Roof damage is typical of an F1
tornado. The buildings on
the left suffered light roof
damage.
The barn
roof at right was more heavily damaged. Barns present a larger
crossection to the wind and often aren't built as sturdily as a house.
More severe damage to what
appears
to be a well built
house
roof but still an F1 tornado.
Even relatively weak winds can damage a mobile home. F1
tornado winds can easily tip over a mobile home if it is
not
tied down (the
caption states that an F1 tornado could blow a moving car off a
highway). F2 level winds (bottom photo above) can roll and
completely
destroy a
mobile home.
Trees, if not uprooted, can suffer serious
damage from
F1 or
F2 tornado
winds.
F1 winds will damage a roof, F2 level winds can completely remove
the
roof. The outside walls of the building are still standing.
The roof is gone and the outer walls of this house were
knocked
down in the photo above. This is characteristic of F3 level
damage. In a house
without a basement or storm cellar it would be best to seek shelter in
an interior closet or bathroom (plumbing might help somewhat to keep
the walls intact).
In some tornado prone areas, people construct a small closet or
room
inside their home made of reinforced concrete.
A better solution
might be to have a storm cellar located underground.
An F4 tornado knocked down all of the walls in the top photo but
the
debris is
left nearby. All
of the sheet metal in the car body has been removed in the bottom photo
and the car chasis has been bent around a tree. The tree has
been stripped of all but the largest branches.
An F5 tornado completely destroyed the home in the
photo
above and
removed most of the debris. Only bricks and a few pieces of
lumber are left.
