Tornadoes (Lubec, Clifton: house, neighborhood, tornado)

[lovemaine]

Hi all!

Just wondering if Maine gets lots of tornadoes. I did an online search, and it doesn't look too bad. I'm just curious if you get a lot of warnings or watches though. My mom, who lives in Wisconsin, just had tornadoes rip through her neighborhood. Luckily her house was spared, but some of her neighbor weren't so lucky. (Of course most important of all, no one was hurt!) Thanks for your help!

[Zymer]

Compared with other States, Maine ranks number 39 for frequency of Tornadoes, 39 for number of deaths, 43 for injuries and 41 for cost of damages. When we compare these statistics to other States by the frequency per square mile, Maine ranks, number 41 for the frequency of tornadoes, number 34 for fatalities, number 43 for injuries per area and number 43 for costs per area. Based on data from 1950 - 1995.

Maine in 1970 had a population of 993,722 and between 1950 and 1995 had 82 tornadoes. This ranks the State number 39 in tornadoes by State. The population in 1970 divided by the number of tornadoes equals 12,119 This ranks Maine number 32 in the ratio of tornadoes to population. Maine had 1 fatality between 1950 and 1995. Compared to other states it ranked 39. The risk of death in any one year is 1 in 44,717,490. This ranks Maine as number 37 for the risk of death by tornado .

(As an aside, since the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are approximately 1:146,107,962, we can see that one is about 3.2 times more likely to be killed by a tornado in Maine, rare as they may be, than in winning the PB jackpot. Just a thought.)

Between 1950 and 1995 the state had 18 injuries involving tornadoes. This ranks the state number 43 among the States for injury. The risk of injury in any one year is one in 2,484,305. When we divide the population by the number of injuries, the State ranks number 37.

(As a further aside, since the odds of winning the Powerball $200k prize are approximately 1:3,563,609, one is about 30% more likely to be injured by a tornado than winning the prize.)

The total cost of tornadoes between 1950 and 1995 was $7,104,690.00 This ranks the state number 41 The cost per person for tornadoes, in the state per year, is $ 0.16 This ranks the State number 42 In costs for tornadoes per person.

[lovemaine]

Wow, Zymer! Thanks so much for the informative post! You rock! The infrequency of tornadoes is just another reason I can't wait to move to Maine!

[spaige]

Zymer, You are a walking reference guide to all who ask.
sue from Maine

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by spaige

Zymer, You are a walking reference guide to all who ask.
sue from Maine

LOL, thanks, I wish I could accept that without reservation but I can't. I may have a treasure trove of trivia stored away but I know far less than I would like to. I had to go looking for the numbers for tornados, my contribution was the comparison to the odds of winning the lottery.

I used to feel that I should just tell people to use the search engines at their fingertips, but I have found that actually looking for the answers myself leads me on an adventure of learning things that I didn't know before.

I believe that Henry Ford was once involved in a lawsuit where he was accused of being ignorant and uneducated. His response was that he didn't need to know everything, because he had the ability to call on those who *did* know the answers when he needed them. Interestingly enough, while attempting to confirm this, I came across some other quotes from Ford that are applicable to some other discussions that have gone on in this forum.

I was going to add them here, but I think they would probably be better in the threads that have already been started for them.

[mainer1234]

we have had tornadoes, but they are not common. the last tornado watch in my county i believe was in 2005 and never did produce anything. In 2006 I was in a small tornado in Clifton, Me. never recorded that did only some damage to the trees and such. In my hometown of Lubec there has been at least 1 tornado I know of in many many many many many ears back in 92'