🟠✅Natural Hazards - Storm Hazards

Question 1

What’s a tropical storm

Answer 1

Low pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters, with organised convection and winds at low levels either anti-clockwise (northern hemisphere) or clockwise (Southern Hemisphere).

Question 2

How’s a tropical storm formed

Answer 2

Solar radiation warms the ocean to 27°

Thunderstorms develop and cluster

Tradewinds converge

Warm air rises creasing low surface pressure the rising air cools and condenses into clouds and rain. there is a continuous up flow of warm wet air.

Vacuum on the surface pulls up more air creating strong winds

Coriolis force and trade winds blow in different direction causing it to spiral

Once the cold air sinks the eyes formed, cold air sinks in the eyes therefore there is no cloud and it’s dry and calmer.

Question 3

Name the hazards associates with tropical storms

Answer 3

High and strong winds
Heavy rain
River flooding
Coastal flooding
Storm surges
Landslides

Question 4

High winds

Answer 4

Capable of causing significant damage and disruption by tearing off roofs, breaking windows and damaging communication networks. Debris forms flying missiles whisked up by the wind. Damaged power lines often lead to widespread electricity cuts (power outages) and occasionally even fires. Debris strewn over roads can cause major transport disruption.

Question 5

Storm surges

Answer 5

typically up to about 3 m in height, which
sweeps inland from the sea, flooding low-lying areas.

Caused by a combination of the intense low atmospheric pressure of the tropical storm (enabling the sea to rise vertically) together with
the powerful, driving surface winds.

(Hurricane Katrina in the USA in 2005 recorded a storm surge of 7.6m, one of the largest ever recorded.)

Storm surges inundate agricultural land with saltwater and debris.
Pollute freshwater supplies and destroy housing and infrastructure.
Enhanced coastal erosion can lead to the undermining of buildings and highways.

Question 6

Coastal flooding

Answer 6

Undermining of buildings and highways.
Contamination of agriculture / crops and freshwater supplies.

Question 7

River flooding

Answer 7

Undermining of buildings and highways.
Contamination of agriculture / crops and freshwater supplies.
Loss of buildings - additional disruption and increase to the number of people left homeless.

Question 8

Landslides

Answer 8

The intense rainfall increases pore water pressure (hydrostatic pressure within a slope), which weakens cohesion and triggering slope failure.
The additional weight of water exacerbates the problem.

Rapidly moving debris - broken buildings / power lines / debris can cause trauma and death / broken water and gas - injury and illness

Question 9

Tropical storm structure (out to in)

Answer 9

Rainbands – Temperature and pressure goes down, clouds go up

Eye wall - temperature and pressure fall rapidly, thick clouds and heavy rain

Eye - temperature and pressure goes up, calmer and dryer

Eye wall - temperature and pressure fall rapidly, thick clouds and heavy rain

Rainbands – Temperature and pressure goes down, clouds go up

Question 10

Hurricane, Typhoon, Cyclone distribution

Answer 10

Hurricanes – Atlantic/Pacific (America)
Typhoons – Northwest Pacific (Asia/Australia and islands above)
Cyclones – Indian Ocean (India)

All between the tropics of cancer and Capricorn (5-20 N/S of the equator).

Question 11

Typhoon Haiyan - Primary Human Social effects

Answer 11

6190 died
14 million effected
26,000 injured
Pregnant women shocked into giving birth

Question 12

Typhoon Haiyan - Secondary Human Social effects

Answer 12

800,000 evacuated
4+ million homeless
Refugees
Some areas doubled in population as they were less likely and overall less effected by the typhoon and other natural hazards
Disease breakout

Question 13

Typhoon Haiyan - Primary Economic effects

Answer 13

90% tacloban destroyed
1.1 tonnes of crops lost
Homelessness increase

Question 14

Typhoon Haiyan - secondary Economic effects

Answer 14

Stealing food and drink from local businesses to survive
Schools shut
Fishing waters contaminated due to oil leak
Local businesses shut
Farmers income disrupted
International trade disrupted

