Which is the worst, tornado or hurricane? (Houston, Coppell: dangerous, land)

[Nairobi]

Hurricanes are obviously more catastrophic, but they're still not as scary as tornadoes, which are the single most terrifying natural occurrence, in my opinion.

Hurricanes are just huge storms that you can see coming days ahead of time. Tornadoes are so random and unpredictable; selective and intimately menacing.

[Metro Matt]

Tornadoes aren't nearly as common down in Houston, but they can & do occur on rare instances.

Hurricanes can even spawn mini tornadoes after they make land fall.

That said, hurricane force winds of > 73 MPH did hit North Texas during Ike so theoretically you could say Dallas gets hurricanes too.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

And your average hurricane is MUCH more than 10x larger in area than your average tornado, which speaks even further to how much more damaging per capita, if you will, a tornado is.

Statistically your comment is meaningless. Per capita damage? Per capita is a measurement against a population. Perhaps you mean damage per square foot.

Hurricanes cause far more damage because of their size and multiple methods they cause damage. Tornados can be devastating, but their damage is concentrated in a small area, and your odds of being threatened by a tornado are smaller than for a hurricane - if you live in a hurricane area.

[Scout_972]

Originally Posted by Trae713

Could you imagine if there was an outbreak similar to what happened in Alabama or Missouri in DFW? The tornadoes yesterday were "only" EF2's and below, with one EF3.

Yeah, that would be devastating.

Could you imagine if the eye of a large and slow moving Cat 4 or 5 hurricane passed just to the south of Galveston then took a north/northeast trek, slowing down while in the process of weaking over land.

Bottomline is, many areas throughout Texas are exposed to potentially horrific natural disasters. Let's just hope we all can stay out of harms way.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Statistically your comment is meaningless. Per capita damage? Per capita is a measurement against a population. Perhaps you mean damage per square foot.

Hurricanes cause far more damage because of their size and multiple methods they cause damage. Tornados can be devastating, but their damage is concentrated in a small area, and your odds of being threatened by a tornado are smaller than for a hurricane - if you live in a hurricane area.

The point was it's not very meaningful to say hurricanes cause 10x more damage as a claim that they're worse on an individual basis, which is what it seems the OP was looking for. They obviously cover a much larger area and affect more numerically. Unless you live right on the coast, a cat3 or lower hurricane will cause winds and rain, but not always real damage to the structure or bodily injury. People ride those things out, even have "hurricane parties." Totally different story if a tornado comes across your path; they are much more damaging on an individual basis.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by Scout_972

Bottomline is, many areas throughout Texas are exposed to potentially horrific natural disasters. Let's just hope we all can stay out of harms way.

Very true. It's foolish to think it's limited to tornadoes and hurricanes; sometimes severe thunderstorms with high winds and hail, and more recently drought, are just as serious.

[TexasReb]

Good thread and topic!

I generally agree with those who say "tornado"...and for the reason that (as several have brought up) when one asks the comparative question of "what is worst?"....then it begs some qualifications.

To wit, when one asks the question of "what is worst?", then it is only natural to counter-question, what is meant by "worst"? Is it the extent of the overall physical damage and area affected and people killed/injured on the broad scale, or per capita? Or preparation for them ahead of time?

If the former, then hurricanes easily "win." If the latter, then tornadoes take "first prize" in this realm. Plus -- as some have brought up -- hurricanes are usually forecast far ahead of the fact -- giving people time to prepare and flee if necessary -- whereas tornadoes can often hit without warning at all.

And finally, there is an element about tornadoes that contain a certain "plain ol' boogeyman terror" (to paraphrase author Herman Wouk!) that surpasses even that of hurricanes. Summarized, as it was put once put:

No other atmospheric phenomenon is as terrifying as a tornado. If you have never been in one of these things then there is no way you can imagine what it is like; all known laws of physics seem repealed. Panic and stark-terror are common reactions...

It is also worth mentioning (and again, I believe several have previously) that the highest winds speeds to classify a hurricane as Catagory 5 (the highest level), are roughly equivelent to the "mid-level ranking" tornado (about 160 MPH) of F-3. The highest wind ever recorded for hurricanes was about 200 MPH with Camille in 1969 (I think). On the other hand, the highest ever clocked with a tornado was in the Oklahoma city area in 1998with 318.

It is difficult enough to imagine a wind of 200, much less something a hundred miles more than that! I have seen video recordings of wind-scale lab studies that show it is difficult for most people to even stay on their feet in 90 MPH winds (they put the participants in a wind-tunnel). Something more than three times that....?

[little elmer]

Originally Posted by kenshi

The damage to individual buildings is worse from a tornado. All in all, I think I'd rather face a hurricane.

Originally Posted by HtownLove

The strongest Tornadoes are F6's with winds between 319 and 379 mph. That is almost twice as strong as the strongest hurricanes to ever form.

That's what I'm thinking - your home, with 5 days preparation...now, you're pretty prepared for the winds and water from a hurricane but you could never be ready to protect your property from a twister. The best we can do is try to get underground or in an inner part of a structure, pray and hang on.

I agree with previous posters, the scariest natural disaster is one of these barreling at you:

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=4657368559388939&id=85c229ccbf524 0a1155a090613b8c4df&url=http%3a%2f%2factiverain.co m%2fimage_store%2fuploads%2f3%2f9%2f3%2f3%2f6%2far 121565897863393.JPG (broken link)

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by Scout_972

Yeah, that would be devastating.

Could you imagine if the eye of a large and slow moving Cat 4 or 5 hurricane passed just to the south of Galveston then took a north/northeast trek, slowing down while in the process of weaking over land.

Bottomline is, many areas throughout Texas are exposed to potentially horrific natural disasters. Let's just hope we all can stay out of harms way.

Ike was looking like it could be that storm. Thankfully, it wasn't.

[Scout_972]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

Very true. It's foolish to think it's limited to tornadoes and hurricanes; sometimes severe thunderstorms with high winds and hail, and more recently drought, are just as serious.

^ Exactly.

While my thoughts go out to everyone in the DFW area who had property damage, I think in the short term Tuesday's tornado outbreak may help save lives during future severe weather events.

I for one had become complacent anytime I saw a severe thunderstorm or tornado watch/warning pop up on the TV screen. Not anymore.