Cause & Effect of Hurricanes

Hurricanes are the most destructive natural disasters in the world. They are very powerful and violent storms that have strong winds. Storms are known to be hurricanes when they reach 74 mile per hour. Hurricanes storms start over warm sea water near the equator and come with strong winds, flash floods, mudslides, and huge waves. Hurricanes come with different names depending where the location it occurred. Hurricane storms are called hurricanes, if they start over the Caribbean Sea, the Northeast Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean; whereas, storms are called tropical cyclones, if they occur in the Indian Ocean or near Australia.

There are two main factors that cause hurricane storms, which are warm water and moist, warm air. Hurricanes occur when the moist, warm air from the surface of the ocean rises and meets the cooler air. When the moist, warm air condenses and forms storm clouds and raindrops. Heat releases and the condensation process begin. It goes through a cycle that causes the humid air from the ocean surface to rise and join the storm that is forming. The cycle of exchanging heat continues and wind pattern is created that moves in a spiral fashion around the center, which is called the eye.

Converging winds near the ocean surface collide with the developing storm, resulting in an increased circulation of warm, humid air and also enhancing the speed of wind. Presences of strong winds at high altitude pull the rising warm air away from the center, causing the storm to swirl in the typical cyclone pattern. Another factor that increases the speed of wind is high-pressure air at high altitude. This high-pressure air draws the heat away from the center of the storm.

As this high-pressure air moves to the center and meets the ow-pressure air, the wind speed again increases. When a powerful hurricane hits land, it can cause more damage to life and property than any other natural disaster. The effects of hurricanes include storm surge, strong winds, inland flooding, and tornadoes. Storm surge is the most devastating effect of hurricanes which accounts for 90 percent of the hurricane death, but the overall effect of a hurricane depends on how high the wind speed is. Inland flooding causes more deaths than the actual hurricane storm. Many hurricanes after effects are tornadoes.