Hurricanes are large storms that form over warm ocean water and moist air. These storms are usually pushed toward a landmass by winds blowing in a particular direction. For instance, the trade winds will blow hurricanes toward the United States coast. Over the past hundred and fifty years, the United States has made changes for how these storms are detected and tracked. These advances help protect human lives and property. This is how hurricane alertness has changed.
The first advance in hurricane awareness happened in 1898, and was implemented by President McKinley. Americans were aware of these storms striking the east coast of the United States, but did not know when and where they might hit landfall. President McKinley ordered the weather bureau to establish hurricane warning networks in the West Indies in 1898 (Uccellini). This was considered the first real attempt to monitor hurricanes approaching the United States. There was one major flaw with this program. Telegraph wires did not run from the West Indies to the United States; therefore, communication of a storm had to be delivered by ship to the mainland. These weather stations located in the West Indies were considered early warning systems, and there were also weather stations located along the coast of the United States. One of these locations was off the coast of Texas on the small island of Galveston.
Galveston was struck by a hurricane on Sept 8th 1900 and was considered the deadliest hurricane in American history. At this time hurricanes weather was predicted by barometer reading and observing the skyline once an alert was issued. Issac Cline was the assigned meteorologist for this weather station. The weather station was given an alert that a storm was approachi...
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...ad on interstates. Leaving a day or two earlier could also help reduce the traffic. If the hurricane is predicted to hit the coast on Friday, evacuate on Monday to give yourself time and maybe evacuate the distance necessary and not too far away. That was another major issue causing traffic jams during Hurricane Floyd. A great deal of people were evacuating out of the states they resided in.
As we can see, hurricane alertness was very important for preserving life during these massive storms. Simply comparing the hurricane that struck Galveston, TX to Hurricane Floyd striking North Carolina shows a dramatic difference in lost lives. Fifty one lives in North Carolina compared to eight thousand in Texas shows that the system does work. There are still some minor tweaks that need to be worked out but the evolution of hurricane alertness has been beneficial to society.
The development of the storm was initiated by an apparent tropical wave that had given way of the African Coast around August 5th. The cloud pattern of the storm slightly resembled that of an inverted “V” began traveling westward, then northward, across the Atlantic Ocean and was recognized as a tropical disturbance 4 days later, August 9th. The following 5 days or so the storm continued to travel showing no sign of circulation. On August 14th the United States Air Force sent a reconnaissance aircraft into the storm for surveillance, with a growing concern. What was about to be Tropical storm Camille was still south of Cuba with expectation to become much more potent. At the point of infiltration by the aircraft the planes barometer revealed a 999 millibar pressure center with 55 mile an hour surface winds. At this point the disturbance was inaugurated to be a “tropical storm.” As the intensification process ensued, and the squall shifted northwestward at a slow speed of 9 miles per hour, but gained a great amount of force in...
Such greatness had innocuous and humble beginnings. Like all hurricanes that have existed, is existing, and will exist, the hurricane originated within the waters of the world and from the winds of the world. The temperate waters of the eastern North Atlantic Ocean gave rise to the storm upon August 31, 1900. Its birthplace was roughly 400 miles west of Africa’s Cape Verde Islands (Longshore).
Hurricane preparation is the most important thing in staying safe during a hurricane. Through technology we are able to track these hurricanes and have time to get ready for them. Recovery takes a lot of time and work, but safety and injury prevention should be your number one concern.
Like Brown told CNN’s Larry King, “I must say, this storm is much bigger than anyone expected.” What should we have to know in case of an emergency, especially if you live in a hurricane evacuation zone. According to Live Science, you have to start with a hurricane plan with your family and find out your zone and local evacuation route. We have to keep in mind the hurricanes are very powerful tropical storms with heavy rains, strong winds and that a hurricane can damage buildings, cars, homes, etc. First of all, always have a hurricane survival kit, during hurricane warning and never ignore evacuation orders. Equally important, prepared your home with flood insurance, buy emergency supplies, plan for your pets, and don’t forget to search for resources for more information about hurricane planning. According to Erik Salna, “Everyone who lives in an area affected by hurricanes needs to take personal responsibility and accountability to be prepared… It has to become a way of life, something you naturally do.” In discussion of how to be prepared in case of a hurricane, one controversial issue has been the disaster of hurricane Katrina. On the one hand, we need to keep in mind that is up to us to try to be prepared in case of a hurricane warning. On the other hand, if you ignored evacuation orders you may regretted later on in life, don’t
There were about 6,000 out of 37,000 people accounted for that where dead or missing. Come to find out that the political climate in 1900 was bias with the Cubans because the U.S. government thought they could control the forecast just as well as the Cubans. Come to find out that wasn’t the case, “Cubans had pioneered the art and science of hurricane prediction” (Waxman). As for the US we weren’t up to pare with finding out which way the storm was moving, how fast it was coming, and how strong it was going to be. With the US ignoring the Cubans it costed the lives of many Galveston people. The lives were lost because by the time the people knew about the hurricane it was too late to get out of town cause the next morning the 1900 Galveston hurricane hit landfall. After meteorologist ignored the Cubans “the bureau’s director Willis Moore… banned direct communication between the U.S. weather Bureau’s office in Havana and the office in New Orleans, requiring Havana to report directly with Washington”
People were able to begin evacuating before the hurricane hit due to the warnings from the meteorologists. The meteorologists discovered the path of the storm when Hurricane Katrina first formed as a tropical depression over the Bahamas on the 23rd of August. Knowing that the levees would be breached, the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin sent out a mandatory evacuation notice to the whole city. For the people that could not evacuate the city Mayor Nagin reserved the Superdome stadium as a shelter because it sat on a higher ground level. By the time the evening came nearly all the people except about twenty percent had evacuated the city. Of the remaining people thousands of them decided to stay home and the remaining thousands decided to seek out safety at the Superdome stadium(Hurricane Katrina, par. 2 &
Dr. Isaac M. Cline was the chief of the U.S. weather Bureau's Galveston station located on the 3rd floor of the Levy Building which can still be found on the corner of Market and 23rd. Cline had begun tracking the storm from the Cape Verde Basin off the western coast of Africa. On August 31, this storm entered the Caribbean and began to increase in size. The hurricane passed just north of Cuba, and on Thursday, September 6, entered the Gulf of Mexico. The projected course would have the storm make landfall well east of Galveston, but on Friday Dr. Cline became worried.
