May 20, Tornado Flattens Oklahoma Suburb

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1 In News Focus #34, we visit Tornado Alley, Oklahoma City. This area of the States is often hit by violent, powerful tornados. A tornado is a rotating column of air that touches both the earth and the clouds. If you are interested in finding out more, then click here. May 20, 2013 Tornado Flattens Oklahoma Suburb Tornado Alley, Oklahoma, USA On May 20 the town of Moore in Oklahoma, USA, was struck by a vast tornado that killed 24 people and injured more than 200. The giant tornado, more than a kilometer wide, ripped through parts of Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon. It flattened homes, threw cars into the air and destroyed two schools. Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, on the outskirts of Oklahoma City, was reduced to a pile of twisted metal and toppled walls. Rescue workers were able to pull several children out from the rubble. At Briarwood Elementary School in Oklahoma City, on the border with Moore, cars were thrown through the school facade and the roof was torn off. Numerous neighborhoods were completely leveled, Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department said. The tornado touched down at 2:56 pm, 16 minutes after the first warning went out. It was on the ground for 40 minutes and traveled for 32 kilometers, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service. Ms. Pirtle commented that it was a Category 5 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength on a scale from 0 to 5. Television reports revealed a vast area of destruction, with blocks upon blocks of homes and businesses flattened. Residents were picking through rubble. Several structures were still on fire, and cars had been flipped over. As devastating as the tornado was, the quick thinking of some people prevented the death toll from going higher. When the tornado sirens went off the staff of the AgapeLand Learning Center, a day care facility, hustled some 15 children into two bathrooms. Staff draped a heavy protective covering over the children and sang songs with them to keep them calm. As the wind ripped the roof off one of the bathrooms, and debris rained down on the children, they sang You are my sunshine, according to assistant director, Cathy Wilson. Though the day care center was almost entirely destroyed, the children were all unharmed. The Moore disaster occurred in an area of the States nicknamed Tornado Alley. Russell Schneider, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration s Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma, said that the risk of further tornadoes throughout the region remains high. He explained that at this time of year cold, dry air flowing south from Canada meets warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. This then mixes with the hot, dry air from the deserts that lie west of the Great Plains. When the wind conditions, temperature and moisture

2 content of the clouds all combine in a certain way, the heavy clouds start to turn creating a column of rotating air that becomes dangerous if it makes contact with the ground. Tornado Alley lies across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and North and South Dakota. [A] READING CHECK Are these sentences correct (C) or incorrect (I)? 1. Over 200 people died when a powerful tornado hit Oklahoma City. 2. Most of the injured people were sheltering in two schools. 3. Briarwood school is located in the center of Moore. 4. Residents were given less than 20 minutes warning of the approaching storm. 5. The tornado was more than a kilometer wide and traveled along the ground for over 30 kilometers. 6. The children in the day center were uninjured thanks to some quick thinking by the staff. 7. A tornado is a dangerous column of rotating air that causes sever damage when it makes contact with the ground. 8. Powerful tornadoes occur along the west coast of the USA. [B] SUMMARY Complete the summary using the words in the box below. category combine destroy estimated flattened flowing frequently moist ripped through rotating Tornado Alley Tornado Alley runs across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and North and South Dakota. This part of the States [ ] [1] experiences tornadoes when cold, dry air [ ] [2] south from Canada meets warm, [ ] [3] air from the Gulf of Mexico and then mixes with the hot, dry air from the deserts that lie west of the Great Plains. When the wind conditions, temperature and moisture content of the clouds all [ ] [4] in a certain way they create a column of [ ] [5] air. If this column makes contact with the ground it may [ ] [6] cars, houses and large buildings. The tornado that [ ] [7] parts of Oklahoma City was [ ] [8] at EF5, the most powerful [ ] [9] on the Enhanced Fujita scale. The giant tornado [ ] [10] homes, threw cars into the air and destroyed two schools. The US averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year, mostly quite small. There have been 60 EF5s since 1950, with Oklahoma being hit seven times. [C] HOW TO SAY: the tornado hit

