Download Hurricane Ivan - Think Geography

Hurricane Ivan
Mid September 2004
Look at the next picture and write
down what you think is
happening in the picture
What is a Hurricane?
Hurricanes are born over very warm oceans.
They can occur at any tome of year although
they usually happen from May to December.
They begin as areas of heavy showers
where warm, moist air rises and cools to
form rain clouds thousands of metres high.
As this air rises, an area of low pressure
develops. The clouds start to spin around
the low pressure and suck up moisture. The
centre of the storm – called the eye is an
area of descending air.
Hurricanes usually only last about one week but
sometimes the storms grow over 800km across
and can last for up to 3 weeks. When hurricanes
drift over land or away from the Equator they
begin to die – this is because they need a warm
ocean power source to feed them warm, humid
air.
Where do Hurricanes happen?
Hurricanes develop over the sun-warmed tropical
waters of the oceans. They generally are carried
up away from the Equator.
What are the effects?
Hurricanes destroy lives and property in 3 main ways:
•Wind speeds of over 150mph uproot trees, flatten crops
and houses, turn over cars and batter shipping
• Very low air pressure and high winds causes a storm
surge which when it hits land can cause flooding
•Very heavy rain adds to flooding and crop damage
Damage caused by
Hurricane Ivan
Forecasting a Hurricane
Peter Jenkins
From:
“Bob Parker” [email protected]
To:
“Peter Jenkins” [email protected]
Sent:
12th September 2004
21:24
Subject: Hurricane Ivan!
St John's Port
Jamaica
12th September 2004
Dear Peter,
At last I've found some time to write to you. We struggled through the stormy seas and gales to get here last
Friday. If that was the tail end of Hurricane Ivan, I'm glad we did not have to face its full fury!!!!
The scene in St John's is terrible. There wasn't a building with a roof on! People were wandering about in
shock. Even the hospital was damaged by the 150mph winds. There was no electricity, no drinking water and no
phones - all the poles have been blown down! Over 60,000 people are thought to have lost their homes and over
4,000 people were injured. We know of 27 people who are dead, but we expect the total to be higher. The
damage is like that of a nuclear explosion.
The people here are stunned, most have lost their homes. Their jobs are threatened as nearly all of the nutmeg
and banana crop has been destroyed. Today we've heard that another hurricane is on the way. Hopefully we can
fix the roofs before the rains hit.
Best wishes and see you soon, hopefully!
Bob