HURRICANES AND nor’easTERS: The Big Winds HURRICANE KATRINA: A Case Study of the Costliest Disaster in U.S. History National Weather Service photo. About Natural Hazards and Disasters: 2006 Updated Edition: In their book, Donald and David Hyndman focus on Earth and atmospheric hazards that appear rapidly, often without significant warning. With each topic they emphasize the interrelationships between hazards, such as the fact that building dams on rivers often leads to greater coastal erosion, and wildfires generally make slopes more susceptible to floods, landslides, and mudflows. By learning about the dynamic Earth processes that affect our lives, the reader should be able to make educated choices about where to live, and where to build houses, business offices or engineering projects. People do not often make poor choices willfully but through their lack of awareness of natural processes. Hyndman 0495153214 Page 1.indd 1 3/29/06 12:40:31 PM Hurricanes and Nor’easters: The Big Winds Hurricane Katrina: A Case Study of the Costliest Disaster in U. S. History Executive Editors: Pro d uction/Man ufacturin g Rights an d Permissio ns Michele Baird, Maureen Staudt & Michael Supervisor: Specialists: Stranz Donna M. Brown Kalina Hintz and Bahman Naraghi Project Development Manager: Pre-Media Services Su pervisor: Cover Image: Linda de Stefano Dan Plofchan Getty Images* Marketing Coordi nators: Lindsay Annett and Sara Mercurio © 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a part of ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this The Adaptable Courseware Program the Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the work covered by the copyright hereon consists of products and additions to Star logo, and Brooks/Cole are may be reproduced or used in any form or existing Brooks/Cole products that are trademarks used herein under license. by any means — graphic, electronic, or produced from camera-ready copy. 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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers After Hurricane Hugo, pleasure boats moored in the lagoon behind the barrier island lay stacked like fish in a basket. Hurricanes, Typhoons, HURRICANES and Cyclones Hurricanes in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific; ty- AND phoons in the western Pacific, Japan, and Southeast Asia; and cyclones in the Indian Ocean are all major sub- NOR’EASTERS tropical cyclones. They have wind speeds of more than 120 kilometers per hour and can exceed 260 kilometers per The Big Winds hour. They have killed more people annually than any other natural hazard. The worst disasters have occurred in heavily populated poor countries in Southeast Asia, in events result- ing in hundreds of thousands of deaths in a single event. The word hurricane is derived from a Caribbean native Indian language and means “big wind.” A tropical cyclone develops, by definition, as a large, warm-core, low-pressure system over tropical or subtropical waters with a tempera- ture of at least 25°C; cyclones circulate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in the southern hemi- sphere. This definition excludes severe thunderstorms at frontal systems that may have hurricane-force winds. Hyndman 0495153214 Chapter 14.in1 1 3/24/06 11:57:43 AM Hurricanes UP CLOSE Hurricane Hugo Rebuilding in the aftermath of 1989’s Hurricane Hugo was fraught with problems. The same is true after most other ma- jor hurricanes. Poorly trained and untrained workers, hasty and shoddy work, unsuitable materials, and unscrupulous contractors were everywhere. Inspection was inadequate or absent. Many beaches were heavily eroded and dunes flattened, and damage to homes was extensive 4( Figures 14-1 and 14-2). The storm caused 105 deaths, eleven of them in the Charleston area and twenty-nine in all of South Carolina; property damage was $12.3 billion (in 2002 dollars). Al- though the largest insured payments were for flooding caused by storm surge, the dramatic rise in sea level from low atmo- spheric pressure and push of the sea ahead of the prolonged winds, flooding did less than 10 percent of the total dollar U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. damage. Wind damage was much greater. Depending on 4 FIGURE 14-2. This house was not well attached to its founda- coastal location, the storm probably had an 80- to 200-year tion. Hurricane Hugo’s surge carried it inland, where it was depos- recurrence interval. ited on a roadway. Hurricane Hugo initially lashed the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico with sustained winds of 225 kilometers per hour, leaving more than 30,000 homeless, and causing damages of $9.9 billion. Although satellite and aircraft tracking permitted South Carolina lacked restrictions over the use of coastal the populace to be kept informed of the hurricane’s track and sites and the quality of construction. That was left to local intensity in 1989, most communities did not take advantage communities, some of which imposed controls while others of the information. provided few or none. Most adopted a building code only when they wanted to participate in the National Flood Insur- 4 FIGURE 14-1. Hurricane Hugo caused rampant destruction of beachfront homes on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. It destroyed homes behind the two in the fore- ground, which were also damaged. It even wrecked nearly new homes on 3-meter-high S. J. Williams photo, USGS. pilings. 2 Hyndman 0495153214 Chapter 14.in2 2 3/9/06 7:57:30 AM Hurricanes UP CLOSE (continued) 4 FIGURE 14-3. Surges quickly cover escape routes. This warning sign is on the barrier bar road to Sunset Beach on the offshore barrier island of South Carolina. Donald Hyndman photo. ance Program (NFIP). That program required raising dwellings west along Hugo’s track, power lines were almost completely above the 100-year flood level of 4 meters or so but provided destroyed by wind, wind-blown debris, and falling trees. Only no design requirements for wind effects. The standard build- 23 percent of customers in the Charleston area had power ing code did not require appropriate standards for coastal eight days later; some had none for two to three weeks. The wind loads until 1986. Well-designed buildings generally sur- main bridge to the mainland from Sullivan’s Island and the vived Hurricane Hugo with little damage, but others lost roof- Isle of Palms failed. ing and wall siding, or were completely destroyed. The high Hugo came ashore on a northwesterly track, just north of level of damages was caused by the lack of standards held Charleston near midnight on September 21. It weakened pro- by many groups, including governments, developers, builders, gressively so that by 1 P.M. the next day, it entered western lenders, insurers, and owners. North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane. A huge surge of Growth on the barrier islands and coast of South Carolina, 6.1 meters along the South Carolina coast caused extensive in the thirty years after the previous hurricane, was dramatic. flooding4 ( Figure 14-3), and 0.5 to 1.2 meters of sand dis- Sparsely populated areas became major beach resorts with appeared from under most buildings, less than most storms high-rise hotels and condominiums. Many of the newcomers because of the wide, flat beaches and abundant sand. The were not aware of the long history of hurricanes and their ef- waves flattened most oceanfront dunes4 ( Figure 14-1). Fif- fects along the coast. Much of the rural population in South teen to thirty meters inland of these dune fronts, overwash de- Carolina lives in mobile homes. The governor ordered the posited as much as 0.6 meter of sand. Many of the destroyed evacuation of all such homes, and many people complied. houses were built on columns sunk only 30 centimeters into The widespread pine forests helped protect many homes, but the sand and on 60-square-centimeter footings. Even on the with winds near 112 kilometers per hour, those trees began landward side of the lagoon behind the barrier island, homes falling. Fortunately, peak winds in the deadly northeast quad- were severely damaged, and pleasure boats in marinas were rant of the storm hit sparsely populated areas.