Texas Coast Hu R R I Canes
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TEXAS COAST TAMU-G-86-005 C2 HU R R I CANES LOAN COPY ONI Y TEXAS A8cM SEA GRANT VRRA5 SRA OILAIIV COLLROR IaleOOIIAal TheTexas Astyt University Sea Grant College Program is a partnershipof unlversittt governmentand industry,focusing on marine~, educationand ftthdsory seNce. NadonaltttSea Grant began in f966with tha passage of the Sea Grant Progwn and CollegeAcL patternedafter the LandGrant Act of the f860s,the Sea Grant ~ is a practical,broad-based scientific effort to betterthe weld tor all thoseliving In and out of thesea, ADSIHIISTIIATIOIe TexasAKM University's$3,5 million Sea Grant College Program is directedby a team of ableadminlstralors. Dr. Thomas Bright, a professorof oceanography,serves as directorof theoverall ma~ teamwith an emphasisin theguiding research activities,Addilonal members of the programmanagement staff are Dr. Lauriston King, dapufydirector; Willis Bitt! Clark,associate director; J. AllenMartin, fiscal officer/as- sistantto thedirector; Dorm Ward, Marine Advisory Service Program Coordinator, Amy Broussard,head of the MarineInformation Service and Robert James, Marine EducabonProc~am Coordinatot aeAIIINR IIRSRAIICII Fromlaying the seeds tor a newshrimp farming irxlustry in Texasto trackingresponse to killerhurricanes roar'mg out of theGulf of Mexico,Texas Sea Grani strives to tocem knowledgeacross a bmadspectrum ot marine-relatedfields. Indeed, research is the largestof TexasSea Grant's components, accounting for approximateiy40 percentof theannual budget. The research pmgram areas include fisheries, engineer- ing, markxtttureand coastat environment. Research granh. which are awarded on a competitiveand peer-review basis, are the foundation for thefuture oi our coast. asAIIIIIR AOVISOIIv SRIIvICS Administeredbythe Texas Agricultural Extension Service and supported byTexas Ssa Grantand the county commissioners' courts in ninecoastal communiles, the Marine AdvisoryService is a centerpiecein an eltortto get informationto usergroups here in thesta% Against this background,marine research that ripplesthrough lhe academic communityis transmittedto thegeneral public. Whettxx it's thmughworkshops, publicationsor just one-on~ downon the docks,the goal is to helppeople deal moreeffectively with themarine erwironment without harming il. neAIIIIIR ROIICATlCHl Thephilosophy behind the SeaGrant marine education pmgram al TexasAM is to developawaamesa and understanding of the ocean'splace in our environmentand its fluence on our hves,and to fosterwise use ot the ocatmand its inhabitantstoday ml in thefuture. Thee me no «geor subjectboundaries. Marine education is avaitabtefor al studerrb~-school gtroughadult and at al levelsot leammg 4rom fdghty teshntoaf Sotenttfto studies tO Saa-related muaiC and ttteralvretu safetypctcttces, VNQ S ~ II}eA'HISITY ln f968 TexasA&M Untvendtywaived the distinctionof teng namedamong the nation'sfirst six instihaat awld recipients.Three years hier the schoolwas deagnateda SaaGrant Cottage. The university has a nchheritage ot oceanography ~ dating backto f949 whenthe program began. In additionthere is an on-goingprogram to getmarine intern@ion to the public. Sea Grant is a matching fundsprogram. The Texas AfkM Sea Grant Cottage Pmgram itself is madepossibte throughan tnsdtutionataward tmm the NationalDcsanic and Atmospheric Arkrunistra- tion, U.S.Deparlment of Commema,and appropdations hom the TexasLegislature and localgovernments. Cepyrtght@ 1gggbjr ~ J4frINUnttfereitjf Sea GrantCojtege Progrant.Iteprednetfon jn partor whoteef the contentswjthont wltttenperlntsshN ef tfte peNatttftrie prohfNett. Desigftby Normaft Martjft. Edjtgrs: Amy BfDttssafd aftd Norman Martin. ~ FORTHE RECORD g aria,Beulah. Allen. Aficia, They may not sound like killers, but they are. Theyare hurricanes that have caused death and costly destruction along the Texascoast. For newcomersto Texas,however, these names and the memoryof theirdevastation can have little meaning.Indeed, the ~isks to life andproperty from these storms have probably increased because many new settlersin coastalcounties have had no personalexperience with the energy lockedup in thesestorms or with theiroffspring, floods, lightning storms and tornadoes. Thispublication is designedto reducethe risks from severe coastal storms and hurricanesby describng whatthey are, how they work, the reasonswhy they can beso destructive,and the steps that individuals can take to protectthemselves, theirfamilies and their property, It includesstep-by-step instructions In both Englishand Spanish! for hurricanepreparation and evacuation plans, tracking charts,suggestions for recoveryafter a storm,and lists of additionalpublications on hurricanes and hurricane awareness. TEXASCOAST HURRICANES is based on