Question 15

Typhoon Haiyan - Primary physical effects

Answer 15

Massive (15ft) storm surge
Cat5 typhoon
Torrential rain
Very strong winds

Question 16

Typhoon Haiyan - secondary physical effects

Answer 16

Debris distributed everywhere
Widespread flooding - drowning and injured a significant amount of people

Question 17

Typhoon Haiyan - Primary environmental effects

Answer 17

Roads blocked by fallen trees
Tacloban airport damaged and destroyed
Farmland destroys and left infertile

Question 18

Typhoon Haiyan - secondary environmental effects

Answer 18

Airport shut for 3 days
Widespread flooding
Very little clean running water
Dirty water - disease outbreak and decrease in health of population
Fishing effected

Question 19

Typhoon Haiyan Risk and vulnerability essay

Answer 19

• Typhoon Haiyan was formed in open water and by it forming in open water therefore meaning that there were no obstacles in Typhoon Hayain’s way meaning that the storm was gaining power at a faster rate than it would’ve if there were obstacles as the obstacles eg. Other land would deprive the Typhoon Haiyan of its “fuel supply” (the ocean) meaning it could decrease in size before it reached the Philippines. Secondly The Philippines is a group of islands meaning in between each island after the Typhoon Haiyan has hit its able to regain some of its energy as it has access to the ocean again which is a typhoons fuel supply therefore it was able to gain a lot of power before hitting each island causing a much higher destruction rate. Also by The Philippines having lots of coastline it creates a large area in which the strong Typhoon Haiyan is able to hit as the closer to the sea the land is the more powerful the Typhoon will be. Also the winds of Typhoon Haiyan were measuring up to 235miles per hour rising trees and buildings apart and hurling other objects into the air furthermore increasing the vulnerability of The Philippines.
  • Storm surge. Firstly the people living in The Philippines were only warned about a Typhoon not the severity and some unaware of the possibility of a storm surge. There were 15-20ft storm surges injuring and killing many people and further damaging properties and making the people overall more vulnerable. In addition the storm surge produces severe coastal flooding especially on the lower lying coastline, furthermore washing away people belongs, income and destroying farmland in addition to taking peoples lives and injuring others. In addition the rising sea levels due to climate change furthermore added to the severity of the storm surge resulting in higher death rates and further increasing the economic setbacks and effects by destroying farmland therefore reducing the farmers income as their fields have been destroyed. Also by having no to little warning about the storm surge there were no evacuation plans in place for people to move inland. In addition the storm moved very quickly making these matters worse. In addition water supplies were polluted and bringing in diseases such as cholera.
  • The Philippine government estimated that about 71,000 hectares of farmland were affected. The major rice and sugar producing areas for the Philippines were destroyed. Many coconut plantations were also destroyed. Coconuts account for nearly half the Philippines agricultural exports and the country is the world’s biggest producer of coconut oil. Fishing communities were destroyed along with hundreds of fishing boats. This is from the Typhoon Haiyan and the unpredictable size of the storm surge that came as well.
  Not much money was put into precautions for the typhoon as more of their money was invested into children learning support, such as schools and teachers so not much money was put into precautions for tropical storms. This also means that The Philippines recovery was very slow and they heavily relied on other countries to bring them aid and shelter. Even 6months on after the storm people are still living in tents and makeshift homes, showing how drastic the damage was for The Philippines. In addition The Philippines are having constant natural disasters meaning that they have constant set backs meaning it’s hard for them to develop and they develop very slowly, it also means that the government has limited money as they’re constantly having to fix natural disasters damage as they live in a disaster prone area. In addition their GNI is 1.145 putting them as a medium income country in comparison to some other areas which are prone to natural disaster GNI putting other countries at less risk as their government has more money and the people in those higher income countries invest their money therefore are able to make a quick recovery eg. Places in America but in The Philippines people don’t have insurance so overall they have less money to help after a disaster has happened.

