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What you should know by the end of this lesson:
What you should know by the end of this lesson:
Understand how Hurricanes are predicted
How you can plan for a hurricane to reduce their impact
NOTE!
Your case study is Hurricane Sandy
You already learnt about some things which the United States did to reduce the impact on life during Hurricane Sandy. The main things were issuing an Evacuation order and ensuring that everyone was kept up to date with the latest news and information.
If you have a question on this, make sure to reference your Case Study and give examples of what the United States did to help limited the impacts to people.
Predicting a Hurricane
Predicting a Hurricane
It is actually difficult for meteorologists (weather experts) to predict the weather accurately. Hurricanes are even more complicated again due to the speed they can form and move as well as the size they become. However a lot of sophisticated techniques have developed to help predict Hurricanes in the United States.
Radiosonde Balloons
These are sent into the hurricane carrying weather instruments and they send back information on temperature, pressure and humidity.
Satellites
Satellites
These take photographs of the hurricane to help track the direction and speed of the tropical storm.
Specially Designed Aircraft
These fly into hurricanes and record wind speed, direction and temperature to track the status of storms.
National Hurricane Centre, Miami
National Hurricane Centre, Miami
This has computers which process all the data and, based on how previous hurricanes have behaved (stored in their memory), they predict the hurricane's speed, strength and direction over the next few days
Planning for a Hurricane
Planning for a Hurricane
Prepared and planned, are the key ways to prevent loss of life during a Tropical Storm. Look at the information below to find out how you could become prepared.
Digital Workbook or paper Jotter Task
Read all of the pictures, graphics and information as well as watching the video
Write down the 5 things which you would do to plan and prepare for a tropical storm.
Explain the reason why each thing on your list would actually help reduce the effects of a hurricane.
Everyone in southern USA knows the likely time of year that hurricanes strike – commonly referred to as ‘hurricane season’ – because they understand what causes them. The government regularly informs people of how they should prepare for hurricanes; they even have a National Hurricane Preparedness Week (this year it is May 9th-15th 2021) before the hurricane season starts. But they know that hurricanes are difficult to predict and plan for because they change direction and speed often.
The country’s National Weather Service was then able to inform people of the hurricane’s expected speed and route and the damage it was likely to cause. This saved millions of lives because plenty of warning and advice were given.
Lesson Complete
Lesson Complete
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