Hurricane Gloria, “Storm of the Century” It was the September of 1985 in Massapequa Park, located in Long Island, New York. A few days prior, Tropical Storm Henri had rolled through, causing some precipitation but otherwise being no cause for alarm. My father had only moved back in with my grandmother just the summer before, after some academic struggles hit him hard. The weather forecast predicted to unimpressed listeners- my father, my grandmother, and my uncle- that the next storm coming would be “pretty bad.” When Hurricane Gloria hit Long Island, it could only be described as “horrific.” According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Gloria began on September 15th as most hurricanes do- as a tropical wave off the coast of Africa. …show more content…
My father 's philosophy, where hurricanes were concerned, was that “either the house is gonna go, or it 's not.” He and his mother took shelter inside the house to wait out the storm, while his brother ended up throwing caution- and good sense- to the eventual 85mph winds, and went out driving, possibly drinking, with friends (Wikipedia, 2015). He would return later, after about a week of partying and storm-chasing that has long escaped his memory. My father said he was “lucky to be alive.” My dad was fascinated with storms, and gravitated toward the windows to watch the chaos even as his mother, the most cautious of the three, warned him away from it. Though he was not hurt from doing so, and the house itself did not suffer much damage, the effects of the storm were sweeping and severe. Entire forests ' worth of trees were falling across Long Island, roads were flooding, and streetlights and power lines were being ripped out of the ground like cheap lawn signs. Over 1.5 million people lost power, including my father and grandmother. Four people died, thankfully not including my relatives, not even the one who had taken off right at the start. All in all, the storm would go on to cause up to $100 million of damage, less than half of which would later be repaid by federal and state relief funds (Wikipedia, …show more content…
That eye would break the record for lowest recorded pressure for an Atlantic hurricane that did not reach category 5, at 919 millibars, until Hurricane Opal in 1995 (National Weather Service). When winds, rain, and debris faded to quiet, my father, along with my grandma and most of the neighborhood, decided to walk outside and look around. It did not last long- thirty years later, he estimates about 15 minutes at most. It was eerie and unsettling, as he described it: “The lighting was all wrong- it was like a scene from a horror movie. I was waiting for the guy in the mask to pop out.” They could see the debris that had been thrown around, and the storms in the distance. Soon enough, the winds started to pick back up, and everyone hurried back
A lot of homes, businesses, and other places were destroyed. Atlantic city homes were flooded. Many people, not just in New Jersey, had no power for days to weeks. The storms surge made it all the way past the board walk. Hoboken, New Jersey was hit hard. Their homes, businesses, and transportation ways and means were destroyed. Winds there were counter-clockwise making it worse for Hoboken. A lot of New York was hit too. They also had no power for long periods of time. Many of their homes and etc. were destroyed during the storm.
There were a lot of items lost in the flood. Even trucks, cars, and even airplanes. This hurricane has been up to 50 inches of rain. The resulting floods inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000 people, and caused more than 17,000 deaths. Losses are estimated between 70 and 190 billion dollars.
Nearly 45 years ago one of the most powerful and damaging weather phenomenon’s ever to be recorded slammed into the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, a storm that effected people far and wide. Camille formed on August 14th just west of the Cayman Islands and rapidly intensified overnight becoming a category 3 hurricane approaching the island of Cuba. The storm trekked north-northwestward across the Gulf and became a stage 5 hurricane and maintained its strength before making landfall on the Mississippi Coast on the eve of August 17th. The devastating aftermath in the weeks to follow induced by the winds, surges, and rainfall took the lives of 256 people, and caused an estimated damage of 1.421 billion dollars.
Once there was, as never before, a hurricane of great might and strength. As never before, there once was a hurricane of many names: storm, cyclone, tempest, typhoon, and flood. Yet it has lived on in history as the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Humanity has glorified and immortalized the hurricane. The Great Galveston Hurricane has been the subject of numerous articles, novels, plays, and poems, as well as four major nonfiction studies (Longshore). It is truly one of hurricane lore’s greatest of storms.
