Thursday, 13 September 2012

Hurricane and it effects

The term Hurricane is derived from carib God of evil Hurcan, It is amazing natural phenomenon but it is destructive, This natural phenomenon takes place 60-70 times a year throught the world. Hurricanes more often appear in Atlantic, carribean, Gulf of mexico and central Pacific regions.

Due to the coroilis effect, the regions near the equator belts the hurricanes is formed as there is not enough rotatory motion. Hurricane is also known as cyclone in India and Arab and it is termed as Typhoon in Pacific ocean.

The birth of a hurricane starts as a low pressure zone and builds into a tropical wave of low pressure. In addition to a disturbance in the tropical ocean water, the storms that become hurricanes also require warm ocean waters (above 80°F or 27°C down to 150 feet or 50 meters below sea level) and light upper level winds

Hurricane damage results from three primary causes:

1) Storm Surge. Approximately 90% of all hurricane deaths can be attributed to the storm surge, the dome of water created by the low pressure center of a hurricane. This storm surge quickly floods low-lying coastal areas with anywhere from 3 feet (one meter) for a category one storm to over 19 feet (6 meters) of storm surge for a category five storm. Hundreds of thousands of deaths in countries such as Bangladesh have been caused by the storm surge of cyclones.

2) Wind Damage. The strong, at least 74 mph or 119 km/hr, winds of a hurricane can cause widespread destruction far inland of coastal areas, destroying homes, buildings, and infrastructure.

3) Freshwater Flooding. Hurricanes are huge tropical storms and dump many inches of rain over a widespread area in a short period of time. This water can engorge rivers and streams, causing hurricane-induced flooding. Unfortunately, polls find that about half of Americans living in coastal areas are unprepared for a hurricane disaster. Anyone living along the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf Coast and the Caribbean should be prepared for hurricanes during hurricane season.Fortunately, hurricanes ultimately diminish, reverting to tropical storm strength and then into a tropical depression when they move over cooler ocean water, move over land, or reach a position where the upper level winds are too strong and are thus unfavorable.
 

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