Europe is in ruins!⚠️ F4 tornado at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour destroyed the Czech Republic!

Europe is in ruins!⚠️ F4 tornado at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour destroyed the Czech Republic!

The tornado that hit the Hodonin and Břeclav districts on Thursday is F4 on the Fujita scale. This is stated in the preliminary report of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute on the assessment of this exceptional phenomenon. In this category, the wind reaches speeds of 267 to 324 kilometers per hour. Initially, meteorologists calculated that the force of the wind vortex corresponds to F3. A tornado exceeding the strength of F3 has not yet been registered in the Czech Republic. The speed of a tornado cannot be measured, so its strength is measured by the damage it causes. “Based on the results of aerial and ground reconnaissance and subsequent expert consultation on the information received about the damage caused, the tornado was classified as category F4,” the meteorologists said. The strength of a tornado is determined using the Fujita scale, from the weakest F0 to the strongest F5, which occurs only 2% of the time. An F4 tornado completely destroys well-built and solid timber frame houses; lifts off the ground and overturns cars, trains and other large objects; damages tall buildings.

Meteorologists reported that on the evening of December 23 there were very strong storms moving from Upper Austria through the regions of Breclav and Hodonin further into the Zlín region and accompanied by a strong tornado between about 19:10 and 19:45, which caused significant damage over an area 26 km long and wide 700 m “, – said in the message. The tornado mainly destroyed the villages of Luzice and Mikulčice in the Hodonin region and Moravska Nova Ves and Hruški in the Brzeclav region, and also caused significant damage in the Hodonin part of Panov. Material damage, according to preliminary estimates, will amount to at least 15 billion kroons. 1,200 houses were destroyed, at least 150 of which will need to be demolished. In addition to buildings, the tornado damaged agricultural land, including vineyards. Measuring wind speed in the tornado itself is almost impossible. Because of this, in 1971, American meteorologist Tetsuya Theodore Fujita developed a scale for determining the intensity of a tornado. It is based on an assessment of the damaging effects of wind. Later, the scale was slightly revised and improved; in practice, the improved scale has been used since 2007.

Last Thursday evening, thunderstorms, tennis ball-sized hail and tornadoes hit the Breclav and Hodonin regions of South Moravia at speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour. The most affected were Moravska Nova Ves, Grushki, Mikulčice, Luzice and Hodonin. About 1,200 houses were damaged. Insurance companies in the Czech Republic estimate the damage caused by the devastating tornado last Thursday at CZK 3.6 billion. Meanwhile, businesses affected by the natural disaster can seek special government assistance. A few days after a hurricane tornado severely damaged a number of villages in South Moravia, insurers say they are already dealing with cases worth CZK 2.3 billion. The Czech Insurance Association has announced that there will be up to 25,000 “claims” in total; to date, more than 11,000 claims have been filed. About CZK 50 million has already been paid for 1,700 insured events, half of which are advance payments. Insurers say the expected average payout is CZK 144,000. In the case of tenants, the claims will mainly be related to the insurance of the building, the estimated damage of which is CZK 1.8 billion. The reported damage to date amounts to CZK 967 million. It is believed that a large number of vehicles – around 6,000 in total – were damaged and the cost of the insurance was CZK 240 million. The average price per vehicle is expected to be CZK 40,000.

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