On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, the most expensive hurricane in American history, made landfall in Louisiana with winds of one hundred and twenty-seven miles per hour (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts”). The sheer magnitude of the amount of lives and property lost was enormous, and it was triggered simply by warm ocean waters near the Bahamas ("How Hurricane Katrina Formed"). Nature was indifferent to whether the raging winds and rain would die off in the ocean or wipe out cities; it only follows the rules of physics. A multitude of American authors has attempted to give accounts and interpretations of their encounters with the disinterested machine that is nature. Two authors, Stephen Crane and Henry David Thoreau, had rather contrasting and conflicting interpretations of their own interactions with nature. Crane’s work, “The Open Boat,” is story based on his experience as a survivor
On August 27, 1965, a weather satellite detected a weak tropical disturbance, which was named Betsy, near the Barbados. However, by August 29th the “disturbance” had grown into a hurricane. Betsy not only became one of the most dangerous, but also one of the most expensive storms in the history of the United States. In fact, Time Magazine has rated Hurricane Betsy number 11 in its “Most Destructive U.S. Hurricanes of All Time.” Moreover, this famous hurricane gained the nickname “Billion Dollar Betsy” because it was the first tropical storm to have caused more than $1 billion dollars in damage.
Leading up to this storm, many prominent scientists believed that the hurricane would never make landfall, or if it did hit, would not cause any major damage. Due to this foolhardy belief held by the scientists, many civilians did not have any time to evacuate their homes and barely escaped with their loved ones and whatever small valuables or keepsakes they could grab. Regretfully, many families had to leave everything they had behind. Hurricane Andrew also damaged the livelihood of many small shop owners or farms and caused long term problems as well. Due to the large flooding and high wind speeds, much of southern Florida was left in ruin and many years were spent trying to clean the rubble and restore buildings. Hurricane Andrew also destroyed many precious ecosystems on top of all of that.
Then finally, the storm can be bumped up into a hurricane if the winds reach 75 mph. The National Weather Service is constantly trying to provide us with data and other information about when and where hurricanes are forming. It has been said that the only way 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 their city or state. The more time that people have to do this, the more that people will do this.
New Orleans by far felt the biggest effect of Hurricane Katrina. Many people were rescued but had nowhere to go and the government was not prepared for the disaster. There was no plan for recovery. Communication failures were one of the major problems which included power failures and broken telephone lines. Homes were destroyed and many were left stuck on the roof of their broken homes. Most of the city’s major roads and buildings suffered extensive damage. Countless people were left unemployed and homeless. Above all, the worst effect caused by Hurricane Katrina was the final death toll of 1,836 people with 705 still reported
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 hurricane is a low pressure area that forms over a warm ocean in the early summer and in the early fall and. the two biggest factors of causes of a hurricane is water and moist air because the water surface rises and then gets mixed with cooler air to condense and form storm clouds. When a hurricane starts in the Atlantic it starts when a thunderstorm off the west coast of Africa drifts up towards the Atlantic. A minimum distance of at least 500km, from the equator, is needed because it is too humid near the equator for a hurricane to start.so that’s why hurricanes form above the equator it where it’s cooler. Wherever the hurricane forms (on the water) it needs to be at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (the water), that’s how you get water vapor which, because the water is warm, which powers the hurricane (the water vapor releases latent heat of condensation to power the hurricane).the water vapor acts like a fuel source. Strong winds also play a big role in causing a hurricane because it helps bring up more water vapor. These winds also spiral inwards so the hurricane canes get its spiraling motion. Th...
A catagory five hurricane is coming your way…. What do you do? There are quite a few
Crime rates went up, no one had a place to stay and water was polluted. The damage done by Katrina affected New Orleans and the other areas hit years after it struck. Restoration for the areas hit would need support from all across America and support groups across the country. No one was ready for this tragedy, or could ever predict the horrible outcome. Hurricanes are powerful and destructive storms that involve great rain and wind.
...ve damage occurred in New England where federal disaster areas were declared for seven counties in Massachusetts, five in Maine, and one in New Hampshire. Off Staten Island, two men were drowned when their boat capsized. Other fatalities occurred when a man fishing from a bridge was either blown or swept off in New York and a fisherman was swept off the rocks at Narrangansett, RI by heavy surf. Offshore, six lives were lost when the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat, sank. Total damage in the Halloween Storm, as it came to be known because of its date, was in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
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.