Just days after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas and parts of Louisiana, leaving behind unprecedented destruction, an even stronger tropical cyclone was reported heading towards Florida. Irma, the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history, first brought chaos to the Caribbean, devastating islands like Barbuda and St. Martin on September 6, where it struck with Category 5 winds that at times reached up to 185 mph. More than two dozen people perished, and over 90 percent of the structures were razed to the ground. Images released by NASA’s Earth Observatory show the once lush green islands appearing brown and barren, possibly because the high winds stripped them of all vegetation.But Irma was just getting started. After grazing Cuba and Puerto Rico, the hurricane, now downgraded slightly to a Category 4 storm, then raged on the U.S. East Coast where it made landfall twice — the first in the Florida Keys at 9:10 a.m Sunday, September 10, and then a few hours later, on Marco Island along the state’s southwestern coast. …show more content…
To make matters worse, Irma, which resulted in one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history, unexpectedly veered west, hitting the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, which has not been in the direct path of a hurricane in over a century.As of Tuesday September 12, almost 6.5 million people across the “Sunshine State” remain without power, and overwhelmed utility companies are not sure when it will be restored. The low-lying Keys, which suffered some of the worst damage, have limited electricity, gas, and water. Though residents of the Middle Keys, Lower Keys, and Miami were allowed to return home this morning, over 100,000 Florida remain in shelters and millions more are slowly trickling back after taking refuge in other
In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
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
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.
On August 24th, 1992 in the state of Florida, complete destruction was the end result of Hurricane Andrew. A Hurricane that began in the Atlantic ocean at 20mph. That is almost twice the strength that normal hurricanes begin at. The peak strength of Hurricane Andrew was so strong that devices were not able to measure the winds. An approximation of the force of the winds was said to be up to 200mph. Andrew destroyed about 28,000 homes, damaged 100,000 homes and left 250,000 people homeless along with 30 billion dollars in damage and almost 30 deaths. Hurricane Andrew did not end its devastation in Florida, soon it went to Louisiana causing more damage. (Fig.1)
Hurricane Harvey was one of the most devastating hurricanes to strike the United States in several years. Harvey resulted in over eighty fatalities and over 150 billion dollars in damages. This proves to be one of the most destructive hurricanes to be recorded. The overwhelming damage was caused by many different aspects; however, three of the greatest aspects are: varying weather patterns throughout the storm, the city structure of Houston, Texas, and the lack of evacuation. Each of these factors affected the city in a different way, but all resulted in a common outcome, devastation.
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.
On August 29th, 2006 New Orleanians were expecting a total of 12 to 15 inches of rain and extended five or six inches from the upcoming storm later known as the costliest hurricane in U.S history. The Category 3 hurricane devastated most of eastern North America with blustery winds of 170 mph (280 km per hour) and storm surge values ranging from 10 to 20 feet. The storm called ‘’Hurricane Katrina’’ originated in the Bahamas on August 23th, 2005, but only became a devastation the next day. On August 28th, Hurricane Katrina succeeded a Category 3 hurricane(sustained winds of 122 kt) and exceeded the limits of a Category 5 storm (sustained winds of 136 kt). The following day, the cyclone shifted northwest towards Mississippi and Louisiana, where the hurricane hit the hardest. New Orleans was one of the cities where the most damage was caused; leaving a negative environment, residential and economic effects on the Gulf Coast.
At an immense price to living and possessions, Hurricane Andrew unpredictably fortified to a Category 5 hurricane while it landed in southeastern Florida right after an eyewall replacement cycle
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 ...
The hurricane hit the Florida Gulf coastline on August 9, and was the strongest hurricane since Hurricane Andrew 12 years prior. The hurricane was expected to hit Tampa, but suddenly changed direction and places such as Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Fort Myer and Orlando were hit hard. Punta Gorda, being one of the worst hit towns, ended up being reduced to rubble.
Did you know that hurricane Harvey had 130 mile per hour winds? Hurricane Harvey lives and created a widespread disaster, and the only way to stay safe was to evacuate.
Hurricane Katrina did its destruction in late August of 2005. It began as a category 5 and then became a category 3 hurricane. Before hitting New Orleans, Katrina hit South Florida and then the Gulf Coast. Before Katrina struck land, a state of emergency was declared and mandatory evacuations were issued. Katrina was the most destructive and costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States and the deadliest since 1928. Over 1,400 people died and almost 2,000 people are still unaccounted for.
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.
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....
Hurricane Matthew hit Florida on October 7, 2016. It has been the first major hurricane for Florida in eleven years. This is important because the hurricane also changed the people of Florida because people in certain places were told to move aways to safer places that were in weaker categories. Still, some people decided to take their chances and hoped for the best. However, the hurricane will disrupt the citizens who leave because they will have to leave most of their belonging and their shelter.