Hurricanes Case study and revision notes for A Level hurricanes topic 0.0 / 5 ? GeographyCase studiesA2/A-levelAQA Created by: PheebieCreated on: 19-05-13 10:03 Diagram of Hurricane Formation 1 of 10 Causes of Hurricanes Energy from warm sea, die out over land. Heat from the land sucks them quickly towards the Land e.g from Atlantic to North America. Different wind speeds= different catagory. Winds tend to blow Westerly e.g. West coast of Africa gets non-few hurricanes. TYPHOONS- Pacific Ocean (e.g. North China) CYCLONES- Indian Ocean (e.g. SE Africa) HURRICANES- Atlantic Ocean (e.g. America) Cold Ocean currents can prevent hurricanes e.g Peruvian on South American Coast. El Nino years- hurricanes are more frequent 2 of 10 Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Scale 3 of 10 Hurricane Sandy (Oct 2012) MEDC/ LEDC Impacts MEDC: 113 casualties in USA , 2 in Canda. 1 person missing in USA $50bn in property damage. Impacted US elections. Fundraising got $41million in 1 week LEDC: 54 causalties in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, 2 in Bahamas and 1 in Jamaica. 21 people missing in Haiti. Property damage- $2bn in Cuba, $55,2million in Jamaica & $300million in Bahamas. 200,000 left homeless in Haiti. UN Sent aid to 500,000 people in Santiage de Cuba, Cuba. 4 of 10 Prediction & Preparedness, Hurricanes- Sandy 2012 Info from Satellites and land & sea recording stations. Hurricanes follow erratic path do prediction is normally no more than 12-18hours in advance. USA set out compulsory evacuation in red 'top priority zones. LEDCs have made some progress in predictions and evacuations helping to lower death toll. The NY Stock exchange was closed for the 1st time since 9/11. False predictions can be costly to the economy. All flights leaving New Jersey were cancelled. People managed to 'tweet' services for help when phone lines were down but still got 3G. 5 of 10 Global Warming and Sandy Hurricanes are naturally occuring but may be enhanced by global warming. Sea temperatures have risen by 0.6c in Atlantic were the hurricane has formed. Sea levels have risen 1 foot around New York and New Jersey over the past 100 years. Some scientists believe the blocking high pressure which pushed it in land was caused by global warming. 6 of 10 Cyclone Nargis, Burma Impacts 2008 1.5million people affected. 138 dead or missing. $4bn worth of economic damage. 450,000 homes destroyed. 600,000 hectacres of farmland lost along with 60% of farming impliments. 75% hospitals or clinics destroyed. Diahorrea, dysentery and skin infections spread amongst survivors. 7 of 10 Cyclone Nargis, Burma Management 2008 Lack of info- confusion amongst aid & rescue services. Government refused to admit scale of disaster & were reluctant to accept foriegn aid. Food was left with monks rather than untruseted government agencies. Donor countries pleged $50bn but U.S. & French ships were refused ebtry to Bura's ports. 8 of 10 Hurricane Katrina 2005 200,000 never returned to the area. Homes that were destroyed and some were never rebuilt. Design faults with levees failed as they were built too low and water seeped through them. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) were blamed for poor evacuation error and poor emergency response. Managing director of FEMA lost his job. President George Bush was crtiticised for not reacting quick enough. 9 of 10 Hurricane Katrina 2005 (2) $125bn total damage, most expensive in U.S. history. 68,000 left unemployed. 973 deaths. 80% of New Oreleans is below sea level, this was flooded. Food, shelter and water supplies quickly depleted. Charities & volunteers came to help distribute aid. Damage to oil refinary caused a price hike in fuel costs. 10 of 10
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