Photo: Getty
Tornados, beautiful destructors of cataclysmic proportions. And each spring, states primarily from Oklahoma to Florida have to worry about the threat much more. Without getting into the science of how they form, it’s important to remember that twisters, on average, can kill up to 60-100 people each year.
To put those numbers into another perspective, a really smart research meteorologist by the name of Dr. Harold E. Brooks told the New York Times that the odds of being killed by a tornado are 1 in 5 million. He works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. So he knows his stuff.
So while tornados are an extreme danger each spring for much of the United States, what is more likely to kill you?
Here’s what we found.
10 Absurd Things More Likely To Kill You Than A Tornado
So if you’ve learned anything from this it’s that you can die pretty much at any moment, and no one can avoid it. Unless you’re a character in “Final Destination.” But eventually you will also meet your maker. How’s that for a sunny ending?
Lucky girl! 4-Year-Old Ohio Girl Nearly Blown Away By Massive Wind Gust
Josh Helmuth is a contributor for Mandatory and the sports editor of Crave Sports.
10 Things More Likely To Kill Than Tornado
-
Ladders
Photo: Getty
Don't laugh too hard at Clark W. Griswold. Ladders kill roughly twice the amount of people every year than twisters. Estimates range from 113 per year to 350 per year.
Source: this
-
Shark Attack
Photo: Getty
While an encounter with Jaws is still very unlikely, the odds of getting attacked and killed by a shark are 1 in 3.7 million, still better than odds than death by sky vacuum.
Source: The Wildlife Museum
-
Falling Coconuts
Photo: Getty
A green coconut still attached to the tree can weigh up to two pounds because it's full of water. When it falls, it goes boom. Therefore, it is estimated that every year about 150 people die from being struck by falling coconuts, about ten times the amount of people killed by sharks. Yup.
Source: this
-
Stairs
Photo: Getty
It's 2017 - who needs the daunting task of stairs? Take the elevator. Stairs kill roughly 1,600 per year, 26 times more than tornados.
Source: this
-
Hippos
Photo: Getty
Better think twice about that safari. What you see here is a hippo yawning. Imagine what it looks like when angry. They supposedly kill more than 2,000 people every year. Again, tornados? About 60.
Source: this
-
Bee stings
Photo: Getty
They pollinate everything. So don't get in their way. Bees kill about 100 people every year. Tornados -- on average -- 60 per year.
Source: this
-
Lightning
Photo: Getty
You're exponentially more likely to be struck by lightning than by a tornado. There were 25 deaths in the U.S. per 100,000 people in 2014.
Source: Live Science
-
Watching Too Much TV
Photo: Getty
Okay, so basically there's simply a correlation between those who watch too much television and end up dying young. Of a study consisting of 13,000 Spanish university grads, 97 died within eight years. They found those who died typically watched more television. Moral of the story - get your arse off the couch!
Source: USA Today
-
Cows
Photo: Getty
You mess with the bull, you get the horns. Cows kill about 20 people per year, roughly twenty times more than sharks.
Source: Washington Post
-
Fireworks
Photo: Getty
Stay away from anything that can blow up in your hand. In a lifetime, you are more likely to die from fireworks (1 in 340,733) than a tornado.
Source: this