On September 22, 2017 Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, addressed the United Nations General Assembly with a plea to accept ownership and responsibility for the harms perpetuated by climate change. This plea came days after Dominica and other Caribbean Islands were ravaged by two back-to-back category 5 hurricanes (winds exceeding 157 mph).
I am Dominican (not to be mistaken with the Dominican Republic) by birth and I reside in the US Virgin Islands (USVI). The morning the first hurricane, Irma, passed was nerve wrecking. I was speaking to my mother as I tracked the path of the storm, when she suddenly confessed in a tearful voice, “I’m afraid.” I heard the howling wind through the phone as the 200 mile per hour winds gradually approached the USVI. From her view from the kitchen window, she informed me that everything not bolted to the ground with steel or cement was airborne. She had never witnessed anything like it despite experiencing direct hits from four previous major storms in her lifetime. The last thing she said before the phone lines completely went down, cutting them off from the outside world, was “This is serious. Something’s wrong here.”
And it was serious.
People lost their lives, livelihoods were destroyed, and one island was left uninhabitable for the first time in the over
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Based on the emerging climate patterns, there is a marked difference in the Caribbean climate. The rising air and water temperatures act as a fuel, altering ordinary storms and transforming them into devastating forces of destruction as they barrel toward the Caribbean. In addition to the intensified storms, there has been intense rainfall, prolonged droughts, and an increase in the number of hot days. If sea levels continue to rise, thousands will be
Scientists have always made predictions about climate change causing major disasters around the world. Florida is one of the areas being affected by climate change at this exact moment. It is experiencing a huge amount of severe flooding throughout the whole the state, but especially near the coast. The climate change is affecting the sea level in Florida to rise higher than it was before. Even with the flooding and sea level rising being a major issues in Florida, state officials are not taking any type of action because they fear that if they do, they will show that they can’t control it or find a solution. In the article “The Siege of Miami,” by Elizabeth Kolbert, she talks about her trip down to Florida. While Kolbert is in Florida, she meets with the University of Miami’s chairman of the geological science department, Hal Walness to talk about climate change and how it may or may
In 2008 Hurricane Ike made land fall to the east coast line in Galveston Texas. The storm surge water that Ike produced flooded the east coast region of Houston and Galveston. It has been estimated over billions of dollars in damage to home owners, business owners, and cause numerus of deaths. The mass destruction that Ike caused had people coming up ways to prevent or lessen the effects if a storm like this would ever occur in the future. A storm surge project was drafted and submitted to politicians is being delayed due to funding issues. Money should not be the major delay when it comes to saving homeowners, business owners, and a life of a person.
...uent hurricanes that may come. Elevated homes, Flood resistant materials, Strong wind shields. Five years later, Gene and his family are still recovering, many others still getting to be where they were before the harsh September thirteenth. But what is important now is how they and the future generations will survive future disasters and not merely what they lost. The history of the Ike is still in progress as they think of ways to combat the challenges they face and avoid future ones.
In response to the damage caused by Hurricane Isabel, Virginia Governor Mark Warner described it as, “Probably the worst storm in a generation” (Washington Post, Ambrose). This was certainly not an overstatement as the National Weather Service reported that Isabel created 925 million dollars of damage in the state of Virginia alone (Johnson). While Isabel was not the most intense storm once it reached the United States, the size of this storm and the population of the area it impacted was why it caused so much damage (Johnson). This paper will discuss the science behind the creation of this storm, the impact of the storm in Richmond, Virginia and its surrounding areas, and the efforts to decrease the effects of the storm along with what could have further prevented any damages.
Hurricane Katrina left a devastating scar on the citizens of the southern coast of the U.S., especially New Orleans, Louisiana. The category 5 hurricane was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the most deadly. Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29th, 2005 and after that day, 66,000 people were displaced from their homes. Of those who decided to ride out the storm with hopes of success and survival as they had experienced with other storms, they were found on their rooftops, in their attics, hoping for boat or helicopter rescue, relying on others for help to survive. The storm had reached 28,000 square feet inward to Louisiana, which was 60 percent of the state. 1,100 Louisianans lost their lives, and 200,000 were displaced and/or lost their homes (Davis 8). It was a devastating time of despair and suffering. People were put through experiences that would scar them for a long time. While preparing for evacuation, people left most of their belongings at home to flee to a safer city or to find shelter in the Superdome and Convention Center. Some even decided to remain in their boarded up homes. After the hurricane had past, a few hours went by and a levee located near the Mississippi River canal broke leaving New Orleans flooded (Delisi). After the disaster, the state and federal governments were pointing fingers at each other as to who was to blame for the poorly planned evacuation and rescue efforts for the victims. The state government promised to help evacuate those who could not transport themselves. Citizens were told to go to the Superdome and convention center for evacuation, but the supplies needed for survi...
