EARTHSC 2GG3 Lecture 28: Lecture 28 Hurricane Impacts
6 May 2016
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Hurricanes: damages, socio-economic impact and prediction: lecture 28, november 8, 2012. More expensive buildings: number of deaths has decreased. Coordinated ability to evacuate populations at risk. Image: storm surge from hurricane dennis, 06/2004; courtesy of usgs. Low pressure helps cause sea level under storm to rise: prolonged high winds push seawater into mounds as high as 7. 3 m and 80-160 km wide. Surge height depends on wind speed, fetch length (the length of water over which a wind has blown), and water depth: hurricane sandy the highest storm surge was 4. 23 m (new york) Storm surges pile up and rise even higher when approaching shallower coastline, or funneled into bay, inlet, or harbor: 90% of tropical cyclone deaths result from storm-surge flooding. Opal (1995) 7. 3 m (fort walton beach, florida) Ike (2008) 6 m (galveston bay, texas) Sandy (2012) 4. 23 m (new york city area)
