A MEAN SEASON: FOUR HURRICANES HIT HARD YV Introduction
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A MEAN SEASON: FOUR HURRICANES HIT HARD YV Introduction As this issue of News in Review is being But nothing can compare with the Focus prepared, there is still one month re- horror in Haiti, where 3 000 people On the 50th anni- maining in the 2004 hurricane season. were killed in the city of Gonaïves by versary of the most destructive hurri- Fortunately, it seems that the worst is flooding and a mudslide caused by cane to ever hit over, because it has been a mean season Hurricane Jeanne. Another 250 000 Canada, this News indeed. were left homeless—and this in a in Review module For residents of the state of Florida, country with few resources and no looks at the 2004 the season has been especially bitter. functional central government. The hurricane season, Floridians have had few major storms international community, through the one of the most dramatic on record. in recent years. Hurricane Andrew, United Nations and international private Four major storms which blasted the state in 1992, doing aid groups, have been left trying to cope tore a path of US$25-billion in damages, was the with the chaos. destruction through exception to this rule. Florida’s Despite our relative freedom from the Caribbean and charmed existence ended this year when tropical storms, this hurricane season the U.S. South. We review the damage “paradise” was hit by four major hurri- has also resonated for Canadians. It was they caused, some canes—four storms with winds over only one year ago that what was pre- views on why they 178 km/hr—within a six-week period. dicted to be a relatively benign Cat- were so powerful, Four million people faced evacuation, egory One hurricane named Juan and how scientists and thousands—especially those who caused extensive damage in parts of are working to better understand live in Florida’s many trailer parks— Nova Scotia, including environmental and predict the were left homeless. The total cost of the scarring that will last for years. And it behaviour of these damage to the state is expected to was exactly 50 years ago that the most great storms. exceed $50-billion, with no more than disastrous hurricane to ever hit Canada, half of that covered by insurance. Hurricane Hazel, killed 81 people in the Further Research Floridians, at least, have the resources Toronto area. Like Jeanne, it was the For more informa- of the world’s richest nation to assist flooding, not the wind, that did the tion on Hurricane them in their recovery. Other nations in damage. Hazel, see the the paths of these storms are not as Hazel’s legacy for Toronto was a November 2003 fortunate. Jamaica, Grenada, the Cay- magnificent chain of parks in all the issue of News in man Islands, and Cuba took tremendous city’s ravines. Jeanne’s legacy for Review. There is also excellent hits during the season. Grenada lost Gonaïves is likely to be years of further audio-visual mate- about 90 per cent of its housing, leaving poverty, hunger, and despair. rial in the CBC much of its population desperate. Archives at http:// archives.cbc.ca/IDD- 1-70-77/ For Discussion disasters_tragedies/ This hurricane season featured round-the-clock coverage from Florida by news huricane_hazel. networks like CNN, who kept reporters and camera operators even in areas where evacuation orders had been given. How necessary is this type of news coverage? Does it in any way trivialize the dangers of these storms? Might the YV Sections presence of the media encourage some to remain in a danger zone who might marked with this otherwise have followed the order to evacuate? Would you wish to be a re- symbol indicate porter in these situations? Explain. content suitable for younger viewers. CBC News in Review • November 2004 • Page 32 A MEAN SEASON: FOUR HURRICANES HIT HARD YV Video Review 1. In what month do hurricanes start forming each year? __________________ As you watch the video portion of 2. What was the name of the last major hurricane to hit Florida before 2004? this News in Review segment, answer _______________________________ the questions in the spaces provided. 3. In how many weeks did four hurricanes make landfall in Florida during 2004? _________________________ Quote 4. What was the wind speed of Hurricane Charley? ________________________ According to Peter Bowyer, progam manager for the 5. How many people were evacuated from the path of Hurricane Frances? Canadian Hurricane Centre in Nova _______________________________ Scotia, “The chances of another 6. Which hurricane is described as the most powerful of this season? Hazel hitting _______________________________ Toronto are 100 per cent. The 7. Which nation was most punished by “Ivan the Terrible”? ________________ question is, when? That simply isn’t 8. What did Hurricane Jeanne trigger that caused most of the death and possible to pre- dict.” — National destruction in Haiti? ______________________________ Post, October 9, 2004 9. How many people were left homeless in Gonaïves? _____________________ 10. What is generally considered to have been the worst decade for intense Did you know . The last time any hurricanes? ____________________ U.S. state faced four hurricanes in 11. What was most remarkable in the hurricane news of August 2004? one year, it was in 1886 and the state was Texas? 