Inter III-PVC
READING 3
HURRICANES
Henry: “Do you know why hurricanes are never named after boys?”
Sally: “No. I don’t. Do you know why?”
Henry: “Of course! If they were named after boys they would have to be called ‘himicanes’!”
This popular joke of the 60’s died in 1979 when we began using male names for tropical storms
and hurricanes.
Background: For every year, there is a pre-approved list of names for tropical storms and
hurricanes. These lists have been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. At first,
the lists consisted of only female names; however, since 1979, the lists alternate between male
and female.
Tropical storms are named alphabetically from the list, in chronological order. Thus, the first
tropical storm of the year has a name that begins with "A" and the second is given the name that
begins with "B." The lists contain names that begin from A to W, but exclude names that begin
with a "Q" or "U." If a storm increases in intensity, it may be upgraded to "hurricane."
These were the names for 2009:
FEMALE NAMES
Ana
Claudette
Erika
Grace
Ida
Kate
Mindy
Odette
Rose
Teresa
Wanda
MALE NAMES
Inter III-PVC – Reading 3 – Hurricanes
Bill
Danny
Fred
Henri
Joaquin
Larry
Nicholas
Peter
Sam
Victor
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The word hurricane comes to us from the Caribbean region, where the Carib Indians used the
term “huaracan” meaning “big wind.” In the Pacific Ocean region, hurricanes are called
typhoons, which appear to come from the term “Tai-phung” that also means big wind. In the
Indian Ocean region, hurricanes are simply referred to as “cyclones,” which refers to their
meteorological definition as a low-pressure weather system with a cyclonic rotation.
Interestingly, the earth’s rotation around its axis causes wind flow patterns in the northern and
southern hemisphere to be reversed. So hurricanes that hit the U.S. rotate in a counter-clockwise
direction while cyclones that hit places like Australia in the southern hemisphere rotate in a
clockwise direction.
Although hurricanes are not as fast as tornadoes, they are much larger. They can be hundreds of
kilometres wide. The Atlantic Hurricane season begins on June 1st. It ends on November 30th.
On average, Canada has about 4 hurricanes per year.
In 1775 a hurricane (sometimes called the Independance Hurricane) hit the coast of
Newfoundland and it killed approximately 4000 people. Newfoundland’s fisheries "received a
very severe1 stroke2 from the violence of a storm of wind, which almost swept everything before
it," the colonial governor Robert Duff wrote shortly after it struck. "A considerable number of
boats, with their crews, have been totally lost, several vessels wrecked3 on the shores," he said.
“Ocean levels rose to heights "scarcely ever known before" and caused great devastation”, Duff
reported. A total of 4,000 sailors, mostly from England and Ireland, were reported to have been
drowned. A localized storm surge4 had reached heights of between 20 and 30 feet.
An unknown yachtsman5 trapped by a hurricane, reportedly6 once said:
“Do you know that you cannot breathe with a hurricane blowing full in your face? You cannot
see either. The impact on your eyeballs, of spray and rain flying at over a hundred miles an hour,
makes seeing quite impossible. You hear nothing except the scream7 and booming8 of the wind
which drowns9 even the thunder of the breaking seas, and you cannot move except by dent10 of
terrific11 exertions12. To stand up on deck, is to get blown away like a dead leaf. You cannot even
crawl13; you have to climb about twisting your arms and legs around anything solid within
reach.”
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina had formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005, and crossed southern
Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before
strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm had weakened before making its second
landfall14 as a Category 3 storm on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It
caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to
the storm surge. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans,
Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system15 catastrophically failed16, in many cases hours
Inter III-PVC – Reading 3 – Hurricanes
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after the storm had moved inland17. Eventually 80% of the city became flooded and also large
tracts18 of neighbouring parishes,19and the floodwaters lingered20 for weeks. At least
1,836 people lost their lives in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods, making it the
deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Economist and crisis consultant
Randall Bell wrote: "Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the largest natural disaster in the history of
the United States. Preliminary damage estimates were well in excess of $100 billion, eclipsing
many times the damage wrought21 by Hurricane Andrew in 1992."
Rumour has it, that our associate “Vera” was named after typhoon “Vera”, which hit the coast of
Kanzai, Japan on September 26th 1959. Over 5000 people died that day. The estimated cost of
the damages was over $261 million dollars. So, if you have Vera as a teacher or corrector, you
best be on your best behaviour!
CBJT Communicators/edited January 2010
Inter III-PVC – Reading 3 – Hurricanes
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