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.
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.
Why was the Haitian earthquake so deadly? On January 12th 2010 at 16:53 local time (21:53 GMT) an earthquake hit the Caribbean island of Haiti. It was a colossal 7.0 on the Richter scale and lasted around 35 seconds, but inflicted a cataclysm which would take years to correct. It struck south of the capital Port-au-Prince destroying the presidential palace, UN HQ, as well as houses, schools and public buildings. The epicentre was a town named Leogane; about 19km (12 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, thousands were left homeless and up to 80-90% of buildings in Leogane were destroyed.
A further 5 million homes were left with no electricity and many houses were a victim of falling trees. A Holt in the Stock Market occurred, with many work employees opting for a few days off work due to not being able to travel. The fire brigade recorded over 6000 calls in a 24 hour period. London experienced the first blackout since the blitz and flights were cancelled in Gatwick and Heathrow with also Ports closing. After the storms had gone, the people of England tried in many ways to rejuvenate their land.
The storm gets bigger as the low pressure sucks in more warm moist air this also causes strong winds. The main impact from the hurricane was the national hurricane centre in Miami lost its radar, ammeter and satellite communications equipment, this reduced the ability to monitor and forecast storm track. A social impact was the loss of homes, 25,000 homes destroyed and 100,000 badly damaged. As wind speed was so high it caused jumbo jets at Miami International Airport to blow of the runways, also at Tamiani airport hangars and light aircraft were destroyed. Although the natural hazard was very destructive only 30 people died, and some of these deaths could have been prevented.
Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of the hurricane center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings. Hurricane Bonnie of 1998 was a Category Two hurricane when it hit the North Carolina coast, while Hurricane Georges of 1998 was a Category Two Hurricane when it hit the Florida Keys and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Category Three Hurricane: Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Storm surge generally 9-12 ft above normal.
Haiti Earthquake Date: Tuesday January 12th 2010 at 16:53 (Haiti’s local time) Location: Haiti is a small island in the Caribbean, South East of the USA and the East of Cuba. Cause of Earthquake: It was caused by the pressure between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate sliding past each other in the same direction and one plate moves faster than the other, this happened on the conservative plate margin. The earthquake was a 7 on the Richter scale. Immediate and Secondary Impacts of the Earthquake: Immediate | Secondary | 316,000 people were killed, 1 million people were made homeless, and 3 million people were affected by the earthquake. | 1 in 5 people lost their jobs because many buildings were destroyed, Haiti’s large industry clothing was one of the worst affected, and were a lot of people lost their jobs.
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. Haiti is situated to the north of the Caribbean plate boundary, and the North American Plate. By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater on the Richter scale had been recorded. The US Geological Survey estimates that 3.5 million people lived in the area where 'moderate to heavy' damage occurred. The Haitian government estimates that 230,000 people died, about 300,000 were injured and 1 million were made homeless out of a population of 10 million.
But on August 25, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, everything changed. The levees failed, over 75% of the city was submerged in water and over 1,800 lives were lost. By the time the storm passed, over $81 billion in physical damages had been done. It is estimated that Katrina has resulted in the loss of over 230,000 jobs in Louisiana alone. When the storm struck New Orleans and the levees failed, the low-lying lands flooded at record levels.
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.