The Effects of Hurricane Mitch
The 20th century brought upon natural disasters that have both
impacted the social and economical aspects of life. Hurricane Mitch
was one of the greatest disasters of it’s time. The conditions that
Hurricane Mitch left behind in Honduras and Nicaragua, effected these
countries economy is a severe way. The hurricane brought devastation
and economical difficulties to the people of Central American
countries.
The conditions the hurricane brought upon were severe. It began on the
morning of October 20,1998. Satellite images showed that there were
unorganized thunderstorm clusters forming over the southern Caribbean
and Northern Venezuela. On October 22, the clusters became confined
into a tropical depression. Tropical Storm Mitch had come into
existence before the day was out. The Storm continued to climax on the
23rd and 24th, but by the 25th there was a sudden change; Mitch’s
central pressure fell from 1.77 inches to 26.73 inches in a matter of
34 hours. As chart B illustrates, Hurricane Mitch had tied Hurricane
Camille (1969) for the fourth lowest pressure ever recorded in an
Atlantic hurricane. Hurricane Mitch was named a Category 5 hurricane
for maintaining it’s low pressure for a duration of 33 hours compared
to Hurricane Camille’s(1969) and Hurricane Allen’s(1980) 24 hour long
duration.
Mitch traveled alongside the northern coast of Honduras for two days.
“Once onshore, Mitch meandered through the mountains of Honduras and
continued to unload extreme amounts of rainfall,” states Mace Bentley
and Steve Horstmeyer in “Monstrous Mitch”. “According to the National
Climatic Data Center, estimated maximum total rainfall amounts over
Honduras and Nicaragua ranged from 50 to 75 inches- and in one report
an incredible 25 inches fell in six hours!” as stated in “Monstrous
Mitch”. To make situations even worse, Mudflows and landslides
occurred because of the steep terrain in both Nicaragua and Honduras.
One mudslide in nothwest Nicaragua traveled 13 miles and dominated 10
communities. The death toll in this area was expected to reach 2,000.
Many Central American countries were finally getting back on their
This is the eighth named storm, its the third hurricane and the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Harvey developed from a tropical storm statuses on August 17th. The storm crossed through the windward island on the following day, passing just south of Barbados and later near Saint Vincent. Upon entering the Caribbean Sea, Harvey began to weaken due to the moderate wind shear and degeneracy into a tropical wave north of Columbia early an august 19 Harvey has caused at least 66 confirmed deaths, Lin Guyana, and 65 in the United States. Loses are estimated between 70 to 190 billion dollars. (Huntington
It is truly one of hurricane lore’s greatest storms. 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 is roughly 400 miles west of Africa’s Cape Verde Islands (Longshore).
The disasters did not just stick to one area, they were spread across the towns. According to the Hurricane Mitch text, the hurricane affected a lot of places. As stated in the text, “Agriculture was completely destroyed in parts of Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua.” This may take a long time to clear, because a lot of places would have been affected, and this would make it longer for all the ruins to be cleared. On the other hand, the Great Flood according to the text, only occurred in one town. According to the text, “At the end of July, the sheriff ordered everyone out of town.” This shows that it only occurred in one town, this feature might not make it as long to clear as Hurricane Mitch. Even though the Great Flood lasted longer, Hurricane Mitch left much more damages than the flood. According to the Hurricane Mitch text, “ In the hills of Honduras and Nicaragua, heavy rain soaked the earth so thoroughly that entire hills collapsed. Tons and tons of mud flowed down the hillsides and covered whole towns. Thousands of people and their houses were buried in mud and never seen again.” There was a lot of damage caused by the Hurricane, houses, farms, buildings, hills, almost everything was covered. To put back everything in it’s place would take a long time. “ But experts estimated that it would take 15 to 20 years for the hardest hit areas to recover.” The detriment caused
“It’s amazing how our life can change from one day to another and Mother of Nature is one of them. Hurricane Katrina a category 4 hurricane struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005, causing death and destruction in New Orleans. Katrina will be remembered by all victims in New Orleans and around the world.” Hurricane Katrina was declared the costliest and most destructive natural disaster in history, because of the strong winds and storm causing destruction of many towns and communities for more than a million people. (History.com Staff).
system, or one making landfall just a few nautical miles further to the north, would have
One obvious reason that this hurricane was so devastating was due to weather patterns. Harvey was originally just a tropical storm, but jumped from a category
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters to happen in the United States. The storm resulted in more then US$100 billion in damage when the cities flood protection broke and 80% of the city was flooded (1). The protection failure was not the only cause for the massive flooding, the hurricanes clockwise rotation pulled water from north of New Orleans into the city. 330,000 homes were destroyed and 400,000 people from New Orleans were displaced, along with 13,00 killed (1). Although the population quickly recovered, the rate of recovery slowed down as the years went on leading us to believe not everyone
Sandy emerged from a tropical wave on October 22. Tropical waves in the Atlantic basin originate from the turbulences, which expand as far east as Sudan in east Africa and deposit over the continent into the Atlantic Ocean. These are developed or intensified by the African Easterly Jet. Taking a small loop over the central Caribbean Sea, the structure enhanced into a tropical storm the next day and became the final hurricane of the season before reaching the coast of Jamaica on October 24. After emanating in the midst of Jamaica and Cuba, Sandy began a period of speedy development into a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, with maximum uninterrupted winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). At this magnitude, it made landfall near Santiago de Cuba on October 25.
