US Hurricane Season Begins With A Splash
As Isaac Unleashes On The Gulf States
By Meera Dolasia on 08/31/2012
It was supposed to have pounded the
coast of Florida and even delayed
Republican Presidential candidate Mitt
Romney's nomination by a few days.
But hurricane Isaac changed course
midway. After barely grazing the
Florida Keys, it bypassed the rest of
the Sunshine State and instead,
unleashed its fury on the three Gulf
states of Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama.
The hurricane's timing was particularly
eerie for the residents of New Orleans
given that it landed on Tuesday,
August 28th - Seven years to the day
after hurricane Katrina almost erased
the city off the world map. What was even scarier was that just like Katrina, Isaac began as vast
storm leading experts to wonder if it would develop into a similar kind of monster hurricane as it
blew across the warm Gulf waters. Thankfully, that did not happen.
But Isaac still ended up a very powerful
category 1 hurricane that tested the coastal
city's 130-mile, 14.6 billion new levee
system and floodgates to the fullest. The
storm that has resulted in six deaths has
caused widespread flooding, leaving
thousands homeless and almost a million
residents of the Southern States without
power. One of the hardest hit is the
Plaguermines Parish that lies fifty miles
southeast of New Orleans. The area that
comprises of fishing towns, marinas and marshland is exceptionally vulnerable to flooding
because portions of it lie outside the levee protection system.
Now downgraded to a storm, Isaac is currently making its way through Missouri where it is
expected to dump its remaining moisture - between 3-5 inches this weekend, before petering out.
The rain will definitely be welcomed in this drought-stricken area that has not received much
precipitation this year.
So what causes these unstoppable acts of
nature? In this article we go behind the scenes
to examine how and why hurricanes happen
and, if there is anything we can do to stop
them.
Though scientists have been studying
hurricanes for only the last one hundred years,
there is evidence that these powerful storms
have been going on for much longer. In fact,
the name hurricane is thought to have evolved
from the word 'Hurakan' - One of the gods of
the ancient Mayan civilization that inhabited
Mexico around 900 AD. The Mayans believed that Hurakan caused these storms by blowing his
breath across the water. In 1400 AD the Carib Indians, who lived in the West Indies Islands renamed the storms 'Hurican', or god of evil.
What Are Hurricanes?
Hurricanes also known as cyclones in some parts of the world, are super powerful storms, which
gain momentum from winds that help them blow in at speeds ranging from 75 to 225mph,
resulting in massive destruction when they hit land.
How Do They Occur?
For hurricanes to occur, the
ocean temperatures must be at
least 80°Fahrenheit and the
atmosphere around it, saturated
with moisture. Also, the winds
must be blowing in the same
direction and the same speed to
force the air upward from the
surface of the ocean.
What Happens Then?
The warm water creates lowpressure air, causing it to rise.
As the air rises, it collects
moisture-forming
thunderclouds. Meanwhile,
cool air displaces the empty space created by the warm air that has risen. As the warm air
condenses, it produces even more heat and rises even faster, causing more cold air to rush in.
This increases the intensity of the storm. As the hurricane winds rotate, they accumulate water in
the center of the storm. This water, called the storm surge, is the most deadly part of the
hurricane, because it dumps into any landmass it hits, causing floods and devastation. The bigger
the storm surge, the more powerful the hurricane.
The Corriolis Effect
When a hurricane first begins, the rising winds blow in
towards the center of the storm. However, as it grows, it
gets impacted by what is known as the 'Corriolis Effect'.
This is when a force, in this case the Earth's rotation around
its own axis, deflects objects on one side. So, while the
hurricane is attempting to going straight, the Earth's
movement causes it to deflect to the right, forcing it to go
counter-clockwise, in the Northern Hemisphere and
clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Why does each hurricane have a name?
Hurricanes are given names, so that scientists can track the storms from start to finish. In the
fifties, hurricanes were named after the phonic alphabet, like Able, Baker etc. From 1953-1979,
the US Weather Bureau decided to shift to only women's names. Since then, they have alternated
between male and female names and now have six different name lists that they alternate each
year. If a hurricane causes real major devastation, like Katrina did to New Orleans in 2005 the
name is replaced with another name and never used again.
What can we do to stop
them?
Unfortunately, not much. In
the past, scientists have tried
various inventions to weaken
these storms. But they gave
up in the 1960's after
realizing that the weather
patterns were too large to
affect. Instead, they changed
their focus to understanding
how hurricanes form and
move, so that they could predict their timing and intensity with greater accuracy. But like other
acts of nature, this too remains an inexact science - One that is neither completely predictable
nor, controllable.
What do the hurricane categories mean?
The hurricane categories, which range from 1-5, are simply a way to gauge their intensity, with 5
being the worst.
Given that a typical season sees about six hurricanes and the fact that the peak of the season is
not until end of
September, there will
probably be a few more
big storms before it's all
over. The good news is
that Isaac is the fourth
hurricane of the 2012
Atlantic season - The first
three did not land on US
soil. So maybe we will
escape the rest too, which
would make this the best
hurricane season we have
had in many years.
Resources: usatoday.com, chicagotribune.com,huffingtonpost.com,abcnews.go.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Use the above article about hurricanes to answer the following questions:
Tuesday
1. What is the genre of this article? ________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Because of Hurricane Isaac the Republican Convention was delayed. Did it need to be? Why
or why not. ___________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. What can you tell me about a Category 4 hurricane (look at the chart – tell me everything)?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday
4. What similarities were there between Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Katrina? ____________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. When Hurricane Isaac hit New Orleans, what category was it?
A. Category 7
B. Category 5
C. Category 1
D. Category 2
6. Where did the Mayan people live around 900 A.D? What did they believe was the cause of
hurricanes? ___________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. What is the storm surge? _____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Thursday
8. How are hurricanes formed? (Use ordering words first, second…finally) _______________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. Why do hurricanes have names?
A. Because meteorologists like to think up names.
B. So meteorologists can keep track of the storms from start to finish.
C. So that each one has a personality
D. So each meteorologist could name a storm after his/her daughter.
10. What text features can you find in this article?
A. Maps, Charts, Pictures and Captions
B. Bolded words, Diagrams
C. Subheadings, Title
D. All of the above
For extra credit:
List the text features that you find:
_____________________ _________________________ ____________________
_____________________ _________________________ ____________________
_____________________ _________________________ ____________________
Grading: You must write your answers in complete sentences using part of the question in the
answer. (1 point each) You must have the correct answer (2 points each). You need to
underline the answers in the text when you find them (3 points).
Grade:
Category
Sentences
Correct Answers
Underlined answers
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