Chapter 26: Hurricane Camille Hurricane Camille was a disastrous storm with catastrophic damage including the destruction of many towns and lives even after making landfall and weakening. As most tropical systems, Camille began as a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa. Camille began to strengthen as it moved across the Atlantic reaching hurricane strength as is approached Cuba. Once Camille entered the Gulf of Mexico, Air Force reconnaissance measured wind speeds of up to 200 mph and a central pressure around 901 mb. Evacuation was strongly recommended for areas along the Gulf from Louisiana to Florida, though some residents refused to evacuate the area.
Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland as a tropical storm in the great lakes region after hurricane Hazel in 1954. It was the ninth named storm, the fifth hurricane and third major hurricane of the2008 hurricane season. It was a Cape verde type hurricane, as it started as a tropical disturbance near Africa at the end of the gust. On September 1, 2008, it became a tropical storm west of the Cape Verde islands. By the early morning hours of September 4, Ike was a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum wind speeds of 145 miles per hour.
2004 Boxing Day Tsunami *what was the disaster? * The 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami is also known as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake. It occurred on the 26th of December just on Boxing Day. This disaster was considered as the 6th deadliest earthquake/tsunami but it was also known as the 2nd strongest earthquake in the world. The earthquake’s strongest point lasted for around 8-10 minutes.
They require sea-surface temperatures of at least 26°C and the influence of the earth’s rotation to initiate a spinning circulation (Coriolis effect). Hurricanes are generally known by three different names. Hurricanes are categorised on a scale from 1-5, 1 being the weakest and 5 being the strongest. This categorisation is bad upon the wind speed of the hurricane. The environmental effects that a hurricane can have on an area can be catastrophic.
Hurricanes normally develop in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the North Pacific Ocean. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management advise that “A potential hurricane goes through four basic phases before it attains hurricane strength. The first stage is classified as a Tropical Disturbance, “Which gives rise to a discrete area of cloudiness with embedded showers and thunder storms. The second stage is classified as a Tropical Depression and “Has definite counter-clockwise wind circulation in which maximum sustained surface wind is less than 61 km/h (38 mph). The third stage is classifies as a Tropical Storm and “Has definite counter-clockwise wind circulation in which the maximum sustained surface wind is greater than 61 km/h (38 mph) but not less than 119 km/h (74 mph).
“Hurricane Mitch was more destructive than Andrew because of a variety of factors.” Mitch is considered to be the most deadly hurricane in the last 200 years in the Atlantic, stronger and more intense than Hurricane Andrew, having caused the most serious material damage in history. In Mitch, 4 countries were affected (Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guaternala) whereas in Andrew only a fraction of South America was seriously affected. In Mitch 10ml people were left homeless without shelter and aid, with mothers washed out to see and thousands trapped, as well as the possibility of more floods. In Andrew hundreds and thousands of people were without food but food and water were provided sooner than they were to the poor countries that Mitch affected. A
The heavy rainfall started falling at midday on the 16th August, and it was recorded that 5 inches fell in 8 hours. The storm was a remnant of the Hurricane Alex, which had carried over the Atlantic. The rain was cause due to warm air picking up moisture - due to residual heat from the Atlantic sea - travelled towards the South West Cornish coast as prevailing winds. Upon contact with the topographically vertical coast, these winds experienced a strong up-drafting force thus causing internal moisture to reach the atmosphere, and consequently cool as a string of storm clouds. With convergence and coalescence, enhanced moisture levels resulted in heavy rainfall on the afternoon of 16 August 2004.
2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami On Friday, 11 March, 2011, at 2:46PM local time in Japan, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck 45 miles off the east coast of the Oshika Peninsula of Tohoku, Japan. The nearest major city to the quake was Sendai, Honshu, Japan, 81 miles away. The earthquake triggered extremely destructive tsunami waves of up to 77 feet that struck Japan minutes after the quake, in some cases traveling up to 6 miles inland, with smaller waves reaching many other countries after several hours. The Japanese National Police Agency has officially confirmed 10,804 deaths, 2,776 injured and 16,244 people missing across eighteen prefectures, as well as over 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. Estimates of the Tohoku earthquake's magnitude make it the most powerful known earthquake to have hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world overall since modern record-keeping began in 1900.
The cold water is brought when the surface current flows westward in a process known as upwelling. Now, the trade winds for El Nino are weakened causing a reduction in the westward flow and upwelling is reduced. Rainfall follows the warm water to the east. The rainfall causes flooding in Peru and droughts in Australia and Indonesia. So, now in North America El Nino causes the hurricane season to diminish and the tornado season to be active.
The Effects of Hurricanes Hurricanes also known as Cyclones are amongst the strongest storms on earth, which have plagued man for centuries. Jay Barnes confirms this timeline, with this passage “They are called hurricanes in the Western Hemisphere, a term probably derived from ‘Hurukan,’ the name of the Mayan storm god, and other similar native Caribbean words translated as ‘evil spirit’ or ‘big wind’.” ( 6). Every year, in the summer season, these forces of nature begin to form themselves sometimes less numerous then the year before and sometimes in greater numbers witnessed in a decade. For future reference hurricanes are often named, not only to keep track of them but also people that have experienced them, tend to remember these storms by their name. They are born from tropic waters that affect quite a few across the world but in the Gulf of Mexico they tend to wreak particular havoc.