On August 29, 2005, the third strongest and biggest hurricane ever recorded in American history hit the Gulf Coast at eight o’clock a.m. The interaction between a tropical depression and a tropical wave created a tropical storm later referred to as Hurricane Katrina (FAQS, 2013). Forming over the Bahamas, Hurricane Katrina gradually strengthened as it moved closer and closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Recorded on August 28th, 2005, Katrina jumped from a category three storm to a category five storm with maximum sustained winds up to 160 miles per hour. Although other hurricanes, such as Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Wilma, exceeded Katrina, this dominant storm was classified as the fourth most intense hurricane based its pressure capacity. Once Hurricane Katrina hit land, it was pronounced as a category four storm moving slowly. While people thought that the slow speed of this storm prevented trauma, records show that Katrina did more damage than any fast-moving storm could have ever achieved (Solanki, 2013). Katrina produced abundant debris. The debris was in such large quantity that if it was stacked together on a football field, the rubble would reach the elevation of ten and a half miles. The size of Katrina also caused 90,000 square miles to be affected. Once proclaimed a category three storm, Hurricane Katrina slowed to the speed of 155 miles per hour. At this point in time, Katrina proved to be the sixth most prevailing hurricane traced in history. (Solanki, 2013). Several different aspects of life were impacted by Hurricane Katrina such as availability of gasoline, economic issues, and the ability to have an adequate supply of drinking water (Solanki, 2013). Hurricane Katrina was a large storm ...
A westward moving tropical wave reached the Caribbean Sea in late May and gradually organized over the next few days. Around 00:00 UTC on June 3, a tropical depression developed about 265 miles (425 km) east of Belize City, Belize. The depression initial moved northwestward, before recurving to the north. The depression entered the Gulf of Mexico and strengthened into Tropical Storm Allison by 12:00 UTC. Despite unfavorable upper-level winds, the storm intensified into a hurricane about 24 hours later. Allison then peaked with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 987 mbar (29.1 inHg). Increasing wind shear weakened it to a tropical storm early on June 5. At 14:00 UTC, Allison made landfall near Alligator Point, Florida, with winds of 70 mph (110 km/h). After briefly emerging over Apalachee Bay, Allison struck near St. Marks with winds of 65 mph (100 m/h). Early on June 6, Allison weakened to a tropical depression, shortly before becoming extratropical. The remnants continued northeastward and later struck Newfoundland before dissipating near Greenland on June 11.[14]
A major problem caused by Katrina was flooding. The levees were destroyed and since the city is lower than the levees, it caused major flooding. This led to many people drowning and also many suffered from dehydration. Many people fled, but those who couldn't were housed in the superdome for several days. Theses people were unable to evacuate due to the insufficient transportation for citizens. All forms of public transportation was shut down before the storm even hit. The people who were evacuated went to Houston, Atlanta, and Little Rock. This storm left almost 3 million people without electricity. ...
Hurricane Katrina had a huge impact on the world and more specifically, New Orleans for there was substantial damage to the citizens property and more importantly their body and minds. The biggest impact Hurricane Katrina has was on the people of New Orleans. Having their homes destroyed or uninhabitable, thousands of New Orleans residents were forced to flee in the Superdome and t...
August 29, 2005 was one of the darkest days for the residents of the State of Louisiana. Katrina, a category 3 hurricane, ripped through New Orleans and the surrounding areas causing catastrophic loss of life and property. The federal government’s disaster response team, which was formed in 1978, titled the Federal Emergency Management Agency, (commonly referred to as FEMA) responded to the needs of the survivors. Unfortunately the Bush administration through FEMA showed gross ineptitude in its response to the disaster. Pre-Katrina the lack of response resulted in a largely unsuccessful evacuation. After the storm, aid to the citizens of New Orleans was slow and inadequate. When we look back at the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, it appears that Bush’s FEMA botched much of the handling of the crisis and that overall, our “administration” could have responded to the situation much better.
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 flooding that happened after (Zimmermann 1). Katrina initially began forming over the Bahamas on August 23rd, as a tropical depression....