Hurricane Information
Here is Hurricane Katrina approaching the New Orleans coast...
What is a hurricane exactly? A hurricane is a storm with violent wind, in particular a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean. The hurricane's heavy rain and massive winds can tear whole houses and towns apart, as you will read in Hurricane Damage. A hurricane's winds are approximately 73-136 knots, or 12 on a Beaufort Scale.
How Does A Hurricane Form?
...here is the same photo, only a satellite image.
How do hurricanes form? Hurricanes use warm and moist air to power their way through the water. This is why they form only over warm waters near the equator. The air rises, and joins with other rising air. If the hurricane forms in the Northern Hemisphere, they will spin counter-clockwise. But if the hurricane forms in the Southern Hemisphere, the hurricane turns clockwise.
Hurricane Damage
Here is a boat that Hurricane Hugo will eventually capsize.
What type of damage can a hurricane cause? Hurricanes can cause damage from different sources. The first one is wind. They are known to knock over and uproot trees, collapse homes and buildings, flip cars and boats, and lastly, toss debris that it has already ripped out of the ground to various places. For a good animation on wind, visit http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/damg/wind.rxml.
The next type of major damage a hurricane can cause is by a storm surge, which is the rising of sea level because of high winds and low pressure. If a storm surge is not currently anticipated, many people can die from the flooding that the surge causes. The winds (see above) help push the storm surge to the land, which can also push more water onto the land, causing more flooding. For a good animation on a storm surge, visit http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/damg/surg.rxml.
Rain is also a major factor in hurricane damage, and joins sides with a storm surge (see above) to create a major flooding. Tropical storms and hurricanes usually smother towns with about 3ft (91cm) of rain, give or take a few. For rain totals of Hurricane Opal, 1995, visit http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/damg/flod.rxml. Tornadoes can also take people as a surprise right after a hurricane (see section titles Tornadoes in the Menu Bar).
The last piece of damage caused by a hurricane is a rip tide, or a rip current, which are dangerous to people, but mostly swimmers. Rip tides (or currents) form when a large storm is near. The rip tide always heads away from the shore. For a good animation and diagram on rip tides, visit http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/guides/mtr/hurr/damg/rip.rxml.
The next type of major damage a hurricane can cause is by a storm surge, which is the rising of sea level because of high winds and low pressure. If a storm surge is not currently anticipated, many people can die from the flooding that the surge causes. The winds (see above) help push the storm surge to the land, which can also push more water onto the land, causing more flooding. For a good animation on a storm surge, visit http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/damg/surg.rxml.
Rain is also a major factor in hurricane damage, and joins sides with a storm surge (see above) to create a major flooding. Tropical storms and hurricanes usually smother towns with about 3ft (91cm) of rain, give or take a few. For rain totals of Hurricane Opal, 1995, visit http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/damg/flod.rxml. Tornadoes can also take people as a surprise right after a hurricane (see section titles Tornadoes in the Menu Bar).
The last piece of damage caused by a hurricane is a rip tide, or a rip current, which are dangerous to people, but mostly swimmers. Rip tides (or currents) form when a large storm is near. The rip tide always heads away from the shore. For a good animation and diagram on rip tides, visit http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/guides/mtr/hurr/damg/rip.rxml.