Cultural significance of tornadoes
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Tornado damage to human-made structures is a result of the high wind velocity and windblown debris. Tornadic winds have been measured in excess of 300 mph (480 km/h). Tornadoes are a serious hazard to life and limb. As such, people in tornado-prone areas often adopt plans of action in case a tornado approaches.


Tornadoes in society

Storm cellar A storm shelter or storm cellar is a type of underground bunker designed to protect the occupants from violent severe weather, particularly tornadoes. They are most frequently seen in the Midwest ("Tornado Alley") and Southeastern United States ( ...
s are often used as a means of shelter in case of tornadoes or
tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s. Common in tornado-prone areas, they have been around for more than 100 years—even referenced in the famous 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz''. Consisting either of a simple underground room, or an elaborate above-ground bunker, they are usually small rooms, designed to keep debris from entering and causing injury. When properly constructed, they can survive an EF5 tornado. While it is unknown how many lives have been saved by storm cellars, the number is undoubtedly high. Some individuals and
hobbyist A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...
s, known as
storm chasers ''Storm Chasers'' is an American documentary reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2007, on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Original Media, the program follows several teams of storm chasers as they attempt to intercept to ...
, enjoy pursuing thunderstorms and tornadoes to explore their many visual and scientific aspects. Attempts have been made by some storm chasers from educational and scientific institutions to drop probes in the path of oncoming tornadoes in an effort to analyze the interior of the storms, but only about five drops have been successful since around 1990. Due to the relative rarity and large scale of destructive power that tornadoes possess, their occurrence or the possibility that they may occur can often create what could be considered
sensationalism In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emotion ...
in their reporting. This results in so-called weather wars, in which competing local media outlets, particularly TV news stations, engage in continually escalating technological one-upsmanship and drama in order to increase their market share. This is especially evident in tornado-prone markets, such as those in the
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...
. According to
Environment Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...
, the chances of being ''killed'' by a tornado are 12 million to 1 (12,000,000:1). One may revise this yearly and/or regionally, but the probability may be factually stated to be low. Regardless, tornadoes cause millions of dollars in damage, both economic and physical, many deaths, and hundreds of injuries every year.Data from the
Storm Prediction Center The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) is a US government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight a ...
archives, which are accessible throug
SeverePlot
free software created and maintained by John Hart, lead forecaster for the SPC.
The tornado has been used by
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
s for over 100 years as a
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
for political upheaval. The
storm cellar A storm shelter or storm cellar is a type of underground bunker designed to protect the occupants from violent severe weather, particularly tornadoes. They are most frequently seen in the Midwest ("Tornado Alley") and Southeastern United States ( ...
has also been used as a metaphor for seeking safety, as shown in the cartoon from 1894 at right. According to political interpretations of ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...
'', the tornado takes
Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
to a
utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
, the
Land of Oz The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Country in the north, Quadli ...
, and kills the
Wicked Witch of the East The Wicked Witch of the East is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is a crucial character but appears only briefly in Baum's classic children's series of List of Oz books, ''Oz'' novels, most notably ''The Won ...
, who had oppressed "the little people", the
Munchkin A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. They first appear in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) where they welcome Dorothy Gale to their city in O ...
s. A 1960s
advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...
for the
household cleaner A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties when in dilute solutions. There are a large variety of detergents, a common family being the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are soap-like compounds that are more ...
,
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
, claimed the product "Cleans like a white tornado". Numerous athletic teams across the United States employ a tornado for their mascot. There are 124 high schools, colleges, and professional sports teams that use "Tornadoes," or a variant, as their team nicknames. Another 68 teams use "Cyclones" (a common colloquialism for "tornado" in parts of the U.S.) or a form thereof.


Motion pictures with a tornado theme

* '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) * ''
Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (198 ...
'' (1989) * ''
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge ''Mr. & Mrs. Bridge'' is a 1990 American drama (film and television), drama film based on the novels by Evan S. Connell of the same name. It is directed by James Ivory, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and produced by Ismail Merchant. ...
'' (1990) * ''
Night of the Twisters ''Night of the Twisters'' is a young adult realistic fiction novel by Ivy Ruckman that was released in 1984 by publisher Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). The book is a semi-fictionalized account of the 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak, whic ...
'' (1996), the first original motion picture made for The Family Channel loosely based on the 1984
Ivy Ruckman Ivy Ruckman (May 25, 1931 – June 8, 2021), formally Iva Mae Myers Ruckman, was an American author of books for children and young adults. Her works include ''Melba the Brain'' and ''Night of the Twisters'', inspired by a 1980 tornado event, the ...
book of the same name * ''
Tornado! ''Tornado!'' is a 1996 American made-for-television disaster film that is directed by Noel Nosseck and starring Bruce Campbell and Shannon Sturges and was aired on the Fox television network on May 7, 1996. Plot Jake Thorne ( Bruce Campbell) is ...
'' (1996) * ''
Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (198 ...
'' (1996) * ''Storm Chasers: Revenge of the Twister'' (1998) *''
Atomic Twister ''Atomic Twister'' is a 2002 American made-for-television disaster film starring Sharon Lawrence and Mark-Paul Gosselaar which revolves around a series of tornadoes that damage a nuclear reactor in a small town in western Tennessee, in turn caus ...
'' (2001) * ''
The Day After Tomorrow ''The Day After Tomorrow'' is a 2004 American science fiction disaster film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Roland Emmerich. Based on the 1999 book ''The Coming Global Superstorm'' by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, the film stars Denn ...
'' (2004) * '' Category 7: The End of the World'' (2005) * '' Tornado Glory'' (2006) * '' NYC: Tornado Terror'' (2008) * '' Into the Storm'' (2014)


See also

*
List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
Tornado myths Tornado myths are incorrect beliefs about tornadoes, which can be attributed to many factors, including stories and news reports told by people unfamiliar with tornadoes, sensationalism by news media, and the presentation of incorrect information ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cultural Significance Of Tornadoes Tornado