Hurricane Sandy destroyed millions of homes, brought a bunch of sand onto the roads, and killed 209 people. Sandy caused $52.4 billion in damages. Another hurricane that has hit the US is Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina caused subsequent floods and caused $81 billion in damaged. Katrina also killed at least 1,833 people in the time that it took to cross most of eastern North America.
Most begin closer to the equator, starting as thunderstorms that move out over the warm, tropical ocean waters. The rotation of a hurricane is because of the Coriolis force, a natural phenomenon that causes fluids and objects to veer to the right of their destination in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. How they form In the Northern Hemisphere, winds deflect to the right. In the Southern Hemisphere, they deflect to the left. This wind deflection gets storms spinning.
The three phases that the storm goes through are: tropical depression, tropical storm, and then a hurricane (Mehta, 2010, para.2). According to Naik (2010), thunderstorms drift over warm ocean waters, the warm air in them combines with the warm air over the ocean surface and starts rising. The warm air then starts to rise and low pressure is created at the surface of the storm. As the trade winds which blow in opposite directions they start propelling the formation in a circular motion (Naik). The winds of a hurricane can exceed up to 200 mph.
It refers to the appearance of colder than average sea surface temperatures in the central and East Equatorial Pacific. It may follow El Nino but it has occurred less frequently. They are both short term climatic changes and are amongst the most powerful phenomena on earth as they affect the climate over almost half of the earth. During a normal year, there is high air pressure off the coast of South America with descending air. In the western Pacific, there is low air pressure as warn, moist air rises, cools and condenses, forming rain clouds which give heavy convectional rainfall.
Hurricanes in Florida Hurricanes are one of the biggest threats to Floridians throughout the months of June to November every year. Perhaps they are the most devastating natural disaster affecting the Earth today. They are capable of completely demolishing vast areas, causing trauma in neighborhoods and towns, and even killing people and animals. They also cause damage to the environment and the economy. These tremendous storms bring great harm to buildings and property, therefore costing millions of dollars, and hurting the Florida economy.
he Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a 1-5 rating based on the hurricane's present intensity. This is used to give an estimate of the potential property damage and flooding expected along the coast from a hurricane landfall. Wind speed is the determining factor in the scale, as storm surge values are highly dependent on the slope of the continental shelf in the landfall region. Note that all winds are using the U.S. 1-minute average. Category One Hurricane: Winds 74-95 mph (64-82 kt or 119-153 km/hr).
The Great Storm of 1987 occurred on the 15th October in that year, it was the worst storm to reach Britain for over 200 years. The days preceding the storm a depression was developing over the Bay of Biscay, just west of France. This depression was slowly drifting northwards towards the British Isles building up intensity as it went. Weather stations reported that the severe weather would not reach further north than the English Channel, therefore England were not mentally or physically ready to cope with a storm of this magnitude. The impacts of the storm were great, with wind speeds recorded of up to 120mph in Sussex and Kent.
In The Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan, the author examines climate and how it has changed over time. Fagan states that “climate change comes in sudden shifts from one regime to another-shifts whose causes are unknown to us and whose direction is beyond our control” (Fagan xviii). He also says that climate will have an impact on human events. Weather is possibly the greatest influence on history. From the Medieval warming period, to the Little Ice Age, to our current battle with Global Warming, history is shaped by our environment.
The run-off from higher elevation combined with melt water from lower elevation was so forceful it broke levees and caused one of the most damaging floods the region has ever seen. The West Walker River caused extensive damage in Topaz, Coleville, California, Wellington and Nevada. It’s estimated that twelve miles of US Highway 395 have been destroyed and are going to be closed for around seven months! In Yerington and in the Mason Valley nearly 500 homes have been damaged and public and private property damaged substantially. Floodwaters deposited debris on Farmland and Damaged irrigation gates, ditches and canals.
Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms to hit the United States. The hurricane became the costliest and one of the five most deadliest ever (Brunner). The hurricane whipped its way through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana where it caused the most damage. Hurricane Katrina began as a tropical depression on August 23, but quickly became a mega hurricane that hit the gulf coast on August 29th 2005. The mega hurricane displaced millions and killed over 1,800 people.