Plains States Bombarded by Tornadoes
April 16, 2012
A series of powerful thunderstorms spawned more than 120 tornadoes across the Plains states during a 24-hour period on April 14 and 15. The tornadoes were part of a weather system that crossed parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. The National Weather Service confirmed that Kansas alone had 99 tornadoes on the night of April 14. In Oklahoma, at least 6 people were killed and 28 others injured in Woodward, a town 140 miles (224 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City. A tornado caused widespread damage in Wichita, Kansas, including the loss of electric power in parts of the city. Between 75 to 90 percent of the homes in Thurman, Iowa, were leveled, but miraculously, there were no major injuries. Outside the town, five tractor-trailers traveling on Interstate 29 were overturned by the high winds. A tornado took the roof off the regional hospital in Creston, Iowa, a town of 7,800 people about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of Des Moines.
Although the tornado season has just started in the United States, meteorologists point out that there have already been dozens of destructive twisters from Illinois to Texas. Tornadoes have killed at least 40 people in the United States so far in 2012.
A tornado's winds can swirl at speeds of hundreds of miles or kilometers per hour, hurling debris in all directions. Copyright Gene & Karen Rhoden, Peter Arnold Images/photolibrary
Additional World Book articles:
- Safety (During a tornado)
- Storm
- Fire From the Sky (a special report)
- The Forecast: Better Weather Prediction Ahead (a special report)
