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Deadly Kentucky Tornadoes Ignite Fears Over U.S. Weather Warning Systems
Sandra Anderson didn’t think the storm would be too bad. When her grandchildren asked if the dogs should be brought in, Anderson demurred, saying they’d be fine. But later that night, an alert on her phone warned her of a tornado tearing through her hometown of London, Kentucky. Seconds later, it hit her neighborhood.
“I hollered for my handicapped son to hit the hallway,” Anderson said. “Windows were exploding. There was such a horrifying howl before it hit.”
Tornadoes are measured using what’s called the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which ranks them on a scale of 1 to 5 according to their wind speed and potential for damage. The mile-wide twister that blew out Anderson’s windows and flattened entire neighborhoods traveled over 50 miles and clocked in at EF-4, making it a particularly violent one. Meanwhile, an EF-3 funnel cloud cut a 23-mile path through the St. Louis area.
Both were part of a broader system that stretched from Missouri to Kentucky, spawning over 70 tornadoes that killed at least 28 people and leveled or damaged thousands of structures. Eastern Kentucky bore the brunt of the fury; 18 people died there. Seven more were killed in Missouri.
“I hollered for my handicapped son to hit the hallway,” Anderson said. “Windows were exploding. There was such a horrifying howl before it hit.”
Tornadoes are measured using what’s called the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which ranks them on a scale of 1 to 5 according to their wind speed and potential for damage. The mile-wide twister that blew out Anderson’s windows and flattened entire neighborhoods traveled over 50 miles and clocked in at EF-4, making it a particularly violent one. Meanwhile, an EF-3 funnel cloud cut a 23-mile path through the St. Louis area.
Both were part of a broader system that stretched from Missouri to Kentucky, spawning over 70 tornadoes that killed at least 28 people and leveled or damaged thousands of structures. Eastern Kentucky bore the brunt of the fury; 18 people died there. Seven more were killed in Missouri.
https://gizmodo.com/deadly-kentucky-tornadoes-ignite-fears-over-u-s-weather-warning-systems-2000606539