Predicting the elements [Control Disaster Prevention]

On 20 May this year, a massive and powerful tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma. With peak winds of 340km/h, the 2km wide tornado tore through the heavily populated town on a 27km long path across the Oklahoma City region, killing 24 people and ripping down 13,000 homes, schools, farms and businesses. Water supplies were cut, more than 61,500 power outages were registered and Oklahoma Department for Insurance estimates claims will top $1bn. This twister was one of 53 in a large, violent weather system that swept across the midwestern United States and lower Great Plains from 18 to 21 May, killing two more people. What's more, this spate of tornadoes came only a day after a 23-strong outbreak that spanned Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, killing six people. Set these against a back-drop of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis that take place worldwide, year in, year out, and one fact becomes very clear; each and every extreme weather event is so very difficult to predict.