Hurricanes

      

By Amber Olgac

        Our word hurricane comes from the Taino Indian word “Huraca’n” meaning big wind. Hura means wind and ca’n means center. Experts think that Huraca’n came from a Mayan word “Huraken” which means God of Storms. When Columbus met with Taino Indians, this word became a Spanish word.

         A hurricane starts in an area of the tropics that lies between 5 degrees north and 5 degrees south of the equator. Hurricanes begin as groups of thunderstorms that spiral and grow into a giant storm. In the summer and late fall, the air above the warm ocean gets hot, it picks up moisture and starts swirling- a tropical depression is born. If the winds begin to go faster, more than 39 mph it becomes- a tropical storm and is given a name. If the winds swirl faster than 74 mph it is called- a hurricane. The hurricane season starts from June 1^st to November 30^th. The busiest part of the season is August, September, and October.

         Hurricanes are the largest of all storms. The inside of a hurricane is calm. The inside of a hurricane is also called the eye of the hurricane. Next to the eye there is the highest winds called the eye wall. I think it’s called the eye wall because it is like a wall around the eye. Some hurricanes may produce tornadoes. Tornadoes can be deadly.

Tropical storms and hurricanes are important because they actually balance the temperature on the earth.  Otherwise parts of the earth would be too cold, while other parts get too hot. There are 4 major hazards of a hurricane. These include Storm Surge, Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding. Hurricanes usually hit the eastern part of the U.S. The states that were hit at least once include Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, and Texas.

       In CT we had hurricane Irene at the end of August. Northeastern part of U.S. did not have a hurricane like Irene last 100 years. During hurricane Irene, NASA satellites were flying above Irene providing information for us. The hurricane was 65-75 mph. It created a lot of damage in North Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Mid-Atlantic, and that’s not even all of them! Hurricane Irene caused 56 deaths! One of them was a lady in Maryland. She was killed when a chimney fell on her house.  When a man was going canoeing he drowned because the waves were too wavy. Those are 2 very sad stories. About 7.4 million houses and buildings lost power from hurricane Irene! Irene was the first major hurricane in the annual hurricane season. In New York, people rushed to stores for batteries and bottles of water. About 10,000 flights were canceled all around the country. I hope this never happens again because so many people suffered from Irene.