Question 20

Hurricane Micheal

Answer 20

10th of october 2018
Initially labelled as category 3 tropical storm but it was a category 5

Question 21

Hurricane Micheal short term responses

Answer 21

More than 370,000 people in Florida were ordered to evacuate but officials believe many ignored the warning.

President Donald Trump made a disaster declaration for Florida that allows the resources of the federal emergency management agency (Fema) to be deployed.

States of emergency were declared in all or parts of Florida, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.

Florida Governor Rick Scott waived road tolls to encourage evacuations and activated 3,500 National Guard troops.

Schools and state offices in the area remained shut for the week following the storm.

Question 22

Hurricane Micheal long term responses

Answer 22

With a magnitude of Category 5 versus the predicted Category 3 hurricane, the
devastating impact was worse than expected.

It remained a hurricane as it moved further inland. This is uncommon as hurricanes usually rapidly lose energy when they make landfall.

Hurricane Michael Set Many Records Hurricane Michael was a very powerful and
destructive tropical cyclone that became the first Category 5 hurricane to strike
the state since Andrew in 1992.

In addition, it was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in
the contiguous United States in terms of pressure.

It was the first Category 5 hurricane on record to impact the Florida Panhandle
and the most intense hurricane on record to strike in the month of October.

Along the Florida panhandle, the cities of Mexico Beach and Panama City
suffered the worst of Michael, with catastrophic damage reported due to the
extreme winds and storm surge

Question 23

Typhoon Haiyan short term responses

Answer 23

• 800,000 people were evacuated following a televised warning by the president. Many people found refuge in a stadium in Tacloban. However, many people died when it was flooded. The government provided essential equipment and medical supplies. In order to reduce looting a curfew was introduced 2 days after the typhoon.
  
  • Survivors swimming to safety and helping others find shelter
  • Once the main airport was reopened three days later emergency aid arrived. Power was restored in some regions after a week. Within 2 weeks one million food packs and 250.000 litres of water were distributed.
  • Over $1.5 billion of foreign aid was pledged. Thirty-three countries and international organisations promised help, with rescue operations and an estimated US $ 88 871 million.
  • British airforce brought 2million pines worth of aid to those who suffered badly
  • People were being rescued with make-shift rafts to help those who were elderlv.

Question 24

Typhoon Haiyan long term responses

Answer 24

• Build Back Better is the government’s response to the typhoon. Launched in 2014 its intention was to upgrade buildings that were damaged and destroyed to protect them from future
  disasters. They have also set up a no-build zone along the coast
  in Eastern Visayas, a new storm surge warning system has been
  developed and mangroves have been replanted to absorb
  future storm surges.
  
  • World food program brought in grains and food support the Un also launched a national appeal
    UNICEF - Training train teachers, day care workers and education authorities to provide psychosocial support. They’ve gotten most children back to school
  • UNICEF - providing clean water and vaccines (vaccines mainly for younger children against polio / measles)

Question 25

Responses to tropical storms - prediction

Answer 25

National hurrican centre, Florida:
- use data and satellites and super computers that predict track, size, location of stroms
- Computer models such as SLOSH
- Met office inform the
- Issue hurricane watch and warning forecast

Bangladeshi met office:
- Village storm wardens
- CAFOD - NGOs teach children how to swim

Question 26

Responses to tropical storms - precaution

Answer 26

• Building codes
  
  • Family disater plans
  • Weather radio
  • Things done by national and local government NGOs communities and individuals ti get ready for an emergency when it happens
  • Having suitable drainage systems
  • Designation in coastal areas of “windborne debris zones.
  • Properties built in such zones are required to protect windows using shutters or impact-resistant glass.
  • Evacuation cyclone centres in regions like Bangladesh / emergency centres

Question 27

Saffir-Simpson Storm Scale

Answer 27

Scale of 1-6 based on the wind speed (thus power of the storm)

Question 28

Why are tropical storms irregular

Answer 28

Although they occur in the same areas their path doesn’t follow a set route.

The route is dependant on the storm and climatic conditions.