About the Author Introduction Methods and Procedures Analysis and Results Discussion Conclusion Bibliography
Introduction
There are many natural hazards which civilization must contend with and each one poses specific threats to those who inhabit these susceptible regions. People are subject to various forms of risk which are linked to the nature of the natural hazard. For example, volcanic eruptions, like the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helen’s in Washington State, U.S.A., manifested several threats to human life, such as lahars (volcanic mud flows), pyroclastic bombs, and ash-fall. Importantly, each of these specific volcanic threats acted over differing geographic areas and scales. Lahars are hugely destructive to human life and property, but are generally confined to the bottoms of river valleys, which channel the volcanic debris. Pyroclastic bombs are shot into the air, and can land anywhere within a radial area from the eruption. Ash is emitted to the upper atmosphere, where it can interfere with aircraft engines. Therefore, geography matters when considering specific threats from a natural hazard.
In this project, I investigate the effect of hurricanes on human life and property in the state of Florida, U.S.A. The two specific threats I consider are hurricane winds, and storm surges. I question whether or not certain areas of Florida are more likely to suffer greater amounts of human mortality and property damage. I approach this subject with three hypotheses. First, that greater incident property damage occurs in stronger tropical storm intensity zones. Second, that greater risk of human mortality and property damage occur in urban areas, where there are greater concentrations of people and infrastructure. Third, that within urban areas, greater incident of human mortality and property damage occurs at lower elevations than at higher elevations. In the following analyses, I use tropical storm intensity zones and elevation data as surrogates for impacts from hurricane wind damage, and storm surges respectively.
A hurricane is a massive atmospheric storm centered on an area of low atmospheric pressure. The low surface pressure in the eye of the hurricane results in a rise of local sea level. Hurricanes draw their energy from warm surface waters, and weaken rapidly when they make landfall (Grotzinger, Jordan, Press and Siever, 2007, pg. 481) Hurricanes are measured according to the Saffir-Simpson Scale of storm intensity, ranging from 1 (the weakest) to 5 (the strongest). In the Pacific Ocean, a Hurricane is called a Typhoon, and in the Indian Ocean, it as called a Cyclone. Regardless of location, these storms are measured according to the Saffir-Simpson Scale of storm intensity. This scale ranges from 1 to 5, with 1 being the weakest, and 5 being the most destructive. If wind speeds drop below 118 km/s, hurricanes become a tropical storm.