12. Where do hurricanes incubate? 13. What is the name of the worst hurricane in Canadian history, which devas- tated Toronto in 1954? ___________________________________ 14. How many people did it kill? ______________________________ CBC News in Review • November 2004 • Page 33 A MEAN SEASON: FOUR HURRICANES HIT HARD YV Profiles of Terror Four major hurricanes, four different • at least 16 people were killed in Further Research stories of devastation. Florida You can read about Each of these hurricanes had a tre- all of this year’s • serious damage done to citrus crops Atlantic tropical mendous effect on the lives of millions and nursery plants, Florida’s second storms and hurri- of people, but the level of suffering they largest industry after tourism canes at inflicted differed from one storm to the www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ next. oa/climate/research/ “It was very scary. Once you go As you read through this section through this, you don’t want to go 2004/ describing the rampages of Charley, hurricanes04.html. through it again. We were huddled Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, use the chart together, we didn’t know each other, at the end to organize a profile of the but we were huddled together for dear life and work of each of the storms. life.” — Robert Van Kempen, who These notes are accompanied by survived the storm in Arcadia, Florida, some “sound bites” from people who with several others in the Heritage survived the hurricanes. Baptist Church (The New York Times, August 15, 2004) Charley • became a hurricane (Category Two) Frances on August 11, 2004 • became a hurricane on August 26, • grazed Jamaica, passed over Cuba and reaching Category Four strength on the Dry Tortugas August 28 • in Cuba, caused an estimated • grazed the Turks and Caicos Islands, $1-billion in damage, and at least four passed over the Bahamas deaths • struck central Florida on September 5 • hit Florida just north of Fort Myers on as a Category Two storm with 170 August 13 as a Category Four hurri- km/hr winds cane with 235 km/hr winds • though weaker, it was a much larger • dissipated near Cape Cod on August and slower-moving storm that depos- 15 ited enormous amounts of rain • 1.9 million people were forced to • dissipated over Pennsylvania on evacuate September 9 • damage to property and business • one Bahamian killed; islands lost 60 losses are estimated to exceed per cent of their electricity; damage $20-billion estimated at over $100-million • 377 000 buildings damaged • 9 people killed in Florida • 45 000 people were forced into public • 4.5 million left without electricity shelters • Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle • more than one million people were Assembly Building virtually destroyed left without power for up to three • damage to property and business weeks losses in Florida estimated at $20-billion CBC News in Review • November 2004 • Page 34 “Most of Florida has been consumed by • an estimated $5- to $10-billion in Did you know . complacency and has just not worried damages in Florida alone Grenada is known about hurricanes. Maybe they won’t as The Isle of Spice? • dissipated over eastern Texas on The major crop is ignore them now.” — Herbert Saffir, September 24 nutmeg, and Ivan co-creator of the Saffir-Simpson Scale uprooted 93 per describing hurricane intensity (The New “We already suffer so much. I wonder cent of the nutmeg York Times, September 7, 2004) trees. Tragically, it why God makes us suffer more?” — takes 15 years for a Maria Montenegro, whose village of Ivan newly planted tree Boca de Galafre, Cuba, almost disap- to actually bear • became a hurricane (Category Four) peared during Hurricane Ivan (The New fruit. on September 5 York Times, September 15, 2004) • destroyed much of the property in Grenada on September 7, with devas- Jeanne tation estimated at 85 per cent in the • Jeanne was barely a hurricane when it capital, St. George’s. Grenada’s most hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic significant export source, its nutmeg on September 16 trees, were almost totally destroyed. • heavy rainfall and flooding caused • at least 39 people killed in Grenada, significant problems in northern Haiti, one in Barbados and another in To- especially in the city of Gonaïves bago • 250 000 people were left homeless • achieved Category Five status