Hurricanes are huge rotating storms that form over the ocean near the equator. Hurricanes cause high winds, tidal flooding, and heavy rain. Winds determine how powerful the storm is going to be. Rain causes flooding which causes most destruction. Hurricanes form over warm bodies of water such as oceans. Hurricanes form when moist air over the ocean rises upward from near the surface. Since the air moves upwards and away from the surface, there is less air near the surface. “As the storm system rotates faster and faster, an eye forms in the center. It is very calm and clear in the eye, with very low air pressure. Higher pressure air from above flows down into the eye.” (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov) The eye of the storm is where most of the formation happens such as the warm and moist air rising from the ocean’s surface and then forming clouds around the eye. …show more content…
The storm took place in September, 2017. Puerto Rico was home to 3.4 million people. During the time of the hurricane, there were 4,400 in shelters and 105 pets. Over 80,000 houses lost power and got flooded. About 70 percent of the houses lost their roofs.There were “1,052 more people than usual died across the island” (www.nytimes.com/) and there was a lot of destruction. Houses fell down and got destroyed. The cost to rebuild Puerto Rico was $45 billion to $95 billion. The people in Puerto Rico were left without food, water, beds, and shelters. Some even lost the clothes that were on their
Over the past decade, the world has experienced more natural disaster than people can count. Floods, mudslides, earthquakes, and raging fires are just a few of the events that have stripped people away from their families, homes, and possessions. The deadliest of these natural disasters are hurricanes. Extremely strong winds mixed with large waves can cause enormous damage, taking months, even years for towns to recover. Hurricane Katrina left millions of people without homes and families torn apart. Hurricane Sandy demolished the Jersey coast, leaving years of repair work behind. The most recent and powerful hurricane that surfaced is Hurricane Maria. A level five hurricane, Hurricane Maria ripped straight through the United States territory of Puerto Rico. The island lost power, supplies
Hurricanes need two ingredients to form: warm ocean water and wind. There are four stages of a hurricane, depending on the wind speed: tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane. They first begin as tropical disturbances near the equator, where the temperature of the ocean water is at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit and winds are blowing approximately 23 miles per hour or less across the ocean surface. The wind causes water to evaporate and rise, forming cumulonimbus clouds. As evaporation and condensation continue, these clouds become larger and higher. Winds pick up to between 23 and 38 miles per hour, where the storm has become a tropical depression. Warm air rises and leaves the area with lower air pressure. Areas with higher air pressure move into the low pressure area. Then this warm air rises and more surrounding air moves in to take its place. The system of clouds and wind grow, fed by ocean water evaporating. As the system spins in a circle, an eye forms that is of low pressure. Higher pressure air from above flows into the eye of the storm. When winds reach 39 miles per hour, the storm is called a tropical storm. When winds reach at least 74 miles per hour, the storm is considered a
Who pays for all these damages? People who live in hurricane prone areas obviously have insurance to fall back on when these disasters strike. It turns out that insurance companies also have insurance for instances like this. When insurance companies get stuck paying out large sums of money to a lot of people, they occasionally need a little help and
First, hurricanes form in warm water. Therefore, states or places closest to the equator will most likely get hurricanes. In different places, it has different names, like a typhoon or a cyclone. Hot air rises making less hot air below. It makes clouds, then circulate to form a hurricane. On the scale, a category 5 hurricane can have winds up to 157mph, maybe even more.
The hurricanes are usually considered intense storms of tropical regions characterized by strong winds exceeding seventy-four mile per hour, low-pressure center and thunderstorms. The center of hurricane the winds are usually light and the clouds are broken reason for that is air
As of September 5, 2017, Hurricane Harvey damaged 203,000 homes, of which 12,700 were destroyed. There were 738,000 people who registered for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The agency has paid $378 million to them. Immediately after the storm, it delivered 80 tractor-trailer loads of emergency supplies. These included cots, blankets and meals. (Source: "Texas Officials: Hurricane Harvey Death Toll at 82," The Washington Post, September 14, 2017.)
A hurricane is unlike the normal cyclones but is a severe tropical storm or cyclone that typically forms in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, the Eastern Pacific Ocean or the Caribbean Sea. It is usually accompanied by heavy thunderstorms and if in the northern hemisphere, counterclockwise wind circulations near the earth's surface (FEMA, 2013).
