The Joplin, Missouri tornado of May 22, 2011 is the most destructive tornado in U.S. history, causing $2.8 billion in damage.
The most damaging tornadoes recieve EF5 ratings.
The extremely powerful winds of a tornado cause the most damage. Debris carried by the wind is also very damaging, but exactly how much of the damage is caused by debris or wind is unclear and likely varies considerably depending on the tornado and where it occurs. Debris is a more significant factor for a tornado that goes through a town than for one that only hits isolated farms.
The Enhanced Fujita Scale rates the strength of a Tornado by the damage it has caused!
The F5 on that day caused about $1 billion in damage. The overall outbreak of 74 tornadoes caused about $1.5 billion.
As of November 1, 2013 the last tornado in Montana was an EF2 that caused damage on a reservation on July 15 of the same year.
Very strong winds are the primary destructive force in a tornado. Secondary damage can be caused by objects picked up by these winds.
Most damage in a tornado is caused by the extremely fast winds.
The greatest amount of damage in a tornado is caused by extremely strong winds. Additional damage is from flying debris.
Most of the damage caused by tornadoes is the result of extremely powerful winds.
The largest tornado even recorded caused about $160 million dollars in damage, but keep in mind this wasn't the most damaging tornado or the strongest. The tornado with the strongest recorded winds caused $1 billion in damage (about $1.3 billion in today's dollars). The most damaging tornado recorded caused the equivalent of $1.7 billion in today's dollars.
The tornado that cause the most damage on record touched down on May 22, 2011. It struck Joplin, Missouri causing $2.8 billion in damage.
The most famous tornado today is most likely the Oklahoma City tornado of May 3, 1999. That tornado caused approximately $1 billion in damage.
The most destructive tornado in Ohio history was the Xenia tornado of April 3, 1974. This F5 tornado killed 34 people and caused $439 million in property damage (in 2011 U.S. dollars).
"Light damage" is the term used to describe the damage caused by an F0 tornado.
Most injuries in a tornado are caused by flying debris.
Tornado damaged is caused by a tornado's powerful winds and objects carried y those winds.
The Joplin tornado caused about $2.8 billion worth of damage to the city of Joplin.
The Joplin tornado of 2011 was a Multiple-vortex tornado. Inside the main circulation were smaller vortices that packed stronger winds than the rest of the tornado. These subvortices are what caused the most severe damage.