currentscientific knowledge de- velopedby TexasABM Universityand government researchers. Its widespread distributionhas been assisted by contributionsfrom Celanese Eng neering Resins, lnc,,Mobil Chemical Company, Exxon Pipeline Company, Entex Corporation, and SoltexPolymer Corporation. THE HURRICANE n Sept.7, 1900, Galves onv as a many place~. For instance, thc best estimates elec ricity could pov cr thc cntirc c<iun ry place of calm beauty.But a day f<ir lalveston are 25 to 30 hour~. V<i <ine for six months. O later, packedin a screaming~wirl of can provide that much lead time. Thc giant storm~l<irm <inly over thc warm wind and rain. the fury of a full-bl<iwn Only peoplev ho have lived through thc tropical oceans,near bu not a thc equator. hurricane settled on this historic Texa~ town. worst of a malor hurricane know its true Several hirm in he A lantic each year and Beach wa er levels soared m<ire than 20 fcct power, For many I'exansit's easy to dcvcl<ip ei her curve away from thc cons linc. hit he ab<!venormal. feeling~ <it over confidcncc since m<xs have United States or continue int<i Central Amer- Six thousandpeople were killed. It wins only gone through thc fringes <if a major ica. Even morc form in he Fastern Pacific the wor~t natural disaster in U.S. hi~tory. hurricane. "Wc'rc more vulnerable to thc because huge stretches of warm Pacific wa- Unt'ortunately,even in the~ehigh-tech hurricane than we have ever bccn in our er allo~ numerous storms to form. A few imes a similar catastrophe could happen his <iry. and it's primarily a people pr<ib- of these strike thc Mexican c<iast, but most again on the Gulf coast. Two staristicsabou lem," saysNeil Frank, direc <iriif the Na- move away from sh<ire. the coastalpopula ion illustrate the problem. tional Hurricane Ccntcr in C<iral Crables, Fla. Hurricanes striking the United States arc Dcvclopmentalong thc beachI'ron is in- "It's bccausc we are locating thousands and often triggered by disturbances that form creasingat a rate thrcc time~ faster than in tens ot thou~ands of people on island~ that over Africa. About 100 disturbances m<ive the rest of the United S ates. And, 80 per- his <iricallv have gone under water." across the Atlantic each year between June and November. Yct an average <if only six cent of the people who live along thc A lan- Unequaled In Nature tic and Gull' c<ias s have ncvcr experienced a develop into lull hurricanes. Hurricanes arcn't the biggest storms on major hurricane. Complex Process Moreover, thcrc are millions of people ear h or the m<ist violent. But their combina- who visit thc beach during hurricane sea~on tion of size and violence is unequaled in Just h<iw does a hurricane form' Weather June 1 to November 30, F.vacua ion of nature.Onc day's energy pr<iductionin a expert~say the exact pr<icessis very com- vulnerable areas takes 20 hours or more in hurricane if it could be converted to plex and not fully understood.But, basically. the pressureat the centerof a developing in what weatherexperts call the storm surge, HURRICANE 8AItfiKS hurricanefalls as the lower layerof air in "Nine out of 10 people who die in a the cote first becomesunusually warm and hurricanedrown in the storm surge,"Frank urricanesand tropical storms of the moist as it absorbs heat and water from the says. "Now this is a dome of saltwater Atlantic, Caribbean and G ulf of M exico underlying ocean, maybe50 mileswide that sweepsacross the have been identifiedby personal Buoyancyof the warm, humid air causes coastline,near the point wherethe centerof names since 1953 with names revised every risingcurrents in the core.The surrounding the eye makes landfall. six years by the World MeteorologicalOrgani- air then beginsto move toward the storm "On top of thatdome you have wind- zation. The names have an iriternational centerto replacethe risingair and in its turn waves; 5- and 10-foot waves come crashing flavor. since hurncanesare trackedby the to be heated and moistened. The earth' s into shore." Basically,the storm surge is a public and by weatherservices of other coun- rotationcauses the inwardmoving air to moundof waterpartly created by the low tries as well as the United States. When a spiralaround the low, counterclockwisein pressurein the eye of a hurricane.The final disturbance intensifies into tropical storm the northern hemisphere. water level, though, varys accordingto three status, the Ktationai Hurncane Center gives it "Apparently,i takes a specialcombination main factors. a name from the current list. The fof lowing of a number of different events for the trop- Tides, which are a factor of the gravita- nameswill be used for hurricanesand tropic- ical storm or the hurricane to form," Frank tional effect of the moon, earth and sun, al storms in the Atlantic Caribbean and Gulf says.That precisereceipe