Tornadoes From Around The World |
 Dave Thurlow, Host |
Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow. On today's Weather Notebook, Robin White tells us about tornadoes around the globe: RW: "Some of the worst tornadoes in the world happen in the densely populated Ganges delta in Bangladesh. Three years ago today Bangladesh was hit by a tornado lasting 20 minutes, which destroyed 10,000 homes and left 400 people dead. Bangladesh experiences tremendous damage from tornadoes because many homes are made with thatch and bamboo, which are no match for the intense winds. But devastating tornadoes can occur anywhere in the world at mid latitudes. Derek Elsom of Torro, the Tornado and Storm Research Organization in Oxford, England keeps an eye on tornadoes in Europe:
DE: 'Perhaps one of the worst events... was in 1984 when a series of tornadoes swept through the Moscow area and caused something like 300 deaths and extensive damage.'
RW: There are tornadoes in South Africa, India and Argentina. The Japanese word for tornadoes is tatsumaki. For Australians it's a "cockeyed bob" and there's even a word for tornado in Gaelic. And just like in the US, tornadoes in other countries give rise to remarkable stories. Derek Elsom recounts a story from the Chinese Press Agency with a resemblance to the story in the film, the Wizard of Oz.
DE: 'Four or five schoolchildren were lifted up into a tornado, carried several miles to quote the press agency and then dropped relatively unscathed in some scrubland. So, they must have gone through a sort of an updraft, which sort of put them down relatively gently.' RW: Elsom is skeptical about the details of the story, but not too skeptical to find an explanation for it! Tornadoes, whether in the US or elsewhere, are a true source of fascination."
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Tomorrow on The Weather Notebook, we'll hear about a tornado, which struck ten years ago in England. Robin White is an independent producer from San Francisco, CA. Thanks to Subaru and the National Science Foundation.