutes in a ten-mile area, but their short periods of existence do not limit their devastation of an area. The destructive power of the tornado results primarily from its high wind velocities and sudden changes in pressure. Wind and pressure differentials probably account for 90 percent of tornado caused damage. Since tornadoes are generally associated with severe storm systems, they are usually accompanied by hail, heavy rain and intense lightning. Depending on their intensity, tornadoes can uproot trees, down power lines and destroy buildings. Flying debris can cause serious injury and death. Wisconsin currently averages 20 reported tornadoes per year. For the past few years,

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