Hurricane Lab Report

The storm made landfall on September 8, 1900, with winds reaching 145 mph and a storm surge that inundated the city, washing away homes and buildings. The devastation was compounded by the lack of warning and preparedness, as

“Human bodies bobbed facedown in the water, bumping against the boat” (“Anderson vii”). By September 7, 1900, Galveston was the 4th largest city in Texas (“Galveston”). It was a growing and flourishing port city of 37,000 (resources); and one of the wealthiest cities in the country (“Galveston”). On September 8, 1900 a powerful hurricane slammed into Galveston (“Galveston”). Its’ highest wind speed recorded before the anemometer blew away was 100 mph, but the speeds were estimated as high as 135 mph (“Galveston”). Over 3,600 buildings were destroyed in the hurricane causing 30,000 people to be homeless (“Galveston”). A 15-foot storm surge engulfed the entire island leaving the highest point of the island just over 8 feet above sea level (“Galveston”). Evacuation was almost impossible (“Galveston”). At first their estimation of

Galveston which is located on Galveston Island is a twenty-nine mile strip of land estimated about two miles off the coast of Texas. With the miles of beaches and nice weather it was a popular resort and seemed to be headed in the direction to become the New York City of the Gulf Coast. It had also become a commercial port which was thriving. On September 8th, 1900 this changed. Many vacationers on this day did not pay attention to the warnings let out by the United States Weather Bureau to get to higher ground. Little did they know a category four hurricane was about to strike the city becoming the nation’s deadliest natural disaster still to this day. About six to eight thousand people lost their lives out of about thirty-six thousand total on the island. (about 20%) In comparison these deaths were greater than the combined of the Johnstown Flood and San Francisco Earthquake.

When most people think the of the Gulf of Mexico, the thought of surf probably never crosses their mind. However, the gulf is capable of producing quality surf more than you would think. From hurricanes to cold fronts, the gulf can receive waves from various weather patterns.

The waves were still high at 10 feet. The power started going out when the storm was about 40 miles from land and 1.4 million people were without power (Provenzo JR. & Provenzo, 2002). It slammed into the Bahamas at 120 mph. Where buildings were toppled, bungalows out from their roots, and luxury hotels only had broken winds (Longshore, 1998). Several days before it had produced a deep convection, that had high pressure (Rappaport, 1993).

The 1900 storm, like countless powerful Atlantic hurricanes, is thought to have begun as a Cape Verde type hurricane a tropical wave moving off the western coast of Africa. Specifics of the storm were not extensive; damage to telegraph lines restricted communication. The Weather Bureau's central office in Washington, D.C., ordered storm warnings raised from Pensacola, Florida, to Galveston. By the afternoon of September 7, large swells from the southeast were observed on the Gulf, and clouds at all elevations began moving in from the northeast. The first train to reach Galveston left Houston on the morning of September 8 at 9:45 a.m.

Ships were left stranded and wrecked miles away from moorings. Thousands of homes were washed away into the sea. Approximately 3,600 buildings were destroyed. Everything that was destroyed was bulldozed 15 blocks from the beach. The damage cost was 20 million (700 million today). It was the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history. 8,000-12,000 of the 37,000 people that lived in Galveston, Texas died, which was 20% of the population that was lost. From the remaining survivors, 30,000 were left

The catastrophic hurricane marked its aims on galveston on september 8, 1900 on the day of saturday. It did a huge amount of damage, trees were uprooted, city was flooded with high speed wind that tor off blinds, frames and all kinds of debris in the air which destroyed most of the houses. This deadliest hurricane in the U.S history took lives of 6000 to 12000 people. Inhabitants of Galveston were warned of the storm but not of the severity of it. My reason behind this would from, Ida smith Austin who was also a resident of Galveston was aware of the storm but never thought of the storm to be this bad, that that water will reach her house as it had never come close to it.

Formed off the Bahamas August 23, 2005 and after crossing Florida as a category one hurricane, Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm. Once in the gulf, she stalled, gained strength and once again became a hurricane. August 28, 2005 Katrina reached the highest category available for a hurricane, category five with winds in excess of one hundred and seventy five miles per hour. Downgraded to a category three hurricane before making landfall, Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi took a direct hit from Katrina on August 29, 2005.

Hurricane Katrina began as tropical Depression twelve, which formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. On August 24, the storm strengthened and became known as Tropical Storm Katrina, the 11th named storm of the 2005 hurricane season. A few hours before making landfall in Florida on August 25, Tropical storm Katrina was upgraded to Hurricane Katrina (Category1, 74mph winds). An analysis by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) climate prediction center

On Friday, October 23 a massive hurricane named Patricia, hit Mexico with wild speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. Hurricane Patricia is the largest hurricane to strike in the Western Hemisphere according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. The speeds of the wind is not the only way that hurricane strength can be measured, they also measure the strength in the minimum atmospheric pressure. Hurricane Patricia also holds the record for the pressure in the atmosphere. Only a couple of hours before landfall, Hurricane Patricia’s pressure plunged to 879 millibars.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Hurricane Katrina started out as any other hurricane, as the result of warm moisture and air from the oceans surface that built into storm clouds and pushed around by strong forceful winds until it became a powerful storm. Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane over the warm Gulf water, but weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast

The first mistake the Jacksonville’s weather bureau made was to call all extra relief workers and coast guards from New York and New England down to Florida to prepare for the storm. While looking out and protecting Florida, they took many needed hands from the northeast, which was hit harder. Their second mistake, a more important one, was to assume this storm was another typical Cape Verde hurricane because it began to veer northward. Those storms were known to curve away from the tropics at first opportunity and head north for colder water where it would soon die off before hitting the US. It followed this specific course by the Bermuda High currents, “a mass of dense dry air that dominates the weather in the North

For example, Hurricane Maria, that name has been retired due to its destruction, reaching wind speeds of 160 miles per hour as a Category 5 passing first through the Caribbean. Hurricane Maria then worked its way demolishing Puerto Rico with wind speeds of 150 miles per hour and pouring out about 40 inches of rain causing it to flood (AccessScience Editors, 2017).

On August 29, 2005, the third strongest and biggest hurricane ever recorded in American history hit the Gulf Coast at eight o’clock a.m. The interaction between a tropical depression and a tropical wave created a tropical storm later referred to as Hurricane Katrina (FAQS, 2013). Forming over the Bahamas, Hurricane Katrina gradually strengthened as it moved closer and closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Recorded on August 28th, 2005, Katrina jumped from a category three storm to a category five storm with maximum sustained winds up to 160 miles per hour. Although other hurricanes, such as Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Wilma, exceeded Katrina, this dominant storm was classified as the fourth most intense hurricane