Hurricanes and Their Impacts
Hurricane Claudette (2003)
In the Atlantic Basin, they are called "hurricanes", a term that echoes colonial Spanish and Caribbean Indian words for evil spirits and big winds. In the Northwest Pacific Ocean, they're called "typhoons" possibly from a Chinese word meaning "big wind" or from the name of the Greek god of the winds, Typhon. By any name, these awesome storms have been a deadly problem for coastal residents and sailors ever since the early days of colonization.
Born in warm tropical waters, these spiraling masses require a complex combination of atmospheric processes to grow, mature, and then die. They are not the largest storm systems in our atmosphere or the most violent, but they combine these qualities as no other weather phenomenon does.
Today, hurricane damage costs billions of dollars. In the period from 1900-2008, 29 hurricanes each caused damage in excess of $1 billion (not adjusted for inflation). Damage from Hurricane Katrina (2005) alone was estimated at more than $81 billion in southeast Florida, southeast Louisiana, and Mississippi. The graph on the right (above) does not include loss of life since 2000 and so does not reflect the more than 1,000 deaths that occurred during Hurricane Katrina. And it isn't just hurricanes that inflict costly damage and threaten lives-in 2001 Tropical Storm Allison killed 41 and damage figures hit $5 billion due mainly to flooding in Texas.
Despite improvements in hurricane track forecasting and emergency preparedness, the 1,500 lives lost in Hurricane Katrina-primarily from storm surge-remind us how vulnerable coastal residents are from hurricane impacts when evacuations do not get everyone out of harm's way. Moreover, our vulnerability from hurricanes and tropical storms is increasing. Between 1980 and 2003, coastal populations expanded by 28% (33 million people). With residential and commercial development growing along coastal areas, greater numbers of people and property are at risk. Large numbers of tourists are attracted to coastal locations, adding to the problems of emergency managers and local decision makers during a hurricane threat.
The home of David and Kimberly King before and after Hurricane Katrina, Waveland, MS
Our vulnerability to tropical cyclones can be reduced through preparedness. Local decision makers must make difficult choices between public safety and possible economic losses before, during, and after a storm. These decisions will be solid if they are based on an understanding of hurricanes and tropical storms, their hazards, the value and limitations of forecasts, and a good decision-making process.