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Extreme Weather

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Extreme Weather What is extreme weather? Extreme weather any type of extreme or severe weather. It is weather on a larger more serious and devastating scale. There are many different types of extreme weather like tornadoes, hurricanes floods, and many more. When there is an extreme weather phenomenon happens there is usually a high cost that comes with it not only economical but also personal. One type of extreme weather is hurricanes. Hurricanes are also known as typhoons and cyclones. It is a powerful rotating storm that involves thunder, lightning, and rain. Hurricanes are one of the most damaging and powerful forces there are among the other types of extreme weather. Hurricanes are a major hazard to buildings, people, and the environment. A hurricane has killed more people than any other storm there is. In order for a tropical storm to be classified as a hurricane its wind speed has to reach 74mph but usually reaches higher wind speed than that. Some examples of hurricanes over the last couple of years are hurricane Ivan and Katrina. Hurricane Ivan made its appearance on the gulf shores of Alabama. This hurricane started at 2:10am Thursday September 16 2004. Hurricanes Ivan’s strength was estimated to be around 130 mph which made it a category 3 hurricane. Ivan cost a lot of damages, it was estimated that there was around 123 fatalities and the cost damage it caused was estimated at $18 million making it the fifth costliest hurricane ever to strike the country. There was also hurricane Katrina which was in New Orleans are and Mississippi coast; it was one of the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history. It is also one of the most deadly hurricanes to strike the U.S. since the hurricane of Palm Beach- Lake Okeechobee in September of 1928. The cost of damages hurricane Katrina made were estimated to be around $7 billion to $10 billion. It is the most expensive hurricane to hit the U.S. Hurricane Katrina was a category 3 hurricane that killed an estimated 2,000 people and affected about 90,000 square miles of the U.S. Another type of extreme weather is tornadoes also known as twisters. Tornadoes are also a dangerous type of extreme weather. Tornadoes can produce the strongest winds on earth close to 300mph. Tornadoes can last only a couple of second or even longer sometimes even hours they can move for miles across the land. They can occur anywhere in the world but their power and speed will vary based on the location. The U.S. is famous for the number of tornadoes it has each year which usually reaches the 1,000 mark. Several dozen are classified as strong or violent which means they have reached a speed of 200mph. The Mid-West around Oklahoma City is known as Tornado Alley because it sees more tornadoes than any other place on earth. Tornado damages vary and are determined by the Fujita Scale. The Fujita Scale is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The scale goes from F0-F5. F0 has a wind speed of40-73 mph and it causes light damage, F1 has a wind speed of 74-112 mph and it causes moderate damage, F2 has a wind speed of 113-157 mph and its considerable damage, F3 has a wind speed of 158-206 mph and it causes severe damage, F4 has a wind speed of 207-260 mph and it causes devastating damage, and the final level is F5 with a wind speed of 261-318 mph and has incredible damage. One example of a tornado that has happened is the 1925 Tri-State Tornado on March 18, 1925 in Missouri. It is one of the most remembered tornadoes because it traveled 219 miles from Ellington, Missouri across the southern tip of Illinois to Princeton, Indiana. This tornado killed about 695 people and injuring 2,027. It hit the hardest in Southern Illinois where 540 people were killed and 1,423 were injured. It hit many places including Annapolis, Missouri, Gorham, and Parrish, Illinois and Indiana they were left in a state of near or complete devastation. The third extreme weather that I am going to talk about is floods. Floods can be defined as any area of land covered by water which is normally dry. When it comes to floods the most important factor is rain. There are two types of floods there is river floods and flash floods. River floods form slowly normally because of melting winter snow or when there is a very wet season. It is when smaller streams eventually join larger rivers making the water power become grater. It can cause disruption for weeks on end washing away vehicles and roads and possibly destroying buildings. The other flood is flash floods. A flash flood is more dangerous than a river flood. A flash flood can happen very quickly it is usually caused by larger amount of water that comes from heavy rain fall. One example of a flood that has happen is the Big Thompson Canyon Flood of 1976 in Denver, Colorado. During this flood eight inches of rain fell in one hour. The water from the river rose at a very fast pace and went over the banks, the resident and visitors in the area had no idea that they were in the path of a raging flood waters. In two hours the flood created over $30 million in property damage and killed about 139 people. Another big flood that happened was the Mississippi River Flood of 1993 which began at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and flowed down south about 2,000 miles or more to the Gulf of Mexico. This flood cause 70,000 people were displaced by the flood, 50,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, and 52 people died. Damage was estimated between $15-20 billion. In conclusion, extreme weather events are very dangerous not only to people but also to the environment and buildings/ structures. There are many types of extreme weather that can occur and they are all different but also have the same effect at the end. They will cost the environment and you a lot of money and work to get back what they have lost. It is always better to be as prepared as you can if you live in an area where any of this extreme weather can occur.
References

Wolchover, N. (2011, August 24). Name That Hurricane: Famous Examples of the 5 Hurricane Categories. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://www.livescience.com/33668-hurricane-famous-examples-5-hurricane-categories.html
Extreme. (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2011, from http://www.econet.org.uk/weather/extreme.html
Stadd, H. (2009, January 1). Hurricane Katrina. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/hurricane-katrina

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