Hurricanes Research Document

Inquiry Fair Final Research
What are Hurricanes?

They are high pressured storms that rapidly rotate in a spiral way. Hurricanes,
Cyclones and Typhoons are the exact same, except that they are named differently
is different parts of the world. Small Hurricanes can have wind speeds of above 74
mph, whereas the biggest hurricanes have had windspeeds of over 180mph. They
mainly occur in the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
What are the causes of Hurricanes?

The 2 major ingredients of a perfect hurricane are Warm Water and Warm, Moist
Air. When Warm Air begins to rise from the ocean. They collide with cooler air
and condense. When they condense, they make storm clouds and rain.
The condensation process has an aftermath of releasing more heat, which warms
the cool air and causes it to rise and making more way for hot a to rise from the
ocean. This process continues and continues. As it continues, the heat exchange
causes the storm to spiral in a wind pattern around a single point, known as the eye
of the hurricane. When the wind collides together, it causes the circulation of the
storm faster. This process is called convection. Afterwards, it is classified as one of
the three things: A tropical depression (Wind Speeds of less than 38mph), A
tropical storm (Wind speeds of 39mph to 73mph) or a Hurricane (Wind speeds of
74mph and above).
Most scientists believe that the increase in worldwide temperatures (because of
global warming) is making the number of Hurricanes in the world much fiercer.
What are some examples of Hurricanes?

The most recent hurricane is Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm which took
place in the Bahamas. It recked havoc in that place. It killed 5 people in the
Bahamas, too. There are about 50 hurricanes annually, which is a lot. Here is a
table of some famous hurricanes:
Title Name Year Amount
Costliest Hurricane Katrina 2005 125 Billion Dollars
Most wind speed Hurricane Patricia 2015 215mph
Most deaths Hurricane Galveston 1900 8000 - 12000
Biggest in Size Typhoon Tip 1979 2200km (Diameter)
How are hurricanes measured?
Hurricanes are measured by the Saphir – Simpson Scale. The scale categorizes
them into 5 different categories based on Wind speed majorly. Storm Surge and
Pressure are the minor factors that affect the category of the storm. Here is a table
for the same:
Category Wind Speed Pressure Storm Example Year Where it took place
Surge
Category 1 74 – 95mph 98kPa 4 – 5 feet Hurricane Lili 2002 Louisiana, USA
Category 2 96 – 110mph 96-97K 6 – 8 feet Hurricane 2004 Florida, USA
kPa Frances
Category 3 111 – 130mph 94-96kPa 9 – 12 feet Hurricane 2004 Alabama, USA
Ivan
Category 4 131 – 155mph 92-94kPa 13 – 18 feet Cyclone 2005 Cuba, Egypt
Dennis
Category 5 155mph <920kPa >18 feet Hurricane 2019 Florida, USA
Dorian
What is storm surge?
Storm Surge is the height of the water pushed by the hurricane. The storm surge is
more in a powerful hurricane, as it is seen in the above table. When collided with
actual tides, it can create tsunamis which have a height of above 30 feet!
What is Pressure?
There are many types of pressures but the one that concerns hurricanes is the
atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure is the pressure exerted by the
atmosphere at one point. The average sea level pressure is 100 kilo pascals. If the
atmospheric pressure in the sea area drops, then we know that a storm is coming in
that area.
Case Study : Hurricane Patricia
Introduction
Hurricane Patricia is the Hurricane with the highest wind speeds ever recorded at
215mph. This hurricane took place in October 2015. On the eleventh of October, a
bit of disturbed weather travelled outside central America and it met up with a
tropical wave.
Formation
They started colliding together in order to form a tropical depression. This tropical
depression was created a bit after midnight on the 20th of October. It travelled
through cold water and did not intensify that much. A bit later that day, it turned
into a tropical storm. It swam across a lot of hot water, which made it intensify
rapidly. It turned into a hurricane a bit after midnight on the 22nd of October. It was
intensifying too much; it reached category 4 by 6pm on the 22nd. In the morning of
the 23rd of October, it caught a gust of wind and started moving northwards, which
made it a category 5 storm.
Impact
It increased its wind speeds by about 120mph in a span of 24 hours – the fastest
ever by any hurricane. On the 23rd of October during noon, it reached its top wind
speeds, which was about 215mph! During the end of the day, the wind speeds
started to slow down, on the water itself. It hit the city of Jalisco in Mexico at
around 11pm on the 23rd. It hit the shore as a Category 4 storm. It caused immense
amount of damage. The hurricane majorly affected areas in Mexico with low
population density (below 30 people per square km). About 9,000 homes were
damaged in that area. About 100,000 acres of cops were destroyed due to this
hurricane. A cargo ship by the name of Los Llanitos toppled near a place called
Bara de Navidad. The southern Texas area experienced about 10 inches of rain. It
flooded the southern part of Texas. It dissapitated above Mexico on the 24th of
October.
Aftermath
The hurricane costed about 462 Million Dollars in damage. It affected Jalisco,
Colima and Michoacán in Mexico. Furthermore, it caused a little bit of damage to
the southern parts of Texas. 261,989 people were left without electricity. About
5,791 navy officers were deployed from the Mexican Military Force to assist
recovery for the citizens of the country. 6 people were killed in the city of Jalisco,
which were reported. There could have been many more. The northern Mexican
area experienced about 7.5 inches of rain. The southern Texas region was
completely flooded due to the heavy 10 inches of rain.
Disaster Management Relief

UNICEF is an organization which is part of the United Nations. They are one of
the best hurricane reliefers. There are many other hurricane reliefer organizations,
such as red cross, direct relief and many online organizations, which encourage
you to donate for hurricane relief.
Direct Relief is constantly working for the relief of many Hurricanes, including the
recent Hurricane Dorian. The hurricane relief system for Hurricane Dorian is very
systematic. Direct Relief has helicopters that deploy troops to revive injured
people. Approximately 75,000 people were injured or displaced from their homes.
They contact the governments and request for medicine and have spent about
250,000 dollars for flood relief.
After the hurricanes first hit in the Bahamas, Direct Relief had already implanted
medicines in Florida and were ready when the hurricane hit Florida. Therefore,
there was not that much damage done. They have helped many citizens who have
been injured from various other hurricanes, too.
What precautions can we take when a hurricane takes
place?
Before
1. Bring in objects that are outside your house.
2. Make sure that all your family members are aware of evacuation routes
3. Have enough food and water for 3 days.
4. Prepare a kit where you keep protective clothes, a weather radio, flashlight
and plenty of batteries.
5. Make sure your vehicles have gasoline
During
1. Stay inside your house
2. Stay away from the shore or low altitude areas.
3. Make sure that you stay away from flood – prone areas
4. If evacuation managers say to evacuate, do so.
5. Always have some form of shelter with you
6. Wear a raincoat

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Inquiry Fair Final Research

What are Hurricanes?

What are the causes of Hurricanes?

What are some examples of Hurricanes?

Disaster Management Relief

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