While it is hard to directly connect Hurricane Sandy to global warming, it is clear that warmer waters and increased sea level contributed to the severity of the storm. Higher sea levels increase the chance that hurricane winds will bring more water on land and storm surges that reach further inland. The Atlantic region is already experiencing sea level rise, and globally this trend is expected to continue. Ocean temperatures are also on the rise, an...
Hurricane Sandy, also commonly referred to as Superstorm Sandy, is known as the most devastating, destructive, and deadliest hurricane that hit the Atlantic in 2012. The storm emerged in late October of that year. In terms of fatalities, over 286 people were killed in seven different countries. 117 were killed in the US and an additional 69 were killed in other countries throughout the world. [2] In terms of costly damage, this natural disaster was the second most expensive hurricane in US History. [3] Hurricane Sandy was a Category 3 storm at its peak when it had first hit Cuba. Eventually, Sandy had turned into a Category 2 storm once it had moved up and hit off the coast of the Northeastern US. The storm was named the largest Atlantic hurricane that was ever recorded, with measurements that included winds reaching an upwards of 1,100 miles per hour. [3]
People did many things to prepare for Hurricane Sandy. Many people who lived on or near the coastline were given evacuation orders by government officials. These areas were likely to experience severe flooding. The people who lived in low elevations along the coast were particularly in danger. These people left their homes in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut; some were fortunate enough to find a hotel to stay in or relatives to stay with. Others who weren’t as fortunate waited in community shelters. Organizations such as the American Red Cross opened shelters specifically for people who had to leave their homes because of Hurricane Sandy.
October 29th 2012 the high wind destroyer struck the heart of New York. They called her sandy; she was a very devastating hurricane. She demolished more than 300,000 homes and left them homeless, and confirmed 285 deaths. Imagine big strong winds whistling around your home, no power, and a big river down your street with cars bobbing down it, scary, isn’t it. These are some of the tragic events that happened during hurricane sandy. What is a hurricane? The proper definition is, when a series of cold gusty winds mix with the warm humid air. It’s just like a tornado but it forms over water.
The month of August in 2005 was an extremely shocking and devastating time for the United States more particularly for the people of New Orleans, Louisiana. For a city that was already crumbling for many years something tragic was about to happen. On the 29th of August a rated Category 3 hurricane made landfall. The name of the tragic disastrous storm is Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina, will forever be known as one of the worst storms in United States history. Tearing apart the lives of so many people in just a short period of time(Hurricane Katrina, par. 1).
Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane at its highest, made impact between August 23-30th 2005, and has since gone down as the most devastating and costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. In preparation for the impact of the storm, on August 27th 2005, two days before the hurricane made landfall, President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Waterford nuclear plant was shut down for precautionary reasons in the wake of the oncoming storm and mandatory evacuations were issued for large parts of the southeast. Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans stated that about 80% of the 480,000 people asked to evacuate heeded warnings. Evacuation orders were also made for areas along the Mississippi coast, low-lying coastal areas in Alabama, as well as the barrier islands in western Florida Panhandle.
Hurricane Maria was destructive and caused a large amount of damage to the entire island of Puerto Rico. Maria hit on September 20 and was a category four hurricane, nearly a category five. Hurricane Maria has had a tremendous impact on the lives of Puerto Ricans and even the world.
Picture this, you laying on top of you car as you are being violently slung down your street, which was once dry and calm and is now wet and foreign, at an extremely rapid pace. You can’t find your family and all you can do is hope that they haven’t drowned and are able to stay afloat against the violent waters that are angrily attempting to destroy everything in its path. You look around the weather is gray and it’s raining heavily. It is a struggle to breathe between the rapid rain and the violent waters which are attempting to pull you under, forever. Your house no longer exists it is broken down from the pounding waters and fast winds. That is exactly what it would be like if you were in the midst of a hurricane. After hurricanes are over the confusion is crazy, children who had loving families are now orphaned, people become homeless, and people miss certain joys such as walking due to becoming paralyzed.
Climate change is an inevitable phenomenon that is being experienced globally in various forms such as temperature rise. Sea level rise, droughts, floods, hurricanes, landslides, etc. According to the forth assessment report of the IPCC project even with immediate implementation of mitigation strategies global climate change will continue for decades. Climate change is inflicting serious consequences on human wellbeing and will continue to inflict damages in the future. It is estimated that mean global temperature will rise by 1.8 ºC - 4.0 ºC by end of the 21st century (Izaurraade, 2009). A new global climate model predicts that in the coming decade the surface air temperature is likely to exceed existing records (Smith et al., 2007). Growing season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics by end of the 21st century will exceed the most extreme temperature recorded in the history (Battistic and Rosamond, 2009).
Rosenfeld, Jeffrey O.; Eye of the Storm: Inside the World's Deadliest Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Blizzards; HarperCollins Trade Sales Dept, January 1999