Hurricane Katrina began its formation above the tropical oceans of the Bahamas. As it traveled to Florida, Katrina became classified as a tropical storm, and then a category one hurricane. With its southwestern path, Hurricane Katrina raged to the east portion of...
Hurricane Betsy developed east of the Windward Islands. This means that Betsy occurred in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the North Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Many hurricanes form in this area since it is near the equator and warm water, which is a requirement to form a hurricane is always available. In fact, hurricanes or tropical cyclones can only form if they meet four conditions. First, the temperature of ocean waters must be 82 degrees F or warmer in order. Moreover, low air pressure is needed. Furthermore, you need tropical winds located near the equator. Lastly, you need moist ocean air. The most important part is the warm air since it serves as energy for the storm. The air then rises into the low pressure are and cold air replaces it; this is what then produces what is called a disturbance, which is an area of heavy rainfall, thunder clouds and powerful winds. From here a hurricane can only get stronger and its wind speed is measured and depending on how powerful the storm is it is then assigned into one of five categories.
Imagine the horrors that accompany a great hurricane. Visualize the wind, rain, and waves. Hear the piercing screams through crashing waves, crushing buildings, and trees falling. Picture the great devastation. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was caused by abdominal weather conditions, and led to great destruction. Many lives were lost, and colossal rebuilding of the city had to take place. New city laws and plans were adopted from the hurricane.
to reduce the number of fatalities in serious storms is to give people more warning time for them to go to a safer place. Many times in hurricanes people are told to evacuate there city or state. The more time that people have to do this the more that people will do this. Throughout the entire hurricane season meteorologists keep a close watch on the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. They examine pictures of the area taken by satellites, and also take information on air pressure, wind speed, and temperatures.
Hurricanes are powerful and destructive storms that involve great rain and wind. The United States of America has dealt with many hurricanes that have cost a great amount of damage. However, there is one hurricane that happened in 2005 that stands out among the others, Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States, a category 5 on the Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale. An estimated 1836 people died because of the hurricane and the floodings that happened after (Zimmermann 1). Katrina initially beg...
Hurricanes are one of the deadliest and most expensive natural disasters around. They are more common in areas of humid yet moist weather so they are very foreign to certain places. But to the places were hurricanes are the norm, the people take them extremely seriously because they kill people and ruin countless amounts of property. Hurricanes can attack and harm people in so many ways they can kill people, leave them homeless, it leaves children orphaned and disable them. On the west coast of the United States and other places hurricanes aren’t taken as seriously as other more common disasters, such as, earthquakes and volcanoes yet the hurricane can be a lot more damaging that both of those. Hurricanes are cyclones that develop over warm oceans and breed winds that blow yup to 74 miles per hour.
A hurricane can be defined as than 64 knots (74 miles per hour; 119 kilometers per hour), originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean, traveling north, northwest, or northeast from its point of origin, and usually involving heavy rains. Hurricanes are a natural disaster with far reaching consequences. It takes away the lives of millions of people and causes damage to almost all of human creation. It can cause extensive damage to coastlines and several hundred miles inland due to heavy rainfall. It takes away the lives of millions of people and causes damage to almost all of human creation.
Hurricanes occur all over the world, at different times, but commonly through June first and late November. However in late August 2005 a catastrophic hurricane struck. This was Hurricane Katrina. With winds traveling over one hundred miles per hour making it a category five on the Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Scale it was said to have cause billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Hurricane Katrina flooded nearly forty thousand homes, and killed at least two thousand people (“Hurricane”). An average category five hurricane has enough energy to power street lamps for more than twenty seven thousand hours (Williams 58). Knowing about Hurricane Katrina, and the devastation of the city in New Orleans would be beneficial. Also, general information on hurricanes can help civilians and people of higher authority better understand and prepare for damage that could once hit their town and community. Because experts know the general information on these storms they can help explain to the public why and how Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes occur. Hopefully, in the future civilians will know and use this information to their advantage against hurricanes.