3 e.g. In the reading, we saw the phrase the tornado ripped through parts of Oklahoma City. Read the following sentences and underline the different ways used to describe the power of nature. The first one is done for you. 1. The hurricane flattened crops and outhouses as it plowed across the small island in the Caribbean Sea. 2. Four workers on a railroad line were injured when a landslide swept across railroad lines in a remote part of Oregon. 3. The twister ripped through the sleepy suburbs of Norman during the early hours of morning leaving a path of destruction that was one kilometer wide in places. 4. The tsunami drove up the beach and roared through the small seaside Indonesian village smashing the fragile wooden buildings into matchsticks. 5. The tornado swept through the Midwest overnight flipping cars and leveling neighborhoods. 6. A Weather Channel reporter had a lucky escape when his SUV was thrown 200 meters as he was reporting on a twister that slammed through Jefferson City. 7. A powerful storm smashed through the neighborhood overnight leaving bricks, from what had been the gym, piled up on the school s lawn. 8. A mother and daughter had a lucky escape yesterday when a river burst its banks and floodwaters tore through their house.

4 Answers : Tornado Flattens Oklahoma Suburb [A] READING CHECK Are these sentences correct (C) or incorrect (I)? 1. Over 200 people died when a powerful tornado hit Oklahoma City. (I) [24 people died and more than 200 people were injured.] 2. Most of the injured people were sheltering in two schools. (I) [The article does not mention where the injuries occurred.] 3. Briarwood school is located in the center of Moore. (I) [The school is located in Oklahoma City very close to the border of Moore.] 4. Residents were given less than 20 minutes warning of the approaching storm. (C) 5. The tornado was more than a kilometer wide and traveled along the ground for over 30 kilometers. (C) 6. The children in the day center were uninjured thanks to some quick thinking by the staff. (C) 7. A tornado is a dangerous column of rotating air that causes sever damage when it makes contact with the ground. (C) 8. Powerful tornadoes occur along the west coast of the USA. (I) [Powerful tornadoes occur in Tornado Alley, which lies across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and North and South Dakota. None of these states on the coast.] [B] SUMMARY Complete the summary using the words in the box below. Tornado Alley Tornado Alley runs across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and North and South Dakota. This part of the States [frequently] experiences tornadoes when cold, dry air [flowing] south from Canada meets warm, [moist] air from the Gulf of Mexico and then mixes with the hot, dry air from the deserts that lie west of the Great Plains. When the wind conditions, temperature and moisture content of the clouds all [combine] in a certain way they create a column of [rotating] air. If this column makes contact with the ground it may [destroy] cars, houses and large buildings. The tornado that [ripped through] parts of Oklahoma City was [estimated] at EF5, the most powerful [category] on the Enhanced Fujita scale. The giant tornado [flattened] homes, threw cars into the air and destroyed two schools. The US averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year, mostly quite small. There have been 60 EF5s since 1950, with Oklahoma being hit seven times. [C] HOW TO SAY: the tornado hit e.g. In the reading, we saw the phrase the tornado ripped through parts of Oklahoma City. 1. The hurricane flattened crops and outhouses as it plowed across the small island in the Caribbean Sea.

5 2. Four workers on a railroad line were injured when a landslide swept across railroad lines in a remote part of Oregon. 3. The twister ripped through the sleepy suburbs of Norman during the early hours of morning leaving a path of destruction that was one kilometer wide in places. 4. The tsunami drove up the beach and roared through the small seaside Indonesian village smashing the fragile wooden buildings into matchsticks. 5. The tornado swept through the Midwest overnight flipping cars and leveling neighborhoods. 6. A Weather Channel reporter had a lucky escape when his SUV was thrown 200 meters as he was reporting on a twister that destroyed Jefferson City. 7. A powerful storm smashed through the neighborhood overnight leaving bricks, from what had been the gym, piled up on the school s lawn. 8. A mother and daughter had a lucky escape yesterday when a river burst its banks and floodwaters tore through their house.