It means that there is no way of effectively repairing the house and it would be simpler to tear down what is left and build a new house.
It depends on the severity of damage to the house as well as the value of the house. It is impossible to tell without seeing the actual damage; a professional estimate is needed for that. Most houses hit by an EF3 tornado will take less than EF3 damage. However, if the house has sustained EF3 or high-end EF2 damage the structure is probably a total loss.
The damage from a tornado is usually more severe than that of a hurricane, but because a tornado covers a much smaller area, the total amount of damage from a tornado is usually less.
The F-scale or Fujita sclae rates tornado from F0 to F5 based on damage. An F0 causes light damage or no damage at all. F5 damage is total destruction.
Total Destruction
No tornado has ever been stronger than F5. Fujita scale ratings are based on damage and F5 damage damage is total destruction. This makes it impossible to assign a higher rating.
Damage cost data for tornadoes is avilabale for the years 1996-2013. In this time period, there were about 22,500 tornadoes in the U.S. that caused a total of about $34 billion in damage (adjusted for inflation to 2014 values). This works out to an average damage cost of just over $1.5 million per tornado. Note, however, that this is higher than the cost of the typical tornado, as the average is skewed upward by rare but extremely costly tornadoes. For example about $10 billion of the total damage from this period was caused by 5 tornadoes. In other words, 0.02% of the tornadoes caused nearly 30% of the damage. If we remove these events from the data set, the average cost per tornado is reduced to between $1.0 million and $1.1 million.
It depends on the severity of damage to the house as well as the value of the house. It is impossible to tell without seeing the actual damage; a professional estimate is needed for that. Most houses hit by an EF3 tornado will take less than EF3 damage. However, if the house has sustained EF3 or high-end EF2 damage the structure is probably a total loss.
The damage from a tornado is usually more severe than that of a hurricane, but because a tornado covers a much smaller area, the total amount of damage from a tornado is usually less.
The rating on the Fujita or F scale of a tornado is determined by the severity of the damage it causes. Different levels of tornado have different levels of damage severity, ranging from the minor damage of an F0 tornado the the total destruction of an F5.
There were a total of 158 deaths when the Elie F5 tornado occurred on June 22, 2007.
The largest tornado on record struck near El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31, 2013 forming at 6:03 PM and dissipating at 6:43. The tornado caused much less damage that it could have, as it tore across mostly empty grassland. The tornado was rated EF3 based on the damage done, though Doppler radar indicated winds capable of causing EF5 damage. The total cost of damage was about $40 million. The tornado killed eight people, all of them in cars caught in the its path.
It would be difficult to say, since the highest rating a tornado can receve is F5. In F5 damage, nbearly all structures are completely destroyed. House-sized structures are completely blown away. If a tornado were to theoretically attain F6+ intensity, it would be difficult, if not impossible to distinguish from an F5, as F5 damage is already total destruction.
Texas ranks number one in total number of tornadoes, tornado fatalities, tornado injuries, and damage in terms of monetary cost.
By far the worst tornado to hit the U.S. in 2011 was the Joplin, Missouri tornado of May 22. This tornado was rated EF5, the highest level of tornado intensity. 30% of the city of Joplin was destroyed. In total the tornado killed 158 people (in addition to several indirect deaths), injured over 1,100 , caused $2.8 billion in damage, and destroyed nearly 7,000 homes. This makes it the costliest and 7th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
No. The Fujita (F) scale uses damage to rate tornadoes and F5 damage is total destruction, leaving no room for a higher category. So the F6 tornado is a purely theoretical idea.
No, the maximum rating is EF5. The primary factor in rating a tornado is damage, and since EF5 damage is total destruction there is no room for a higher category. Also, there is no upper bound for EF5 winds; any tornado with estimated winds over 200 mph is an EF5.
There was no Tri-State tornado in 2014. While there were tornadoes across several states in the most recent outbreak, no single tornado caused damage in more than two states. The infamous Tri-State tornado ocurred in 1925, killing 695 people. In the recent tornado outbreak at the end of April 2014 there were 8 killer tornadoes that killed a total of 34 people in 5 states.