Tornadoes are violent, short-lived wind phenomenon that can result in catastrophic damage to homes and property. Often times, the occurrence of tornadoes is unpredictable and emergency alerts offer short notice. This leads to families and individuals taking shelter in their own homes or nearby buildings that may not have safe rooms available. The failure of buildings may endanger people's lives. As such, it is imperative to investigate the failure modes of civil structures under tornadoes in order to properly design tornado-resistant buildings. In this study, a comprehensive literature review will be conducted on structural damage to investigate the failure modes caused by real-world tornadoes. To be specific, this research includes the identification of common damage conditions (such as the discontinuity of the load path resulting in the failure of structural components and the breaching of building envelopes resulting in the failure of nonstructural components). The overall goal behind this research is to improve the safety and welfare of the families and individuals living in high tornado risk areas by increasing the knowledge base regarding tornadoes, ultimately making recommendations to update existing building codes in an economically accepted manner.