Hurricanes first start out as a tropical depression and then gain strength into a tropical storm. When a tropical storm reaches 74+ miles per hour they turn into a category 1 hurricane, they increase in intensity, they go all the way through a category 5 hurricane. Category 1 hurricanes have a wind speed of up to 95 mph. A category 2 hurricane has wind speeds of up to 110 mph. Category 3 hurricanes reach up to 129 mph. A category 4 hurricane reaches up to 156 mph. The deadliest hurricane, a category 5 exceeds wind speeds anything above 157 mph. A hurricanes only form over warm waters. Damp air fuels the forming storm. The warm air gets water from the ocean and becomes moist. This moist air rises towards the surface, when air from surrounding
Hurricanes are extremely dangerous. They are a lot bigger than a tornado.Hurricanes form near the equator because they require warm tropical oceans to get their start. Hurricanes have thunder storms in them. In the Northern Hemisphere their winds rotate counterclockwise, but in the Southern Hemisphere, their winds rotate clockwise.
It’s important to understand Geoscience while studying hurricanes. By understanding Geoscience, we understand how the earth heats and cools and this plays a major role in the creation of hurricanes. Hurricanes form when an area of warm water heats the air above it, causing that air to rise. This creates an area of low pressure. The higher pressure around this area pushes new air in, which heats up and also rises. This flow of air causes the clouds to swirl. If the storm is in the northern hemisphere,
But how does such a storm form? A hurricane forms in the southern tropic oceans. (Lorrie Mack, 30) It needs the warm air and the warm water environment to form and to survive; a hurricane can’t keep its form in cold waters. What happens is that the warm air pulls up the warm water into the air. The air will become wind and the water and wind combined will start to spin. The winds will get faster and the water elevates at the same time. A hurricane has formed once
Hurricanes are the most powerful storm on earth. The speed of a hurricane is very quick. The text states, “To be classified as a hurricane the wind from rotating storm must reach at least 74 miles per hour, through the strongest hurricanes will have winds in excess of 150 miles per hour.’’ In different hemispheres the winds of a hurricane rotate differently. The text states, “In the northern hemisphere the winds rotate counterclockwise. In the southern hemisphere, they rotate clockwise.’’ Some hurricanes have different sizes. The text also states, “Typical hurricanes are about 300 miles wide, although they vary considerably in size.’’ Usually, the strongest hurricanes are in warm seas because with atmospheric conditions that allows the storm to rotate
Hurricanes form in the ocean. They can only form over warm ocean waters. Usually eighty degrees Fahrenheit or higher. The atmosphere must cool off very quickly the higher you go. Also, the wind must be blowing in the same direction and at the same speed to force air upward from the ocean surface. Winds flow outward above the storm allowing the air below to rise. Hurricanes typically form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north
In other words they draw heat from warm, moist ocean air and release it through condensation of water vapor in thunderstorms. Hurricanes spin around a low-pressure center known as the “eye.” Within the eye, all is calm and peaceful. But in the cloud wall surrounding the eye, things are very different although hurricane winds do not blow as fast as tornado winds a hurricane is way more destructive. This is because tornado winds cover only a small area, usually less than a mile across-‘hurricane’s winds may cover an area 60 miles wide out from the center of the eye. This storm brings destruction ashore in many different ways. When a hurricane makes landfall it often produces a storm surge that can reach 20 feet high and extend nearly 100 miles long. Ninety percent of all hurricane deaths result from storm surges. A hurricane’s high winds are very destructive and can actually cause another storm called a tornado. The Torrential rains cause further damage by floods and landslides, which can happen many miles inland. A good thing about hurricanes is you can see them coming and it gives people time to get out of its way. The National Hurricane Center issues hurricane watches for storms that may endanger communities, and hurricane warnings for storms that will make landfall within 24 hours. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina killed over 1800 people in the United States and caused around $80 billion dollars’ worth of property damage. New Orleans was hit
Hurricanes only form on warm ocean waters of about 80°F. This is why it is common in the tropics where temperatures are high all year round. Hurricanes also need wind action to form. Warm air, together with moisture from evaporation from the ocean surface rises, creating low pressure on the water surface, which is immediately substituted by cooler air. This process continues, and the resulting moisture-laden clouds begin to expand. Thunderstorms with rains form.