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.
* Name of film: Inside the Megastorm (Hurricane Sandy) * Date viewed: April 24, 2013 * Your name: Mohamad Syahir Sabar * Today’s date: April 29, 2013 PBS Nova has come out with 54mins documentary following the Hurricane Sandy that has struck the East Coast of the United States. The Hurricane Sandy mainly attacked the New Jersey, New York and Long Beach. The chronology of this natural disaster started from the October 22nd until October 30th when it finally hit the East Coast area. As the early expectation begins, Sandy started as a typical Tropical Storm in the middle of Caribbean. Like the normal storm, it was formed from the warm water in the Caribbean.
The rain was so heavy it was difficult to see. At 17:10 major incident declared and a RAF search and rescue was alerted. This was the largest peace time rescue option in Britain. The storm which caused the flood came about as a result of the remnants of hurricane Alex which had moved across the Atlantic Ocean. The clouds remained stationary over North Cornwall meaning the rain fell quickly and steadily.
Hurricane Katrina was caused because of a tropical depression with low pressure (Emmanuel). When Katrina occurred, wind shear in the gulf was low with high temperatures, which caused the rapid strengthening. Hurricane Katrina started off the coast of Africa, where warm waters in retrospect caused Katrina. Before hurricane Katrina occurred this type of storm was already predicted to hit the gulf coast and virtually destroy it (Standring). Ivor van Heerden a hurricane expert predicted Katrina and tried to warn government officials since 2001, that a storm of this magnitude would ultimately destroy the gulf coastline
Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall. At least 1,833 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane; total property damage was estimated at $81 billion, nearly triple the damage brought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane over the warm Gulf water, but weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge (Parks, R. 2009 p.2).
Hurricane Nadine was the fourth longest-lived Atlantic hurricane on record. The fourteenth tropical cyclone and named storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, Nadine developed from a tropical wave west of Cape Verde on September 10. By the following day, it had strengthened into Tropical Storm Nadine. After initially tracking northwestward, Nadine turned northward, well away from any landmass. Early on September 15, Nadine reached hurricane status as it was curving eastward.
The point where the earthquake starts is called the focus. Energy waves disperse rapidly from this point. The point at ground level, directly above the focus, is called the epicentre. On Tuesday 12 January 2010 at 16:53, a huge earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, struck the Caribbean island of Haiti. Haiti is only half of an island, the other half being the Dominican Republic, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and has a history of destructive earthquakes.
On the 24th august 1992 hurricane Andrew hit Florida, and is recognized as the most destructive natural hazard in the United States, scoring category 5 on the Saffir Simpsons scale. It formed as bands of clouds close to the equator where the air is moist. A centre of low pressure forms, and the air begins to spiral in towards the low pressure, as the system moves away from the equator. Latent heat is released when water vapor condenses, this encourages further uplift as the warm air rises and the pressure at the centre falls rapidly. The storm gets bigger as the low pressure sucks in more warm moist air this also causes strong winds.
Hurricane Isabel was the costliest and deadliest hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm waters it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 165 mph (265 km/h) on September 11. After fluctuating in intensity for four days, Isabel gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) on September 18. It quickly weakened over land and became extratropical over western Pennsylvania the next day.
The True Understanding of Hurricane Katrina In the essay, “Hurricane Katrina: Investigating the U.S. Government’s Failed Response” the author, Eliza Hubbard writes about the situations that accrued in Hurricane Katrina, which is one of the most destructive tropical storms ever to hit the United States. It affected many parts of the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on August 29th, 2005, it affected New Orleans, Louisiana the most by causing the levees, which helped the flow of the river and stop flooding, to collapse. This lead to flooding in the city, where many bodies still lie beneath the dirty waters filled with debris. Hurricane Katrina attacked in two ways, one being the hurricane itself and the other being the flooding throughout New Orleans. The effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans was extremely severe, resulting from one of the most deadly natural disasters in U.S. history.