By Kamali and Venisha

Nokias are known to be very durable.  This is a well-known fact about the phone that defies all logic, and physics known to mankind.  Maybe Nokias are not popular anymore, but the legend of Nokia remains to this day.  Nokias have saved many people on many occasions. 

One such incident is when a soldier who was stationed in Afghanistan got shot in the chest by a bullet, but was saved by his Nokia, which was in his pocket.  He was safe, as the bullet got lodged inside of the Nokia, protecting him from the impact of the bullet. 

Another scenario includes when XXX’s (they want to remain anonymous) parents dropped from the twelfth floor of a building.  When they went down to pick up the Nokia from the ground, they saw that the phone was barely damaged, with only the edges chipped (but just barely).  XXX’s parents still use the phone to this day, knowing that they could rely on it since it is not fragile.

Another way that Nokia saved an official is when a 24-year-old Brazilian military police officer got shot by a bullet.  The Nokia absorbed the impact of the bullet, but it was completely destroyed in the process. It still kept the user out of danger.  The officer had his Nokia in his pocket when he went to his parents' house after he was off duty. He then realized that their house was being robbed.  The robbers shot a bullet at him, which hit him right in the chest.  Luckily, since the Nokia was in his pocket, he was saved.

But how ARE Nokias so durable? 

Nokias are made out of polycarbonate plastic.  Nokia spends a lot of money on proper craftsmanship and they make sure that the phone lasts for a long time, and does not break easily.  Even though Nokias are still pretty durable today, the Nokias that were made in the late 1900’s and the early 2000’s were even better!  They were made out of a robust plastic casing that could withstand even higher drops than the Nokias that we know today. 

You can still buy the old Nokias today, but regardless of what type of Nokia or when the Nokia was made, all Nokias are durable.  Even enough to withstand a massive impact, which might save your life.

By Gianna Facciolo

We have been watching the news and seeing the clips of the damage these hurricanes have been causing.   It is upsetting to watch and I am sure even worse to live through. My parents speak of Hurricane Sandy and how it impacted our state.  It made me wonder, how do hurricanes get their names?  This was something I thought was worth looking into.  

According to Britannica.com, names given to hurricanes during World War II, were given from radio code names for the alphabet such as Able, Baker, Charlie.  In 1953 the U.S. National Weather Service started calling hurricanes by female names.  Then in the 70s, we adapted our current system of alternating male and female names.  

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the names that are selected to name the hurricanes are already set.  This organization comes up with and keeps records of the names.  There are six alphabetical lists that rotate approximately every six years.  They are alternating, male and female names that are easy to remember.  For example, the 2024 list that started with Alberto and ends with William is slated to be used again in 2030.

Names of the deadliest and worst storms that caused the most damage such as  Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Super Typhoon Haiyan (2013), are retired from the list and their names are replaced with other names. 

By Kamali Stalin and Venisha Dalal

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Dozens of lives were taken, a thousand people’s houses were annihilated and a million people helped them survive. Starting as a tropical storm, and climbing up the charts to become a category 4 hurricane. This is the story of Hurricane Helene. 

Hurricane Helene started with the potential to be a tropical storm. But people didn’t just look away from this. They knew it was going to be a huge hurricane from the start. Hurricane Helen quickly progressed into a Tropical storm causing winds of 65 mph at its peak.

Its winds then strengthened again, making it a category 1 hurricane. At this point, the people of Florida knew that Hurricane Helene was going to hit them. Some evacuated, while others thought they could survive the storm. Nonetheless, both had to deal with the ruins afterward. Everyone knew that the Southeast was going to be a mess…

When the hurricane hit Florida, winds skyrocketed to 140 miles per hour, bringing a 15-foot storm surge. The hurricane even brought havoc to Kentucky, even though it is quite far away from Florida. 

Now on to our next hurricane, Hurricane Milton. When the news got out, people who lived in Florida were devastated. Hurricane Helene just passed by, and most people’s homes were damaged. An alert was issued to tell people in Florida to evacuate. Even the mayor of Florida told everyone to move to another state so they could be safe. The worst part was that people took stuff that was wet and unusable after Hurricane Helene. They put the garbage up for collection, and everyone knew that the garbage was going to fly everywhere when Hurricane Milton made landfall. This was inevitable. Although, they did make an effort, and collected as much garbage as they could. 

Experts predicted that the storm surge from Hurricane Milton might have a lot of storm surge. Although, this was going to be proven wrong. Hurricane Milton started off as a tropical depression and climbed up all the way to become a Category 5 hurricane. But luckily for the people who lived in Florida, the storm eventually slowed down and was downgraded to a category 3 hurricane. Now this still meant that the hurricane was major. It made landfall as a category 3 hurricane, but while still in Florida, It eventually slowed down and became a category 2 hurricane, and eventually becoming a category 1 hurricane. It became a post-tropical storm after hitting Florida and eventually diminished on October 10th. But this does not mean that the results were not devastating. Hurricane Milton lasted for 5 days in total (from when it was detected as a tropical depression to when it eventually died down.

The people who lived in Florida were not lucky in terms of what the storm left behind though. Sure, it was better than what they anticipated, but it was still terrifying. The damage that it left behind was very noticeable, even from a farther distance. A part of its beaches was even ripped apart as shown below:

Source: Weather.com 

Many houses were submerged in water, as the storm surge that Milton caused was 15 feet tall, and Milton also pushed 5 feet of sand onto Florida. Roads were ripped apart, and some places were also isolated from the rest of the world, as their roads were destroyed, granting no access to some places. Well, they couldn’t leave even if they wanted to because water got into people’s basements and garages, making cars unusable.

Hurricane Milton also caused a huge power outage. Many places in Florida were left without power. Actually, it was incredibly rare if you still had power. Florida currently has restored power to over 3.8 million people. But more than 400,000 people are still stuck in the dark with no power. At least 8 people are dead because of Hurricane Helene, and there might be more fatalities.  It is clear the Aftermaths of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton were very petrifying.