Hurricanes
As we all know Hurricane Katrina stuck the Gulf Coast on Monday August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina is said to be one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. Hurricane Katrina, called a Category Four storm, saw wind speeds up to 140 mph. The highest wind speed the United States has seen is 190 mph with both Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Allen in 1980. So, with wind speeds just 50 mph below the record speed, Hurricane Katrina was an extremely powerful and forceful storm, taking the lives of many. We still do not have an exact number of deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina because the gulf coast is still being combed through. Originally officials estimated the death toll to be in the thousands; however, after combing through much of the gulf coast, the death toll is seemingly lower than estimated, 1,069 as of Thursday September 22.
Early in the morning on Thursday September 22, 2005 an estimated 1.8 million residents and Texas and Louisiana were ordered to evacuate their homes. After the disaster caused by Katrina, officials decided that safety was a priority and residents had to evacuate. The hurricane started out as a Category Five storm and slowed down to a Category Four.
A fact a classmate mentioned to me is that hurricanes are named in alphabetical order, alternating male and female names. So, since we were hit by Hurricane Katrina in August and are anticipating Hurricane Rita, what about L, M, N, O, P, and Q? Thats 6 other hurricanes. Well, first off was Hurricane Lee. Lee was pretty much a dud and was changed from a hurricane to a tropical depression, which means it didnt pose much of a threat. Next came Hurricane Maria which traveled in the Atlantic moving north-northwest at 10 mph. Maria, a Category Three storm, saw winds as high as 115 mph. Forecasters said that Maria is only a threat to shippers. Next was Hurricane Nate, a Category One hurricane, with winds reaching 90 mph. Bermuda saw mild affects of Hurricane Nate, but the hurricane has calmed down. After Nate came Hurricane Ophelia, which reached the United States on the Atlantic coast, causing Wilmington and Moorehead City ports in North Carolina to close to all vessel traffic. Thousands of homes lost electricity. Winds reached 85 mph. After Hurricane Ophelia came Hurricane Philippe, which passed through the Eastern half of the islands of Turks and Ciacos. Hurricane Philippe is predicted not to reach the United States mainland, as of September 21.
With hurricane season in full force, what can we do? Sure we can buy beads for $2 at school, but what can we really do? First of all we can educate ourselves. One website I highly recommend for this purpose is http://www.redcross.org/news/ds/hurricanes/katrina_facts.html . The website contains quick facts about hurricane relief. From there I think we should all do what we can do. Realistically, were not going to stop spending money on gas and send all of our money to the Red Cross because we, whether we want to or not, have to get to school and we need gas to do so. But there are small things we can do. Instead of eating a Daves sub, give up a sub one night a week and eat with your parents. Little things. And sure the $2 we donate for hurricane relief wont feed, clothe, and reunite families all at once, but it will combine with the $2 someone else donated and buy someone out there a pair of socks, for example. So while my blog for this month isnt exactly a strong opinion about the way George W. Bushs administration is running our country or a strong opinion on whether abortion should be allowed, I believe this editorial can have the same affect. My goal is that hopefully someone will read this and, after being educated just a little bit more about hurricanes, will gain interest in the topic and will be inspired to give up some of the little things to help the people out there who now have nothing. Hurricane Rita is coming and has the potential to repeat the damage Hurricane Katrina caused. While mandatory evacuations were enforced, property damage is inevitable and even more people will be without a home or a family. There are two months and eight days left in the hurricane season. So please help out if you can because your help is needed.
Sources used:
http://www.redcross.org/news/ds/hurricanes/katrina_facts.html
http://www.disastercenter.com/Tropical%20Storm%20-%20Hurricane%20-%20Philippe.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0906_050906_katrina_facts_2.html
I really enjoyed your piece. I thought it was good how you began by discussing the real intensity of the hurricane and discussing how this is just the first hurricane in a line of many. It was also interesting how you said that not all hurricanes are as destructive as Katrina, such as Hurrican Lee was, as you said, "dud". The part I really like the most was your ending and how you described the things that we can do to help or prevent it happening again. Obviously selling beads won't really help in the long run, but it was nice how you added the website which was filled with various solutions that I checked out. Good work!! (Comment this)