About 100 people on average die due to tornado devastation each year in the United States (U.S.). The Midwest region of the U.S. experiences about 1,200 tornadoes each year. Even with these statistics, tornadoes are not Mother Nature's biggest killer: flash floods kill 146 people on average each year.
Mother Nature havoc facts:
- Tornado wind speeds can reach 250 miles (400 km) per hour.
- Hail during a tornado storm can be as large as a grapefruit and causes millions of dollars in damage to property and crops.
- Tornadoes move at about 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km) per hour and can be as wide as 1 mile (1.6 km) and 50 miles (80 km) long.
- Weather forecasters can predict a tornado about 13 minutes, on average, before it appears.