Tuesday Dec. 4, 2012
On average, hurricanes kill 20 people per year in the United
States
and cause about $5 billion of damage. As the table below
indicates though there are exceptional years (such as 2005) where the
death
and damage totals greately exceed these average values (data are
from www.economics.noaa.gov)
Year
|
Deaths
|
Total
Damage
(billion $ ))
|
2000
|
0
|
< 1
|
2001
|
24
|
6.5 B
|
2002
|
51
|
1.7 B
|
2003
|
14
|
2.3 B
|
2004
|
34
|
22.9 B
|
2005
|
1016
|
107.5
B
|
2006
|
0
|
< 1
|
2007
|
1
|
< 1
|
2008
|
11
|
7.9 B
|
2009
|
2
|
< 1
|
2010
|
0
|
< 1
|
The
deadliest hurricane in US history is the
1900 Galveston hurricane which caused 6000 - 12,000 deaths.
The
Great Hurricane of 1780 killed over 20,000 people in the Lesser
Antilles. Historic rainfall amounts (75 inches perhaps in some
locations) and flooding associated with Hurricane Mitch killed over
19,000 people in Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua in 1998.
Satellite photographs and sketches of a middle latitude storm and a
tropical cyclone are
shown below.
An easterly wave ( an easterly "wiggle" might be a better description)
In some ways winds blowing through
an easterly wave resembles
traffic
on a multi-lane highway.
Here's an easy-to-remember version
of the Saffir Simpson scale
Pressure decreases by 20 mb,
wind speeds increase by 20 MPH, and the storm surge increases by 5 feet
with every change in level on the scale.
