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The impact of hurricanes on the physical and human environment
Causes of hurricanes and Effects
Introduction for Hurricanes
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This paper gives us information about “Hurricane Sandy”. It is known as “Super storm Sandy”, off the record. It was the most disastrous hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season along with being the second hurricane that created financial crisis in United States history. In 1953, the National Weather Service started naming the storms after women. As a matter of fact, there are six lists of names for naming storms in the Atlantic. It was the eighteenth storm in the list, tenth hurricane and second large hurricane of the year 2012. It was a Category 3 storm according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, when it made landfall in Cuba. While it was a Category 2 storm off the coast of the Northeastern United States, the storm became the biggest Atlantic hurricane enlisted (according to diameter, with winds ranging 1,100 miles (1,800 km)).
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.
Global warming was the main reason for the occurrence. The water of the Gulf and Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean were h...
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...sing of New York and New Jersey, by providing them with an aid of $1.4 billion. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development granted $150,000 to $300,000 financial aid to individual homeowners facing funding shortages as they rebuild. But states failed in supplying the federal aid to individual house owners who are facing financial problems.
In New York City, families that were already exposed to the housing disaster now face unbelievable stress to finding affordable dwelling in their neighborhood. "Sandy was extremely devastating, but it actually brought to limelight an already existing problem, which was a lack of affordable housing [3]," says the executive director of the Mutual Housing Association of New York. In households where compensating and rebuilding is an impossible dream, hopelessness exists for many. Some Sandy survivors still see no way home.
Isaac’s Storm, by Erik Larson was a very fascinating book because it is difficult to say absolutely what the true subject of the book is. There are three key players in the book, first it is Isaac Cline a meteorologist for the U.S Weather Bureau, The U.S. Weather Bureau itself, and finally the storm of 1900. However, all three elements collaborate with one another in a significant way. The storm of 1900 is the main catalyst for one of the most devastating storms in the United States. However, the Weather Bureau and Isaac Cline both had an impact on the outcome of the catastrophic storm. The book generally focuses on the Galveston Hurricane of 1990, but more so the actions that Isaac Cline takes, or didn’t take rather. It was very tricky to
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.
According to Streetwise of Street News Services (2010), the first reported instances of homelessness dates as far back as 1640, in some of the larger cities in the original 13 colonies. At this time, there were wars being fought between settlers and Native Americans, and people were left with no shelter in both sides (Street News Service, 2010). Later, the industrial revolution caused more homelessness, industrial accidents left many former hard-working families with a dead provider, or with severe disabilities, and then the economy entered a recession in the same time period (Street News Service, 2010). Wars always left a large number of veterans homeless. Later, in 1927, there was an astronomical flood along the Mississippi River, across multiple state, leaving about 1.3 million people without a home (Street News Service, 2010). Natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, the Asian tsunami in 2004, and the earthquake early this year in Japan are still a major cause of homelessness.
A.S.A. & Co. “Hurricane History Facts.” New York Times, New York Times. 17 Jan. 2008. The 'Standard' Web.
The population of New Orleans was steadily decreasing, between the years of 2000 and 2005, 30,000 (6%) of the population left New Orleans in search for better lives (4). The declining population shows us that before Hurricane Katrina residence were already considering leaving the city, some push factors leading them away from the city include poverty and unemployment (5). Accord to the U.S 2005 Census Bureau around 23% of the residence lived in poverty, this can be a result of the nearly 12% unemployment rate (5). With an unemployment rate double the national standard and nearly one forth the population living in poverty, the city of New Orleans had many push factors against it resolution in a decline population prier to Hurricane Katrina. At the time of the storm nearly 400,000 residents were displaced from their homes too near by safe areas or other states. The population reming in the city as decreased to a few thousand (6). A month after the disaster when the levee breaches were repaired and the flood water was pumped out of the city, residence were allowed to return to what was left of their homes. The first reliable estimate of the New Orleans population after Hurricane Katrina was an ‘American Community survey’. The survey projected that by the start of 2006 around one third or 158,000 of the population returned. By the middle of f2006 the city
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 ...
"Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later | FEMA.gov." Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later | FEMA.gov. N.p., 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. .
Hurricane Katrina put a hindrance on New Orleans because the city was left with blighted properties that span from the 9th ward to the 7th ward. Blighted properties were a direct result from flooding, wind damage, and citizens that moved or were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. When the levees broke an abundance of water entered the city and caused homes and business to become flooded. When the city was under water for days it created damage, homes were crumbled to pieces and even uprooted from the ground. Flooding even caused homes to deteriorate and become inhabitable and unsuitable. Blighted properties became breeding grounds for crime, infestation of rodents and other animals, dumping of dead bodies, fires (arson), mold, squatters (homeless), and other serious health issues. These are serious challenges that the city of New Orleans must tackle.
There comes a time in the world where the outcome of certain events can cause a huge social change, one of those events is Hurricane Katrina. The events that took place prior to, during and after Katrina although impact only a few places physically it was left in the minds of everyone in the world. There were many actions that could have taken place to prevent the damage of such a catastrophic event, however nothing was done. Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 hurricane struck Louisiana and parts of the Mississippi. New Orleans in particular, due to various reasons received the most damage. Katrina first started off as a small hurricane formed in the Bahamas as it moved towards Louisiana and Mississippi it became a category 5, which is the strongest it can become, then decreased to category 3 once it finally struck. The storm caused an incredible amount of damage that Hurricane Katrina was noted as the most destructive and costly natural disaster in US history. The death toll was 1,836 people with 200 bodies left unclaimed as well as over 700 people unaccounted for. Hurricane Katrina was a source of social change as people have learned from the impact it had on the mind and body of the citizens of New Orleans, the mismanagement and lack of leadership the government showed, and the substantial immediate and long term economic damage it caused the country.
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.
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.
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...
result from the withdrawal of the federal government’s investment in affordable housing. It has been noted that
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.