Watch | Massive tornado hits Punjab village; 2nd tornado in a week
1 min read 25 Mar 2023, 12:07 PM ISTThe tornado damaged 30 houses, over one dozen people have got injured and agricultural lands have also been damaged
PremiumA video of a massive tornado in Punjab has gone viral. It was the second tornado in a week that hit a village in Punjab's Fazilka district. According to media reports, the tornado damaged 30 houses, over one dozen people have got injured and agricultural lands have also been damaged. Fortunately, no loss of lives has been reported.
According to a report by the Hindustan Times, Livemint's sister publication, the tornado hit Baikainwala village at 4 pm on Friday, located 17 km away from Fazilka. The village shares a border with Pakistan.
Several village residents have captured the video of the tornado.
What is a tornado?
Tornadoes are nature"s most violent storms. Spawned from powerful thunderstorms, tornadoes can cause fatalities and devastate a neighborhood in seconds. Winds of a tornado may reach 300 miles per hour. It is a violently rotating column of air touching the ground, usually attached to the base of a thunderstorm.
Tornadoes in India:
In India, West Bengal and Odisha are vulnerable to tornadoes during pre-monsoon season (March-May), According to a research paper titled ‘Climatology of Tornadoes over Northwest India and Pakistan’ available on the IMD department’s website. Between 1972 and 1978, 13 tornado events occurred in an area approximately the size of Bangladesh.
Northwest India does not normally experience this violent weather phenomenon; but there have been a few cases over the region.
The research paper pointed out that 15 tornadoes have been reported in northwest India and Pakistan between June 1903 and March 2011.
The most fatal tornado occurred on March 17, 1978, in New Delhi, killing 28 people and injuring over 700.
On August 15, 2007, a tornado was seen in the Sahnewal area of Ludhiana, near the Sahnewal airport, in which trees were uprooted, crops were damaged and roofs were blown off. In 2010, another tornado hit the Fatehabad area in July and August.
Separately, a powerful tornado tore through a rural area of the Mississippi Delta, in the US, yesterday, causing injuries, and widespread damage.
Precautions during a tornado:
Go to the basement or an inside room without windows on the lowest floor.
Avoid sheltering in any room with windows.
For added protection, get under something sturdy (a heavy table or workbench). Cover your body with a blanket, sleeping bag, or mattress.
