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F1 tornado in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

Tornado December 30, 2002 – December 31, 2002 · Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

Rating

3.0 mi

Path length

20 yd

Path width

Injury

$7.0M

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 20 yards (0.01 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

The wider storm

A tornado touched down on the west side of Iowa, destroying two homes, one businesss, and heavily damaging a small mall and several other homes. One woman was injured when flying debris came in her bedroom windown and hit her in the head while she was in bed. One home had wooden debris sticking out of the roof. Large garbage dumpsters were picked up and rolled for over 100 yards. A two story hole was made in the side of the mall, which enabled a large portion of the roof to come off.

Began near Iowa (30.2333, -93.0500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5324122. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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