Understanding Hurricanes: Key Historical Events, Interesting Facts, and Essential Survival Strategies

Climate Change has made Hurricanes more Destructive

Climate change is aggravating the intensity of hurricanes by warming the oceans, as the sea absorbs almost 90% of the heat generated by global warming, and the enhanced energy thus created fuels the strength of hurricanes manifold. Global warming also causes more water to evaporate from the ocean, increasing the humidity of the air above and leading to the formation of massive clouds and thunderstorms. How the winds of the planet interact with these humid air and big clouds is another factor that makes hurricanes more destructive. Another concerning aspect of global warming is that a warmer atmosphere causes the rapid intensification of hurricanes, meaning their wind speed can increase by 56 kilometers per hour in just 24 hours.

Scientific Nomenclature of Hurricanes

A hurricane/typhoon/tropical cyclone is scientifically defined as “an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans and is characterised by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain”. There is an eye, a central region, to this wind phenomenon. When a tropical cyclone reaches a wind speed of 17 m/s, it is considered a storm and given a name. When the wind speed exceeds 33 m/s (119 km/hour), it is called a typhoon or hurricane.

Naming Hurricanes and Typhoons for the Public

Henry Piddington, who was curator of the Calcutta Museum, India, and then President of the Marine Courts of Inquiry, was the man who coined the name, Hurricane. He modified the word in Greek language denoting the coil of the snake to describe this circular storm.

Unsubstantiated reports suggest that at the beginning of the 20th century, an Australian weather forecaster for the first time in history gave each individual hurricane, a name; the names he gave were reportedly of the politicians he disliked.

During the Second World War, the US military used to name storms using people’s names. Documented history suggests that the National Hurricane Center, Miami, prepared the first list for naming cyclones in 1953. Later the World Meteorological Association took up the task of maintaining and revising this list. Under the Association, there are five regional bodies across the globe and each committee is responsible for revising the list periodically for their region.

BBC reports that the committee that is in charge of the US and Caribbean region retired the names, ‘Igor’ and ‘Thomas’, and replaced them with Ian and Tobias in 2011. There is nothing much dramatic or random about the list as it is an alphabetically ordered list. There are also six lists for the US and Caribbean region. Every year, a new list is used and this goes on until all six lists are exhausted. Also, the first hurricane of a season is given the first name in the chosen list and naturally, that name will start with an ‘A’. Every time the list is used again, the names are revised but some similarity to the previous name is retained. This is why in 2005, it was Katrina and then in 2011, when the same name came up in the list, it was changed to Katia.

Usually, each regional committee selects names that are in sync with the naming culture of that particular region. For example, the Indian Ocean tropical cyclones have names such as Agni, Akash, and Jal, which means fire, sky, and water in Indian languages.

Interestingly, the word, hurricane, is also argued as derived from the name of a Mayan God, ‘Hurakan’, who became ‘Hurican’ in Caribbean culture. For Mayans, he was the God who created the world, who “blew his breath across the Chaotic water and brought forth dry land” (Paul V Kislow, 2008, p.29).

The Course of a Hurricane

Hurricanes form over warm ocean water and draw their energy from there. When they make landfall, the roughness of the land and the structures on the ground decrease wind speed but there also will be an increase in turbulence causing the impact on the ground to be stronger. After a few hours, the storm weakens. It would have been an enormous energy source unravelled, but the attempts to harness the energy of hurricanes for useful purposes remain a distant dream.

Human Civilisations Affected by Hurricanes

The Bible makes many mentions of whirlwinds. There is a scientifically plausible theory that says hurricanes were instrumental among many other factors such as overpopulation, decline of natural resources, and infighting, in the ending of the great Mayan civilisation. The first recorded hurricane event is found in the Mayan hieroglyphics.

The visual depictions of hurricanes in ancient civilizations are mysteriously similar to satellite images taken much later. In some way, ancient people would have sensed the shape of the cloud formation and wind rotation that causes a hurricane.

In 1274, the entire naval fleet of the great Mongolian ruler, Kublai Khan, was destroyed by a typhoon on the shores of Japan as they were trying to invade Japan. Curiously, a second attempt by Kublai Khan to conquer Japan was similarly defeated by another typhoon. In other words, Japan was saved by Hurricanes and the Japanese word for hurricane, Kami-kazi, meaning ‘divine wind’, reflects how the Japanese saw these winds as divine interventions that saved them from Kublai Khan.

During the late 1500s, when the French settlers had taken command of Florida and were challenged by the Spanish colonists, a hurricane settled the power tussle by destroying the French fleet and paving the way for the Spanish to gain control. There is a rumour that Shakespeare wrote ‘Tempest’ after reading an eyewitness account of a colonist who was aboard the ship, ‘Sea Venture’, taking supplies to the newly founded English colony of Jamestown, and wrecked in a hurricane, leaving the survivors stranded in a far off island for almost a year.

In 1715, a hurricane that caused the complete wreckage of a Spanish treasure fleet also led to a treasure hunt in the coastal sea of Florida, a gold rush that lasted many years and slowly transformed into sea piracy which became known as the second phase of the Golden Age of Piracy. The first literary work of the renowned writer, Alexander Hamilton, was a letter he wrote as a teenager to his father, as a young man who had set off to the Caribbean Islands and witnessed a fiery hurricane there. He wrote,

“I take up my pen just to give you an imperfect account of the most dreadful hurricane that memory or any records whatever can trace, which happened here on the 31st ultimo at night.

