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www.GOALias.blogspot.comA cyclone is known bydifferent names in differentparts of the world. It iscalled a ‘hurricane’ in theAmerican continent. InPhilippines and Japan itis called a ‘typhoon’(Fig. 8.14).NorthPacific OceanTyphoonCycloneHurricaneNorthAtlantic OceanHurricaneCycloneFig. 8.14 Regions near theequator where cyclones form.Cyclones are worldwidephenomena.SouthPacific OceanNorthAtlantic OceanIndian OceanThe diameter of atornado can be assmall as a metre and aslarge as a km, or evenwider. The funnel of atornado sucks dust,Fig. 8.15 Protectingdebris and everythingfrom a tornadonear it at the base (dueto low pressure) and throws them out near the top.Here are a few accounts of the survivors of tornados-(from Discovery channel’s “Young DiscoverySeries”).“I saw the cloud coming and tried to take shelterinside. But as soon as I reached for the doorknob,the house took off into the sky. I was not hurt atall.”“After the storm we had to clean the debris fromthe wheat fields. We picked up splintered boardsand tree branches as well as dead chickens withtheir feathers blown off and rabbits looked like theyhad been skinned.”A tornado shelter is a room situated deep insideor underground having no windows. Or otherwiseit is better to shut windows and take shelter undera table, workbench, where debris cannot reach. Onehas to bow down on knees protecting head andneck using arms (Fig. 8.15).Tornadoes: In our countrythey are not very frequent. Atornado is a dark funnelshaped cloud that reachesfrom the sky to the ground(Fig. 8.16). Most of thetornadoes are weak. A violenttornado can travel at speedsof about 300 km/h.Tornadoes may form withincyclones.The whole coastline ofIndia is vulnerable tocyclones, particularly theeast coast. The west coast ofIndia is less vulnerable tocyclonic storms both interms of intensity andfrequency of the cyclones.8.7 EFFECTIVESAFETYMEASURES• A cyclone forecast andwarning service.• Rapid communicationof warnings to the, SWINDSINDS, , STORMSAND CYCLONES8989