XTENSIVE
DESTRUCTION
Tornadoes are rated on
the Enhanced Fujita
scale. A tornado is not
rated until after it
falls apart. Rank is
determined by damage.
Rating
Tornadoes
Winds in a tornado are difficult to measure.
Anemometers
are almost always blown away. Instead,
wind speed is estimated based on damages. The Enhanced
Fujita, or EF, scale uses a list of buildings and
damages. This list allows tornadoes to be rated
consistently.
An EF0 tornado has the weakest winds. Its damages
are usually light. EF5 tornadoes are the strongest.
Their damages are described as incredible. An EF5
tornado can sweep away well-built houses. It can
toss car-sized debris more than 109 yards(100 m).
EF5 tornadoes are also quite rare. Typically, no more
than one EF5 tornado a year touches down in the U.S. No
matter how strong, whenever these spinning columns
touch down, damage is almost guaranteed.
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