Natural Disasters Timeline
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September 22, 2017 The Collegian A5 features Natural disasters timeline A look through the last month of weather NOAH CLOONAN & improved and so you have fewer son yet, as far as the number of August 17 August 25 BEX HUNTER fires,” Bernier said. “That doesn’t storms and hurricanes it’s not un- @AUCollegian minimize those people who are usual that way, but it is more than Hurricane Harvey forms in the Harvey makes landfall on the being burnt out of their homes but usual.” Atlantic Texas coast Over the last couple of months, they are fewer than we ever have Bernier credits today’s technol- August 28 the U.S. has seen numerous natu- had.” ogy for making a large impact on ral disasters that have hit nearly While wildfires raged in the west, how people were able to prepare Milli fire starts near Sisters, Ore. every part of the country. From the southern half of the U.S. was for these deadly storms. wildfires in the west, to hurricanes dealing with a problem of their “The death toll is too many, but rocking the south, weather is an own. yet if you had the same two hur- ever changing phenomenon and The wrath of hurricane season ricanes 100 years ago it would have it has reminded everyone just how has hit hard this year and has led been closer to 1,000 or 2,000, peo- dangerous it can be. to widespread flooding and dam- ple wouldn’t have gotten out of the U.S. MARINES Many people have felt the effects age across many cities in the U.S. way because they didn’t know that August 29 of these events whether they were Hurricane Harvey ravaged they were coming,” Bernier said. directly impacted or they knew Houston in late August as it made While people have prepared well INCIWEB.NWCG.GOV Ponderosa fire near Oroville, Cal. someone who was. landfall as a Category 4 storm and for recent hurricanes, Schmidlin August 30 National news outlets have spent dropped a record amount of rain- believes there are more to come August 30 countless hours over the last month fall on Houston and the surround- that people need to watch out for. Hurricane Irma forms in the At- inundating the population with the ing areas. Right behind Harvey, “Hurricane season is just barely lantic Harvey makes final landfall in outcomes of these disasters. How- was a second record breaking half over, so we’ve just passed the Louisiana ever, what caused these events to storm. Just two weeks after Harvey peak now and hurricane season September 2 September 4 happen and in such rapid succes- made landfall, Hurricane Irma continues for several more weeks,” sion may not be as shocking as formed in the Atlantic and laid Schmidlin said. “I wouldn’t be sur- La Tuna fire near Burbank, Cali- EF-2 tornado touches down in some have made it out to be, ac- waste to many Caribbean Islands prised to see more storms.” fornia northeast Richland County cording to experts. and made its way up the Florida While all of these events were go- “These things are not unexpect- Peninsula. ing on nationally and internation- September 5-9 ed, but some have been worse than Both storms wreaked havoc ally, there was something that hit Irma strikes Carribbean islands usual,” said Dr. Thomas Schmid- across the southern U.S. and left a little closer to home for Ashland lin, professor in the department of many people wondering what the University. geology at Kent State University. correlation was between these two A tornado hit Richland county Perhaps the least talked about storms. on Sept. 4 taking many people by natural disasters have been the “[Hurricane season] is cyclical surprise as there was no warning of wildfires that have blazed through in nature so we may be cycling,” the tornado. SUBMITTED BY MCKENZIE METZGER California, Utah, Oregon and Bernier said. “We may be seeing a “I remember watching the spin September 5 many other states in the northwest- cycle where we see more frequent on it,” Bernier said. “No tornado ern part of the U.S. hurricane buildups in the Carib- warning was ever issued because Hurricane Katia forms in the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Nearly 2 million acres of land bean and Western Atlantic.” it was a very broad rotation, but I September 7 Gulf of Mexico and Hurricane have been on fire at different times Beth Mazzocco, adjunct instruc- remember the night and everyone Jose forms in the Atlantic over the last month and accord- tor of geology at AU, believes the was saying, we need to keep an eye Magnitude 8.1 earthquake rocks ing to Business Insider, the wildfire hurricane activity is due to the on this cell because it may produce Mexico September 8 season is one of the worst in recent time of year. a tornado and it did.” Hurricane Katia hits Eastern memory. “This is the peak of hurricane Mazzocco said the tornado was Mexico Schmidlin said the large amount season,” Mazzocco said. “Hurri- on the ground for 20 minutes, of fires are a change from previous cane season peaks in mid-Septem- damaging mostly cornfields and a years, but not necessarily unusual. ber, but the overall time of highest few homes as well, but she under- “It’s prime time [for wildfires],” activity is from mid-August to the stands why no warning was issued. Schmidlin said. “They have rainy end of October. The reason for “I looked at it and it looked like winters and dry summers out that is because that’s when the wa- it was a tremendous amount of there, so by the end of summer, ter is the warmest in the ocean.” straight line wind potential...but I the landscape is pretty dry. It’s not It has been a while since the U.S. didn’t really see anything that re- WIKIMEDIA COMMONS uncommon by August and Sep- has seen a hurricane season as ac- ally concerned me with regard to NASA (ISS) tember, even into October some- tive as the 2017 season. actual rotations,” Mazzocco said. September 10 times to have quite a few western “Since [hurricane] Katrina, we “In hindsight though, I did see the Irma makes landfall in the Flor- September 11-13 wildfires.” have not seen a major hurricane tornado, but it didn’t present nor- ida Keys Irma makes its way up the East Despite 2017 being an unusually hit the U.S. coast, that’s a long, mally. It presented as potentially a Coast active year in terms of wildfires, long time, that 12 year period was hole in the windfield, so I’m think- September 18 the overall occurrence of wildfires a very unusual period for us,” Ber- ing that’s probably why there was has been on the decline. nier said. “Usually we have one, no warning.” Hurricane Maria intensifies to “Wildfires have been on a decline two, three hurricanes strike the It has been a very active month in a category 3 storm. Puerto Rico for decades and over the last 20 U.S. per year.” the U.S. for natural disasters, but braces for impact years annual fires have decreased Schmidlin credits the high hur- Bernier said that this is nothing by 15 percent,” Andre Bernier, ricane activity this season to the new and it is not going to change September 19 meteorologist at FOX 8 News, current weather conditions. any time soon. 7.1 Earthquake rocks Altixco, said. “The conditions are just really “I do caution you to not take U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Mexico Bernier cites the advancements in good this year out in the central, away the pain and suffering that technology as a major reason why tropical atlantic for the formation these have caused, they have done September 19 large fires have been decreasing. of hurricanes so it’s been a high that, but you know these things September 19 Hurricane Maria smashes “Firefighting has become an art season,” Schmidlin said. “[It’s have been happening for mille- Remnents of hurricane Jose strike the East Coast into the Carribean Island of and firefighting equipment has been] nowhere near a record sea- nia,” Bernier said. Dominica NASA GODDARD SUBMITTED BY MCKENZIE METZGER The wildfires that have ravaged the West in the summer of 2017 have left a trail of smoke that can A house on Hook Rd. in Crestline was directly hit by the tornado that swept through Richland be seen from space. County on Sept. 4..