Windstorms and Coastal Inundation

Tornado, Joplin, Missouri, 2011

The May 22, 2011, massive tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., was rated category EF5, the most powerful on the Enhanced Fujita scale. It impacted an area approximately three-quarters of a mile wide by 14 miles long, destroyed some 8,000 structures in its path, and killed more than 150 people. This makes it the single deadliest tornado in the United States in the 61 years that official records have been kept. Because of the tornado's widespread destruction across a range of building and construction types, along with the tragically large death toll despite a comparatively substantial warning time, NIST is conducting a full technical study of the impacts of the disaster. >> More 


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