Transcript Hurricane Ike, Galveston,

Warm Up: Quickwrite
1. What do you think catastrophic
means?
2. Can you think of any examples of
catastrophic events?
Round Robin
Task: come up with a list of catastrophic events
with your group
1. Each person adds 1 example to the list and
passes the paper until your group cannot
think of any more.
2. You may pass if you are stuck.
3. Use the time in between to brainstorm more
ideas on your own paper.
Catastrophic Events
It is any natural or manmade event which results
in extraordinary levels of deaths, damage, or
disruption severely affecting the population,
infrastructure, environment, economy,
national morale and/or government functions.
Tornadoes
• Large windstorms that can blow in excess of
200 miles per hour.
Tornadoes and Ecosystems
• Tornadoes have a negative effect on
ecosystems. They can uproot trees and
vegetation.
•
Tornado
• Average number of tornadoes per year (2012 2014): 909
• Average death toll (2012 – 2014): 56
• State with highest number of tornadoes per year
(1991 - 2010): Texas (avg. 155)
• Top 5 states with highest incidence of tornadoes
(average per year, 1950–2004): Texas (155), Kansas
(96), Florida (66), Oklahoma (62), Nebraska (57)
• Highest Incidence per 10,000 sq. miles: Florida
(9.59), Oklahoma (6.85), Indiana (6.41), Iowa (6.25),
Louisiana (6.07), Mississippi (5.51), Texas (5.23)
Sources: Storm Prediction Center at the National Weather Service
and http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cae/svrwx/tornadobystate.htm
• Most tornadoes in one month: 875 (April
2011)
• Most tornado deaths in one year: 553 (2011)
• Fewest tornado deaths in one year: 15 (1986)
Source: Storm Prediction Center at the National Weather Service
Gorzycki Middle School has a tornado plan.
Teachers have been trained what to do in case of
a tornado. Follow the teacher’s instructions!!!
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/spotter_reference/spotter_slideshow
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/spotter_reference/spotter_slideshow
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/spotter_reference/spotter_slideshow
Tornado
http://www.google.com/imgres?
Tornado
http://weblogs.marylandweather.com/tornadoes/
Average Number of Tornadoes per
Year
Floods
• Floods occur when unusually heavy amounts
of rainfall are concentrated in one area. The
soil becomes saturated and the water has
nowhere to go but down stream.
Flash floods
• A flash flood is especially dangerous because
it can happen with out warning. When there is
a big rainstorm that over saturates the ground
the excess water goes downhill in large
quantities. A flash flood can occur when there
is no rainfall in the area.
Flood Deaths
• Death from Flash Floods Top 5 States (1959 to
2005): Texas (407), South Dakota (240)*,
Colorado (178), Pennsylvania (137), Missouri
(124)
• 140 deaths on average per year due to floods
in the US (63% in cars)
• 450+ people died in floods in 1972, a dam
failure in Rapid City, South Dakota that killed
238 people, and another failure in Logan
County West Virginia that killed 118, the worst
year on record.
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2007JAMC1611.1
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/spotter_reference/spotter_slideshow
Flood
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-486757/Homeownersdenied-flood-insurance-Government-cash-shortfall.html
Hurricanes
• Hurricanes are large storms that form over the
ocean. They gain strength and make landfall
causing wind damage, floods and tornadoes.
Hurricanes and Ecosystems
• Hurricanes have a negative effect on coastal
marine environments.
• Beaches and soil are lost due to erosion.
Freshwater organisms are killed due to tidal
surges pushing salt water to fresh water.
Categorizing Hurricanes
• Scientists categorize hurricanes by wind
speed.
Hurricane
http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/article/hurricane-strike-frequency_2011-08-12
Hurricane
Hurricane Tracks from 1851 to 2012
Hurricane
• 10.1 named storms a season (June –
November)
• 5.9 become hurricanes
• 284 Direct Hits by hurricanes on the US from
1851 – 2010
• Deadliest Hurricane hit Galveston, TX in 1900
killing 8,000+ people.
Hurricane
http://www.livescience.com/8505-5-years-katrina-gulf-ecosystems-ropes.html
Forest Fire
http://www.simpsoncity.com/hiking/potato.html
Wild Fires
• Wild fires are caused by many things. The
most common are caused by lightning strikes
in an area of dry vegetation.
Wildfires and Ecosystems
• Wildfires have negative impact on
ecosystems because they kill the vegetation
and animals in the area which upsets the
food chain in that area.The lack of
vegetation can also lead to flash floods.
Forest Fire
• 70,000 + fires nationally each year
• 3 – 10 million acres of forest, grassland,
brush burned every year (size of
Connecticut - Maryland)
• 330+ deaths from 1990 – 2006, 34% of
the deaths are from volunteer fire
fighters (the highest percentage)
Drought
• The lack of rainfall long enough to cause a
shortage of water is called a drought.
Drought and Ecosystems
• Drought has a negative impact on ecosystems
because all life in an ecosystem needs water.
No water no life.
Earthquakes
• Based on observations from 1900 the World
experiences
– an 8+ magnitude earthquake once a year
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
– 7 – 7.9 mag 15 times a year
earthquakes/eqarchives/yea
– 6 – 6.9 mag 130 times a year
r/eqstats.php
– 5 – 5.9 mag 1,300 times a year
• Texas has had 62 earthquakes in the past year
• The largest was a 4.3 mag in Nacogdoches,
Texas http://earthquaketrack.com/p/united-states/texas/recent
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/spotter_reference/spotter_slideshow
San Francisco Earthquake 1989
Volcano
Volcano
• 200,000+ deaths in the past 200 years
• Mt. Tambora in Indonesia erupted in 1815,
92,000 deaths related to the eruption, led to a
“volcanic winter” and the “Year without
Summer” in 1816
• Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980 is the
deadliest eruption in US History killing 57
people.