160 kilometers per hour). In a different room, a tornado vortex simulation mimics wind speeds of up to 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour). (Related: "How Does a Tornado Work?") "We enjoy blowing things up here," says Larry Tanner, a structural engineer and research associate at Texas Tech.
Larry Tanner had heard the warnings on TV. At home with his wife and two of his three children, he looked outside and it was sunny. But his son, a volunteer firefighter, came home to alert him that a tornado had touched down nearby.