Hurricanes -- slow, methodical, deadly
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Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992
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March 21, 2001
Web posted at: 4:33 PM EST (2133 GMT)
By Michael McManus
CNN NEWSROOM
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- They have a power man has never been able to recreate. Their ferocious energy lifts houses from foundations and can even raise parts of the ocean itself.
Hurricanes are clearly one of Mother Nature's most deadly creations. Just ask Peter Swart, a veteran of Hurricane Andrew, which killed 61 people along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in 1992.
"It was a truly colossal and frightening prospect to have this hurricane," he recalls. "We were basically pushing the piano against the front door at one stage during the night."
Swart survived Andrew's fierce winds and rushing water from his home in southern Florida, where he still lives.
"It's a risk you take," he says. "You trade beautiful weather year-round for a risk like a hurricane."
Hurricane Andrew caused $26 billion in damage, most of it in Florida and Louisiana.
The storm's devastation may have been most clearly seen - and best described - in the small town of Homestead in south Florida. A day after the hurricane, a news helicopter flew over the town -- all the reporter on board could say was, "Oh, my god. I don't believe what I'm seeing."
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A hurricane's power is measured by the winds the storm is packing. The Saffir-Simpson scale assigns a storm a number between 1 and 5, with "1" being a weak hurricane and "5" the strongest. With 145 miles per hour winds, Andrew earned a "4" label, which includes hurricanes containing sustained winds between 131 to 155 miles per hour.
"Hurricane-resistant" housing materials are popular in areas prone to large storms. These include roll-down metallic shades for windows and doors and extra strong roofing components to help keep the roof on the house.
Dr. Bill Gray, a meteorologist from Colorado State University, said that many more hurricanes, like Andrew, would hit the U.S. mainland in the future. "If things go back to the long-term average, we're going to see many landfalling major storms -- much more damage," he says.
According to Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, seawater from a hurricane's storm surge can be just as deadly as abnormally strong winds. An approaching hurricane can actually raise the level of the sea and pull it right up and over the coastline.
So how can coastal residents prepare? Mayfield says they should leave the area well before a hurricane hits. But don't overdue it, he says, as evacuating long distances can be costly and unsafe.
"You don't want people to evacuate 100 miles -- you want them to go 10 miles," Mayfield says. "One of my greatest fears is that we'll have people stuck in cars in gridlock trying to evacuate during a hurricane."
| WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
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colossal
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astonishing amount
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resistant
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surge
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swelling of a wave or series of waves
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RELATED SITES:
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
Miami Museum of Science: Hurricane
FEMA: Hurricanes
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