Effect.
Sometimes the energy cycles continue to be fed. As the pressure differences in the cycles increase, a tropical depression is formed. If she continues to be nursed, she grows requiring more warm water and moisture. She eventually enters adolescence as a tropical storm. She is a beauty now, and the eyes of the world fall upon her. Satellites track her movements, beaming images and snapshots of her majesty to the many global Hurricane Watch Centers. If the natural cycles are so inclined, she will grow into adulthood as a hurricane.
As she grows, she will continue her ravaging by sucking up the warmth of the water, taking the energy of warmer temperatures and translating that energy by growing in strength and ferocity. She will continue to grow until her food source is removed. If the waters she rages upon become regionally colder or shallower or if she stumbles off her water path and onto land, her energy will not be fed, and she will begin losing her strength and vitality. She will eventually fade away leaving only the path of where she had come behind her and possibly human memories of her existence, to be reborn with a new name and new temper as Mother Earth sees fit.
Hurricanes are classified by a rating system known as the Saffir-Simpson Scale, which is based upon the sustained wind speed generated by the storm. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a 1-5 rating based on the hurricane's wind intensity.
Category One Hurricane:
Wind speeds from 74 to 95 miles per hour. Storm surges are generally from 4 to 5 feet above normal. Typically, there is no real damage to building structures.
Category Two Hurricane:
Wind speeds from 96-110 miles per hour. Storm surges generally 6 to 8 feet above normal. Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings. Typically, there is damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down and significant damage to mobile homes and piers.
Category Three Hurricane:
Wind speeds from 111-130 miles per hour. Storm surges are generally 9 to 12 feet above normal. Structural damage to small residences and buildings is typical.
Category Four Hurricane:
Wind speeds from 131-155 miles per hour. Storm surges generally 13 to 18 feet above normal. Complete roof structure failures on small residences. Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Extensive damage can occur to doors and windows. Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water 3 to 5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane.
Category Five Hurricane:
Wind speeds greater than 155 miles per hour. Storm surges generally greater than 18 feet above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Complete building failures common with small utility buildings blown over or away. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window, door, and roof damage occurring.
Note that in terms of damage, the increasing categories in terms of destructive potential do not follow a linear progression. In fact, with increases of wind velocity the damage potential increases exponentially, i.e. a Category 5 storm has 500 times the damage potential of a Category 1 storm.
Sustained wind speeds represent a mean speed of the winds as measured across a cross-section of the storm and are usually calculated from a one-minute average. Gusts can surge well above the reported sustained wind speeds. Furthermore, the sustained wind velocities are far higher in the center of the storm near the eye-wall. As her reach extends radially away from her eye, her wind speeds decrease and her momentum is reduced.
Since Bienville’s time to the present, New Orleans and the many inhabited areas to the south and along the Gulf Coast have been plagued by hurricanes and floods. Indeed, flooding and storms have literally shaped the historical, cultural, and geographical evolution of these areas.
The National Weather Service has reported a history of notable hurricanes extending as far back as 1856. In 1856, the Last Island Storm occurred. The storm was named for the Isle Derniere where 200 people perished. She was a Category 4 storm. New Orleans reportedly received 13 inches of rain during this storm.
Before the appearance of modern forecasting tools, large death tolls from hurricanes were more common. The Chenier Caminada storm of 1893, thought to be a Category 4, is estimated to have killed about 2,000 people. The hurricane's unofficial name comes from the island that lost 779 people to the storm. The hurricane produced a storm surge of at least 15 feet. By contrast, the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history was the Galveston, Texas, storm of 1900 that is believed to have killed over 8,000 people.
On September 20th, 1909, a Category 4 hurricane stormed ashore at Grand Isle, Louisiana, and killed about 350 people. Heavy winds and a storm surge of 15 feet tossed boats out of the water and destroyed crops.
The Great Miami storm of 1926 was a Category 4 hurricane which cut a deadly path across the city of Miami on August 18th, producing a storm surge of 15 feet. It then moved across the Gulf of Mexico to strike the Alabama-Florida border before reaching Louisiana. At least 243 people were dead when it was all over.
Hurricane Audrey of 1957 landed near the border of Louisiana and Texas on June 27th. She killed at least 390 people. A storm surge of 12 feet was reported, with waves reaching 20 feet and higher. Wildlife were reported fleeing the area where Audrey hit the day before the storm arrived, including thousands of crawfish seen moving out of the marshes around Cameron, LA.
In 1965, Hurricane Betsy generated a storm surge of 10 feet which reached New Orleans when Betsy made landfall on September 9th. The city suffered some of the worst flooding it had seen in decades. The storm surge on the coast was awe inspiring; Grand Isle experienced a 15.7 foot surge and wind gusts to 160 mph. The Orleans Levee Board required that levees be raised to 12 feet after assessing the storm's impact. Betsy resulted in 58 Louisiana deaths, and 81 overall.
In terms of deaths, damage and power, 1969’s Hurricane Camille ranks as one of the very worst storms to hit the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi. A Category 5 storm, she killed 256 people with winds that topped 200 miles per hour and a storm surge that reached at least 20 feet when she landed on August 17th. More than 5,000 homes were destroyed.
During Hurricane Andrew of 1992, 7 people died and 94 were injured. On August 26th, Andrew’s winds were measured at up to 153 mph at New Iberia, Louisiana. A barge on Bayou Teche in St. Mary Parish recorded winds of 173 miles per hour. At his peak, Andrew was rated as a Category 5 storm. Overall, the storm killed 23 people in the United States.
In 2004, Hurricane Ivan, a Category 3 storm, made landfall at Gulf Shores, Alabama on September 16th with winds of 130 miles per hour. Ivan was more remembered for the damage he did to the Caribbean, killing more than 30 people in Grenada and at least 20 in Jamaica. He took meteorologists by surprise by moving over the eastern U.S. and back out to sea to regain strength, returning to the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm. Ivan's second trip to the Gulf resulted in very little additional damage.
The Gulf Coast states have had their history integrated with the onslaught of hurricanes. A general loss of elevation of the area through erosion and depositional imbalances of the Mississippi River Delta system, the loss of the natural protective barrier of marshlands extending out into the Gulf, the general sinking of the area due to continental crustal subsidence, and the overall change in energy balance due to the warmer temperatures of the Caribbean waters all contribute to a higher frequency of severely damaging storms.
Record temperatures for the summer
