As it is with most comparisons, a more accurate comparison would be if both occurred the same amount of times, and since tornadoes are much more frequent than hurricanes, the amount of deaths over a period of time would surpass that of how many deaths are attributed to hurricanes. But which is more deadlier, I have to go with hurricanes as the destruction and death they cause is widespread, whereas a tornado is more focused in a narrow path, and only last a short time.
In order for death, one has to be in a direct path or very close to the outer part of the funnel as debris flying about can cause serious injury or death. However, the amount of death and injury by each single incident is small by comparison, and although a tornado appears as a force to be reckoned with, it’s short life and narrow path are only a threat if you happen to be caught in it’s path.
A tornado may be extremely destructive as it hits head on, but will spare homes within a few feet away in many cases, but a hurricane causes widespread damage from high winds and high water as the winds push the water along the coast inland, and also the amount of downpour is another factor that has to be considered in the amount of damage they cause.
Sometimes we get a huge killer tornado that causes widespread damage, and takes a number of lives, but still falls short of what a major hurricane will provide in the way of it’s destructive power. We see storm chasers who hope to get close to a twister so as to get the shots they want. They do put themselves in harms way, but they can usually beat a path out of it’s way, which is not something that they can do during a hurricane. Get close to one, and you become a part of it’s destruction, as it is not a forgiving force, and not to be taken lightly.
So the question of which is deadlier, just isn’t a reasonable question when you think of how many twisters we get compared to the amount of hurricanes. Perhaps statistics may show twisters kill more people, but there again, we are talking about frequency of events, and one could argue that regardless how much twisters outnumber hurricanes, twisters, because of the amount of deaths contributed to them, could very well be considered more deadly, but only because of there are so many of them that occur throughout the year.
If we could witness either force up close without fear of injury or death, the rush one would get can’t be compared to anything else. Nature’s fury is both beautiful as well as destructive, and if anyone has had a close call with either, then it would be pretty hard to find anything else in life that could have produced both excitement and fear at the same time. There is something magical when nature rears it’s ugly head, we just don’t get to see something like it everyday.
There are those of us who live in a zone whereas we never get anything remotely compared to either force, and then there are those who are always in a direct path of either. There is always a price to pay for living in a warm year round climate, but if the price is too steep, then it would be wise to look for areas where there are four seasons, and it is those areas that seem to have the least of possibilities for such an event to happen.