It began about dusk, at North, and raged very violently till ten o'clock. Then ensued a sudden and unexpected interval, which lasted about an hour. Meanwhile the wind was shifting round to the South West point, from whence it returned with redoubled fury and continued so till near three o'clock in the morning. Good God! what horror and destruction—it's impossible for me to describe—or you to form any idea of it. It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind—fiery meteors flying about in the air—the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning—the crash of the falling houses—and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great part of the buildings throughout the Island are levelled to the ground—almost all the rest very much shattered—several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined—whole families running about the streets unknowing where to find a place of shelter—the sick exposed to the keenness of water and air—without a bed to lie upon—or a dry covering to their bodies—our harbour is entirely bare” (Hamilton, 1903, p.261-262).

The Hurricanes of the North Atlantic

North Atlantic hurricanes, the most notorious of the winds of the world, showed their real ferocious face to recorded history in 1780. That year, the Americas and the Caribbean Islands reeled under the worst-ever storms in history, the death toll of which rose to more than 20000 in a couple of weeks. These hurricanes prompted many settlers to abandon their plantations in the Americas and sail back to the safety of European shores.

Wayne Neely, in his book on the 1780 Hurricane (The Great Hurricane of 1780: The Story of the Greatest and Deadliest Hurricane of the Caribbean and the Americas), has given a simple and powerful description of how hurricanes form in the North Atlantic Sea. They form in warm oceans located at both north and south sides of the equator. Initially, they are gentle circling winds that lower the pressure of the atmosphere slightly. As the earth rotates, these whirlwinds start moving, in a parallel path to the equator, at a slow pace, and then change direction towards the northwest as they close the Caribbean islands. The hot and moist air energises them with huge amounts of energy, and they continue to garner power through a specific, combined condition of temperature, wind, and air pressure. As they move towards the North and South poles, they start showing their fierce character, turning monstrous and sometimes, in a ‘negative storm surge’, the entire seawater is pulled away from the coastal sea and literally the sea, disappearing. When the hurricane is surging towards the coast, the reverse happens, sweeping the sea onto the land. The ocean water is sucked in by the hurricane and the water surges up looking like a water-mountain as the hurricane travels above the surface of the sea.

The ‘Good’ Hurricane, Andrew

Interestingly, the environment of Key Biscayne, Florida, was saved by Hurricane Andrew. This hurricane uprooted almost all the Australian pines, which were a planted non-native species and were destroying the natural ecosystem, yet not having the adaptability to withstand the strong hurricane winds of the region, were vulnerable to the raving winds. Seizing the opportunity presented by this natural intervention and aware of the mistake of planting non-native species, authorities replanted the area with native trees and plants.

Preparing for a Hurricane

The science of hurricanes and their connection with climate change are fascinating topics. However, when faced with the real-life threat of an incoming hurricane, practical knowledge becomes crucial. Here are some essential survival strategies:

Preparation

• You have to understand first whether you live in a hurricane evacuation area

• If you are living in an evacuation area, keep the branches of the trees around your home trimmed so that in case of a storm, they do not break off and damage life and property

• Collect proper materials such as strong wooden panels to board up your windows so that flying debris will not break them

• If you live in such an area, you need to put together an evacuation kit that must have in it, flashlights, storm shutters, generators etc.

• You must have an emergency evacuation plan for you and your family. You need to discuss and finalise it with your family members.

• Make sure that you have your property and house insured

• Keep yourself updated on the weather forecasts and familiar with the early weather warning systems so that you can find out if you need to evacuate

• You must plan an evacuation route and also an alternate route in case the primary route is blocked with wreckage, dangerous, or flooded

• When the authorities ask you to evacuate, do not lose time; evacuate then itself.

• You have to communicate your plan with some friend or relative who is outside the storm’s influence so that they can help in emergencies

• You should have a plan for your pets and make sure either they are let inside the evacuation shelters or they have a temporary safe place to stay

  
  

  During the Hurricane

  
  

• During a hurricane, sometimes there will be a storm surge which is the abnormal rushing and rise of seawater onto the coastal regions caused by the strong winds. Be aware and prepared to keep away from such weather events.

• Storm surges sometimes travel miles through estuaries, bays, and rivers

• Flooding caused by torrential rains is another danger that accompanies a hurricane and you must evacuate from flood-prone areas

• Even after the storm ends, flooding can continue for many days

• Winds of hurricanes can destroy buildings and other structures and sign boards. If possible, you must remove such dangerously placed signboards and other constructs and make sure the buildings do not have easily detachable parts on them.

• If you are living along the coastline, do not go into the sea swimming, surfing, or in a boat or vessel for fishing, or other activities. There can be dangerous waves in the coastal sea even if the hurricane is thousands of miles away still

• As hurricanes move towards the mainland, tornadoes can form even in far-off places inside the mainland. You must be aware and prepared for this occurrence

• You must bring the loose outdoor items such as patio furniture inside so that they do not fly and cause damage to lives and property

• You have to secure all the doors of your property so that they do not break off and fly

• Keep your car inside your garage or some strong enclosure

  
  

  References

  Tropical Cyclone, britannica.com.

  Kerry Emanuel, Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes, 2005, Oxford University Press, USA.

  Who, What, Why: How are Hurricanes Named?, 5 September 2011, bbc.com.

  Paul V Kislow, Hurricanes: Background, History, and Bibliography, 2008, Nova Science Publishers.

  Sullivan et al., Northeast Yucatan hurricane activity during the Maya Classic and Postclassic periods, 22 November 2022, nature.com

  Christopher Klein, Five Times Hurricanes Changed History, August 14, 2020, history.com

  Wayne Neely, The Great Hurricane of 1780: The Story of the Greatest and Deadliest Hurricane of the Caribbean and the Americas, 1780, iUniverse.

  Alexander Hamilton, A Few of Hamilton’s Letters: Including His description of the Great West Indian Hurricane of 1772, 1903, Macmillan.